Ecclesiasticus 38

Give a doctor the honor he is owed, because you will have need of him, for the Lord created him.

1Honour a physician with the honour due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him.

NoteThe Greek word behind "honour" covers both respect and payment, so the verse is about paying the doctor as well as thinking well of him. The writer is arguing a point that was contested in his world: some held that sickness came from God and should be met with prayer alone, and that going to a doctor showed a lack of trust. The chapter's answer is that God is the source of the doctor's skill.

2Healing comes from the Most High, and the doctor will receive a gift from the king.

2For of the most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honour of the king.

Note"he shall receive honour of the king" means he will be given a fee or gift by the king. Physicians attached to royal courts were paid, salaried men in the Greek-speaking world of the writer's day.

3A doctor's skill will lift up his head, and important people will admire him.

3The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration.

Note"lift up his head" is an idiom for being given public standing and confidence, the opposite of going about with the head bowed in shame.

4The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and a wise person will not despise them.

4The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.

NoteAncient medicines were made from plants, roots, minerals and animal products, so "out of the earth" is meant literally as well as figuratively.

5Was not the water made sweet with a piece of wood, so that the power of the wood would be known?

5Was not the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known?

NoteA reference to Exodus 15:23 to 25, where the Israelites came to water at Marah too bitter to drink, and Moses was shown a piece of wood which, thrown into the water, made it sweet. In the King James, "the virtue thereof" means its power or effectiveness, not moral goodness.

6He gave people skill, so that he would be honored through his wonderful works.

6And he hath given men skill, that he might be honoured in his marvellous works.

7With these he heals people and takes away their pain.

7With such doth he heal men, and taketh away their pains.

8From these the druggist makes a mixture. His works have no end, and from him comes peace over all the earth.

8Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end; and from him is peace over all the earth,

NoteAn "apothecary" is a maker of drugs, ointments and perfumes, the ancient equivalent of a pharmacist, and a "confection" is a compounded mixture, not a sweet. The word translated "peace" covers health and general well being, not only the absence of war. Whether "from him" means from God or from the apothecary is unclear in the Greek, and the King James leaves it unclear too.

9My son, when you are sick, do not be careless. Pray to the Lord, and he will make you well.

9My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole.

10Stop sinning. Make your hands do what is right. Clean every kind of wrong out of your heart.

10Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness.

Note"order thine hands aright" is an idiom for straightening out one's conduct; the hands stand for what a person actually does.

11Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice and a memorial gift of fine flour, and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.

11Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour; and make a fat offering, as not being.

NoteThese are the instructions for the grain offering of Leviticus 2. A handful of fine flour, with oil poured over it and incense added, was burned on the altar as the "memorial" portion, and the rising smoke was the "sweet savour". To "make a fat offering" is to anoint it generously with oil. The King James ending, "as not being", renders a Greek phrase that is genuinely obscure: it has been read as "as much as your means allow" and as "as one who is already as good as dead".

12Then give the doctor his place, for the Lord created him. Do not let him leave you, because you need him.

12Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him.

13There is a time when getting better lies in their hands.

13There is a time when in their hands there is good success.

14For they too will pray to the Lord to make what they give for relief and cure work well, so that life may be lengthened.

14For they shall also pray unto the Lord, that he would prosper that, which they give for ease and remedy to prolong life.

15Whoever sins in front of his Maker, let him fall into the hands of the doctor.

15He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall into the hand of the physician.

NoteThe line is ambiguous in the Greek and has been read two ways: as a warning, that a person who sins will end up sick and in a doctor's hands, and as advice, that such a person should put himself under a doctor's care. The King James keeps the ambiguity.

16My son, let your tears fall over the dead, and begin the mourning like someone who has suffered a great loss himself. Then wrap the body as custom requires, and do not neglect his burial.

16My son, let tears fall down over the dead, and begin to lament, as if thou hadst suffered great harm thyself; and then cover his body according to the custom, and neglect not his burial.

NoteTo "cover his body according to the custom" is to wrap the corpse in cloth for burial, a duty owed by the family. Burial normally followed within a day of death, and to leave a body unburied was among the worst things that could happen to a person in this culture.

17Weep bitterly, wail loudly, and mourn as much as he deserves, for a day or two, so that people will not speak badly of you. Then let yourself be comforted for your grief.

17Weep bitterly, and make great moan, and use lamentation, as he is worthy, and that a day or two, lest thou be evil spoken of: and then comfort thyself for thy heaviness.

NoteLoud, formal weeping was expected of a household, and professional mourners were often hired to lead it. "lest thou be evil spoken of" means so that neighbors cannot say you failed to mourn properly. The "day or two" limits the most intense stage of mourning, not the whole of it.

18For death comes out of grief, and grief in the heart drains a person's strength.

18For of heaviness cometh death, and the heaviness of the heart breaketh strength.

Note"heaviness" all through this passage means grief or sorrow. It does not mean weight, or drowsiness.

19In trouble, sorrow stays on as well, and the life of a poor person weighs on the heart.

19In affliction also sorrow remaineth: and the life of the poor is the curse of the heart.

NoteThis verse is obscure in the Greek and the manuscripts differ. "the life of the poor is the curse of the heart" appears to mean that a life of poverty lies on the heart like a curse, though other readings of the line are possible.

20Do not take grief to heart. Drive it away, and remember how everything ends.

20Take no heaviness to heart: drive it away, and member the last end.

Note"member the last end" contains an old misprint, carried in many editions of the King James, for "remember". "the last end" means death.

21Do not forget it, for there is no coming back. You will do him no good, and you will only hurt yourself.

21Forget it not, for there is no turning again: thou shalt not do him good, but hurt thyself.

22Remember the sentence passed on me, because yours will be the same: yesterday it was mine, today it is yours.

22Remember my judgment: for thine also shall be so; yesterday for me, and to day for thee.

NoteThe speaker of this line is the dead person, addressing the living, a form of words familiar from ancient grave inscriptions. "my judgment" means the sentence passed on me, that is, death. Some Greek manuscripts read "his judgment" instead of "mine".

23When the dead person is at rest, let the memory of him rest too. Be comforted about him, once his spirit has left him.

23When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest; and be comforted for him, when his Spirit is departed from him.

24A scholar's wisdom comes from having free time. Someone with little business to attend to can become wise.

24The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise.

Note"a learned man" translates the word for a scribe: a member of a professional class of copyists, scholars and legal experts who studied and taught the written law. The training took years of unpaid study, which only a man with leisure could afford. The list of trades that follows is a comparison of that life with manual work.

25How can a man become wise who holds the plow, who takes pride in the ox goad, who drives oxen and is busy with their work, and whose talk is about bulls?

25How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose talk is of bullocks?

NoteA goad is a long pole tipped with a sharpened point or iron spike, used to prod oxen forward; the plowman carried it as the mark of his trade. "bullocks" are young bulls.

26He sets his mind on making his furrows, and he works hard at giving the cows their feed.

26He giveth his mind to make furrows; and is diligent to give the kine fodder.

Note"kine" is an old plural of cow.

27It is the same with every craftsman and master workman who labors night and day, and with those who carve and engrave seals, who work hard to make many different designs, who give themselves to making a true likeness, and who stay up to finish a job.

27So every carpenter and workmaster, that laboureth night and day: and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent to make great variety, and give themselves to counterfeit imagery, and watch to finish a work:

NoteSeals were small carved stones, worn on a ring or a cord, pressed into wax or soft clay to sign documents and mark ownership, and cutting them was fine miniature work. "counterfeit imagery" does not mean forgery: in 1611 "counterfeit" meant to copy or reproduce a likeness faithfully. A "workmaster" is a master craftsman who directs the work of others.

28So too the blacksmith, sitting by the anvil and studying the raw iron. The smoke of the fire eats at his flesh, and he struggles with the heat of the furnace. The clang of the hammer and anvil is always in his ears, and his eyes stay on the pattern of the thing he is making. He sets his mind on finishing his work, and stays up to polish it perfectly.

28The smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work, the vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with the heat of the furnace: the noise of the hammer and the anvil is ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the thing that he maketh; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and watcheth to polish it perfectly:

Note"the vapour of the fire" is the smoke and fumes of the forge. "considering the iron work" means studying the raw, unworked lump of iron before shaping it.

29So does the potter, sitting at his work and turning the wheel around with his feet, always anxiously bent over his task, turning out all his work by count.

29So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway carefully set at his work, and maketh all his work by number;

NoteThe potter's wheel of this period had a lower disc turned by the feet and an upper disc carrying the clay. "maketh all his work by number" means he turns out pieces to a set count, repeating the same shape many times over.

30He shapes the clay with his arm and bends its stiffness with his feet. He gives his attention to finishing the glaze, and works hard to clean out the kiln.

30He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent to make clean the furnace:

Note"he applieth himself to lead it over" refers to glazing: a lead based glaze was applied over the pot before firing. The "furnace" here is the kiln, which had to be raked clean of ash between firings. "boweth down his strength before his feet" is awkward in the Greek and is usually taken to describe treading the clay underfoot to soften it.

31All of these put their trust in their hands, and each one is skilled at his own work.

31All these trust to their hands: and every one is wise in his work.

32Without them no city could be lived in, and they will not settle wherever they wish or travel about.

32Without these cannot a city be inhabited: and they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down:

NoteThe second half of the verse is disputed. The Greek speaks of settling as resident foreigners and of walking about, and the sense seems to be that craftsmen are tied to the city where their workshop stands and cannot travel or resettle as a scholar or a merchant can.

33They will not be asked for in the public council, nor sit in a high place in the assembly. They will not sit on the judge's seat, nor grasp the terms of a legal decision. They cannot explain what is right and what the law decides, and they will not be found where wise sayings are discussed.

33They shall not be sought for in publick counsel, nor sit high in the congregation: they shall not sit on the judges’ seat, nor understand the sentence of judgment: they cannot declare justice and judgment; and they shall not be found where parables are spoken.

Note"publick counsel" is the governing council of the town. To "sit high in the congregation" is to take a seat of honor in the public assembly, and "the sentence of judgment" is the terms of a legal ruling. "where parables are spoken" means where proverbs and wise sayings are debated; a parable here is a compressed saying or maxim, not a story with a moral, and skill with such sayings was how a sage made his name.

34But they keep the world in working order, and their whole desire is in the practice of their trade.

34But they will maintain the state of the world, and all their desire is in the work of their craft.

Note"maintain the state of the world" means hold the ordinary fabric of daily life together. In the final clause the Greek manuscripts differ: some read "all their desire is in the work of their craft", others "their prayer is in the practice of their trade", which would make the craftsman's work itself his form of prayer.