Ecclesiasticus 35

The person who keeps the law brings many offerings. The person who pays attention to the commandments offers a peace offering.

1He that keepeth the law bringeth offerings enough: he that taketh heed to the commandment offereth a peace offering.

NoteA peace offering was a sacrifice in which only part of the animal was burned on the altar; the rest was eaten in a shared meal by the worshiper, his household and the priests. It belonged to gratitude and celebration rather than to guilt, and was the ordinary offering brought by someone with nothing to confess.

2The person who returns a kindness offers fine flour, and the person who gives to the poor offers a sacrifice of thanks.

2He that requiteth a goodturn offereth fine flour; and he that giveth alms sacrificeth praise.

NoteFine flour was the material of the grain offering, the gift brought by someone offering produce instead of an animal: a handful was burned on the altar and the rest went to the priests. A "sacrifice of praise," or thank offering, was a peace offering brought specifically to acknowledge a kindness received. Both are named here as the exact ritual equivalents of the two everyday acts.

3Turning away from wickedness pleases the Lord, and leaving wrongdoing behind is a sacrifice that takes away sin.

3To depart from wickedness is a thing pleasing to the Lord; and to forsake unrighteousness is a propitiation.

NoteThe King James "propitiation" is a 1611 word for a sacrifice that turns away anger and covers over sin, that is, the sin offering or atonement sacrifice prescribed in the law.

4You must not come before the Lord with empty hands.

4Thou shalt not appear empty before the Lord.

NoteThis quotes the law on the three pilgrim festivals, "none shall appear before me empty" (Exodus 23:15, Deuteronomy 16:16). To "appear before the Lord" meant to present yourself at the sanctuary at one of those festivals, and no one was to arrive without a gift in hand.

5All these things are to be done because the commandment says so.

5For all these things are to be done because of the commandment.

6The offering of a righteous person makes the altar rich, and its sweet smell rises before the Most High.

6The offering of the righteous maketh the altar fat, and the sweet savour thereof is before the most High.

NoteThe fat of a sacrificial animal was burned on the altar as God's portion, so "maketh the altar fat" pictures an altar well supplied with offerings. "Sweet savour" is the standard King James phrase for the smoke of a sacrifice rising as a pleasing smell, the conventional way of saying an offering was accepted.

7The sacrifice of a just person is accepted, and the memory of it will never be forgotten.

7The sacrifice of a just man is acceptable. and the memorial thereof shall never be forgotten.

Note"Memorial" is a technical term from the law of the grain offering: the handful burned on the altar was called the memorial portion, the part that brought the giver to mind before God. Here the word is used more loosely, of the sacrifice being kept in mind.

8Give the Lord the honor due him with a generous eye, and do not cut short the first and best part of what your hands produce.

8Give the Lord his honour with a good eye, and diminish not the firstfruits of thine hands.

Note"With a good eye" is an idiom, not a description of a facial expression. In Hebrew and Aramaic a person with a "good eye" is openhanded and one with an "evil eye" is grudging and tight. The firstfruits were the first and best of a harvest, flock or workshop, owed to God before the rest could be used; "diminish not" warns against quietly trimming that portion down.

9In every gift you give, show a cheerful face, and set apart your tithes with gladness.

9In all thy gifts shew a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes with gladness.

NoteA tithe was a tenth of crops, herds and earnings set apart for the sanctuary and the priests, and in some years for the poor. It was a required payment, which is why the advice here is about the spirit in which it is handed over rather than about whether to hand it over.

10Give to the Most High in keeping with how he has made you rich, and give with a cheerful eye out of what you have gained.

10Give unto the most High according as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten, give with a cheerful eye.

NoteThe King James "as thou hast gotten" renders an idiom that runs literally "as thy hand hath found," meaning out of whatever has come your way.

11For the Lord pays back, and he will give you seven times as much.

11For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much.

NoteSevenfold is a conventional figure in this literature for full and more than full repayment. It is not an exact rate of return.

12Do not plan to win him over with gifts, because he will not take them. Do not count on unjust sacrifices, because the Lord is judge, and he shows no favoritism.

12Do not think to corrupt with gifts; for such he will not receive: and trust not to unrighteous sacrifices; for the Lord is judge, and with him is no respect of persons.

NoteThe first half is about bribing a judge, which the law forbade. "No respect of persons" is a King James phrase meaning that God does not decide a case according to who the person is, his rank, wealth or connections. To "respect persons" in this older English is to show partiality, not to hold someone in esteem.

13He will not take anyone's side against a poor man, but he will listen to the prayer of the person who is treated harshly.

13He will not accept any person against a poor man, but will hear the prayer of the oppressed.

Note"Accept any person against a poor man" is courtroom language. To "accept the person" of someone is to find in his favor because of who he is rather than because of the merits of the case.

14He will not look down on the plea of the fatherless, or on the widow when she pours out her complaint.

14He will not despise the supplication of the fatherless; nor the widow, when she poureth out her complaint.

NoteIn this society a household's legal standing ran through its adult male head, so an orphan or a widow had no one to press a claim in court and no protection against a creditor or a neighbor seizing land. The two words together are a standard shorthand for the people most easily cheated with no consequence.

15Do not the tears run down the widow's cheeks? And is not her cry against the one who caused them to fall?

15Do not the tears run down the widow’s cheeks? and is not her cry against him that causeth them to fall?

NoteThe widow's "cry" is not only weeping. The word carries the sense of a formal outcry against a wrong, the shout of someone demanding a hearing, which is why it is described as being "against" the person responsible.

16The person who serves the Lord will be received with favor, and his prayer will reach up to the clouds.

16He that serveth the Lord shall be accepted with favour, and his prayer shall reach unto the clouds.

17The prayer of the humble person cuts through the clouds. Until it comes near, he will not be comforted, and he will not leave until the Most High looks down to judge rightly and to carry out judgment.

17The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds: and till it come nigh, he will not be comforted; and will not depart, till the most High shall behold to judge righteously, and execute judgment.

NoteThe Greek here is ambiguous, and translators divide over it. "He will not be comforted" and "will not depart" may describe the humble person, who keeps praying and refuses to be consoled until God acts, or the prayer itself, which does not rest until it arrives. The rendering leaves the ambiguity standing rather than picking one.

18For the Lord will not be slow, and the Mighty One will not be patient toward them, until he has crushed the backs of those who show no mercy and has paid back punishment to the nations, until he has taken away the crowd of proud people and broken the scepter of those who do wrong.

18For the Lord will not be slack, neither will the Mighty be patient toward them, till he have smitten in sunder the loins of the unmerciful, and repayed vengeance to the heathen; till he have taken away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptre of the unrighteous;

NoteThe "loins" in the King James are the lower back and hips, understood as the seat of physical strength; to break someone's loins is to leave him unable to stand up. "Heathen" translates a word meaning simply the nations, the peoples outside Israel, without the modern flavor of savagery. A "sceptre" was the ornamented rod a ruler carried as the visible sign of his authority, so breaking it is a picture of ending a regime, not of damaging an object.

19He will do this until he has given back to every person what his deeds deserve, and repaid what people have done according to their plans, and until he has judged the case of his people and made them glad in his mercy.

19Till he have rendered to every man according to his deeds, and to the works of men according to their devices; till he have judged the cause of his people, and made them to rejoice in his mercy.

20Mercy comes at the right time in a time of trouble, like rain clouds in a time of drought.

20Mercy is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought.

Note"Seasonable" in 1611 English means timely, coming at the right season. The comparison depends on the local climate: rain fell in the winter months and the summer was reliably dry, so clouds gathering during a drought were the sight everyone was waiting for and had stopped expecting.