Ecclesiasticus 37

Every friend says, "I am his friend too." But there is a friend who is a friend in name only.

1Every friend saith, I am his friend also: but there is a friend, which is only a friend in name.

2Is it not a grief deep enough to kill, when a companion and friend turns into an enemy?

2Is it not a grief unto death, when a companion and friend is turned to an enemy?

3Evil scheming, where did you come from, to cover the dry land with lies?

3O wicked imagination, whence camest thou in to cover the earth with deceit?

NoteThe rendering's "evil scheming" stands for a phrase the wisdom writers used for the inward impulse toward wrong, something pictured as planted inside a person rather than arriving from outside; later Jewish teachers called it the evil inclination. "Cover the dry land" borrows the language used of the flood covering the earth. The verse breaks off from advice about friends to address this impulse directly, as if it were a person standing there.

4There is a companion who is glad when his friend is glad, but in a time of trouble will be against him.

4There is a companion, which rejoiceth in the prosperity of a friend, but in the time of trouble will be against him.

5There is a companion who works alongside his friend for the sake of his own stomach, and in the face of battle takes up the shield.

5There is a companion, which helpeth his friend for the belly, and taketh up the buckler against the enemy.

Note"For the sake of his own stomach" means for his keep, for the food at your table. The buckler (KJV "the buckler") was a small round shield strapped to the arm. The Greek here is genuinely unsettled: it can be read as praise, a companion who for all his low motives still picks up a shield and fights beside you, or as one more example of the unreliable companion of verse 4. Translations divide.

6Do not forget your friend in your heart, and do not stop thinking of him when you have riches.

6Forget not thy friend in thy mind, and be not unmindful of him in thy riches.

7Every adviser praises advice, but some give advice for their own benefit.

7Every counsellor extolleth counsel; but there is some that counselleth for himself.

8Be careful with an adviser, and find out ahead of time what he stands to gain, because he will give advice that serves himself. He may cast the lot against you,

8Beware of a counsellor, and know before what need he hath; for he will counsel for himself; lest he cast the lot upon thee,

NoteCasting lots meant settling a question by chance, drawing marked stones or sticks. To "cast the lot against you" pictures an adviser gambling with your affairs, deciding which way your case falls while risking nothing of his own.

9and say to you, "Your way is good." Then he will stand across from you, to see what happens to you.

9And say unto thee, Thy way is good: and afterward he stand on the other side, to see what shall befall thee.

NoteThe Greek word means standing opposite, facing you. Translators differ over whether the picture is of an adviser who steps back to a safe distance to watch, or one who stays close by as a spectator; either way he has moved from sharing the risk to observing the result.

10Do not ask advice from someone who looks at you with suspicion, and hide your plans from people who envy you.

10Consult not with one that suspecteth thee: and hide thy counsel from such as envy thee.

11Do not ask a woman about the woman she is jealous of, or a coward about matters of war, or a merchant about a trade, or a buyer about selling. Do not ask an envious man about being thankful, or a man with no mercy about kindness, or a lazy man about any work. Do not ask a worker hired by the year about finishing a job, or an idle servant about a big piece of business. Do not listen to any of these in any matter where you want advice.

11Neither consult with a woman touching her of whom she is jealous; neither with a coward in matters of war; nor with a merchant concerning exchange; nor with a buyer of selling; nor with an envious man of thankfulness; nor with an unmerciful man touching kindness; nor with the slothful for any work; nor with an hireling for a year of finishing work; nor with an idle servant of much business: hearken not unto these in any matter of counsel.

NoteThe woman "she is jealous of" is a rival wife or concubine in the same household, the ordinary situation where a man had more than one wife. A worker "hired by the year" was paid for a fixed term rather than for the finished job, so getting done early gained him nothing. Each item in the list pairs a question with the one person whose own interest guarantees a slanted answer.

12Instead, stay always with a godly man, one you know keeps the Lord's commandments, whose mind matches your own mind, and who will grieve with you if you fail.

12But be continually with a godly man, whom thou knowest to keep the commandments of the Lord, whose, mind is according to thy mind, and will sorrow with thee, if thou shalt miscarry.

Note"Whose mind matches your own mind" translates an idiom, literally that his soul is as your soul: a person of the same outlook, who will take your setbacks as his own.

13And let the counsel of your own heart stand, for no one is more faithful to you than it is.

13And let the counsel of thine own heart stand: for there is no man more faithful unto thee than it.

Note"Heart" in this book means the mind, the place where a person weighs things and decides, not the seat of feeling. The same holds at verse 17.

14For a person's own mind is sometimes able to tell him more than seven watchmen sitting high up in a tower.

14For a man’s mind is sometime wont to tell him more than seven watchmen, that sit above in an high tower.

NoteWatchmen were posted on a town's walls and towers through the night to spot raiders or fire and raise the alarm. Seven of them, set high up, stands for the best lookout imaginable, and the saying claims a person's own mind can sometimes see further than that.

15And above all this, pray to the Most High, that he will guide your way in truth.

15And above all this pray to the most High, that he will direct thy way in truth.

16Let clear thinking come before every undertaking, and advice before every action.

16Let reason go before every enterprize, and counsel before every action.

17The face is a sign that the heart is changing.

17The countenance is a sign of changing of the heart.

NoteVerses 17 and 18 are one sentence in the Greek, and a hard one; the verse numbering cuts it in two. The sense seems to be that a turn in the heart shows first in the face, and that out of the heart come four possible outcomes, with the tongue deciding which arrives. The manuscripts vary here and translators join the parts differently.

18Four kinds of things come up: good and evil, life and death. But the tongue rules over them all the time.

18Four manner of things appear: good and evil, life and death: but the tongue ruleth over them continually.

19There is a man who is wise and teaches many people, and yet is of no use to himself.

19There is one that is wise and teacheth many, and yet is unprofitable to himself.

20There is a man who shows wisdom in his words, and is hated. He will be left without any food.

20There is one that sheweth wisdom in words, and is hated: he shall be destitute of all food.

NoteA teacher of wisdom lived on the welcome of the households and towns he taught in. Losing their goodwill meant losing his meals, so being "left without any food" is a plain practical consequence and not only a figure of speech.

21For favor was not given to him from the Lord, because he has been stripped of all wisdom.

21For grace is not given, him from the Lord, because he is deprived of all wisdom.

Note"Favor" (KJV "grace") here means a pleasing quality granted from above, the thing that makes a speaker's words land well with hearers. The verse gives the reason for verse 20: the man had clever words but not the wisdom underneath them.

22Another man is wise for himself, and the fruits of his understanding are worth praising when he speaks.

22Another is wise to himself; and the fruits of understanding are commendable in his mouth.

Note"The fruits of his understanding" is a farming image, the crop that understanding yields. Here the crop is what comes out of his mouth.

23A wise man teaches his own people, and the fruits of his understanding do not fail.

23A wise man instructeth his people; and the fruits of his understanding fail not.

24A wise man will be filled with blessing, and everyone who sees him will call him happy.

24A wise man shall be filled with blessing; and all they that see him shall count him happy.

25The days of a man's life can be counted, but the days of Israel cannot be counted.

25The days of the life of man may be numbered: but the days of Israel are innumerable.

Note"Israel" here means the people as a whole, across all its generations, not the man Jacob and not a piece of territory. The contrast is between one man's countable days and a community that carries on past any individual.

26A wise man will inherit honor among his people, and his name will last forever.

26A wise man shall inherit glory among his people, and his name shall be perpetual.

Note"Inherit honor" uses the vocabulary of property law for reputation: standing among his people is something handed on to him and by him, like an estate. A name that "lasts forever" means one still spoken by descendants and neighbors long after the man is gone.

27My son, test yourself during your life. See what is bad for you, and do not give that to yourself.

27My son, prove thy soul in thy life, and see what is evil for it, and give not that unto it.

Note"My son" is the standard way a teacher addresses a pupil in this kind of wisdom writing and need not mean an actual son. "Test yourself" renders a phrase built on the word soul, which from here to the end of the chapter means the whole living self, appetites included, not a spiritual part separate from the body.

28For not all things are good for all people, and not every person enjoys every thing.

28For all things are not profitable for all men, neither hath every soul pleasure in every thing.

29Do not be endlessly hungry for any rich food, and do not be too greedy for what you eat.

29Be not unsatiable in any dainty thing, nor too greedy upon meats:

Note"Rich food" (KJV "any dainty thing") means delicacies, luxury eating, as against ordinary fare.

30For eating too much brings sickness, and overeating turns into nausea.

30For excess of meats bringeth sickness, and surfeiting will turn into choler.

NoteKJV's "surfeiting" means gorging, eating well past fullness. "Choler" was yellow bile, one of the four humors that ancient medicine believed made up the body; too much of it was thought to bring on nausea, vomiting and a foul temper. The old wording is saying that overeating turns the body bilious.

31Many have died from overeating, but the one who takes care lengthens his life.

31By surfeiting have many perished; but he that taketh heed prolongeth his life.