Ecclesiasticus 39

But the man who gives his mind to the law of the Most High, and spends his time thinking deeply about it, will search out the wisdom of all the ancients, and will spend his time on the prophecies.

1But he that giveth his mind to the law of the most High, and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophecies.

NoteThe "But" points back to chapter 38, which described the plowman, the engraver, the smith and the potter: skilled men whose work leaves them no leisure for study. This chapter sets against them the scribe, the professional student of the sacred writings. "The law of the most High" is the Torah, the five books of Moses; the wisdom of the ancients and the prophecies cover the rest of Israel's scriptures, so the three phrases together sketch the whole body of text a scribe worked on.

2He will hold on to the sayings of famous men, and wherever there are clever sayings with hidden meanings, he will be there too.

2He will keep the sayings of the renowned men: and where subtil parables are, he will be there also.

Note"Parables" here translates a word covering proverbs, riddles, comparisons and pointed sayings in general, not narrative stories of the kind Jesus later told. "Subtil" in 1611 meant finely made or intricate, with no suggestion of deceit.

3He will search out the secrets buried in weighty sayings, and he will be at home among sayings that are hard to understand.

3He will seek out the secrets of grave sentences, and be conversant in dark parables.

Note"Dark" means obscure, hard to see into, not evil. A "sentence" in this older English is a weighty saying or judgment, the sense that survives in the word sententious.

4He will serve among great men and appear before rulers. He will travel through foreign lands, for he has tested what is good and what is bad among people.

4He shall serve among great men, and appear before princes: he will travel through strange countries; for he hath tried the good and the evil among men.

NoteScribes were career officials: secretaries, advisers and envoys attached to rulers. Foreign travel was part of the job and the source of the wide knowledge of human character claimed here. "Strange countries" means foreign ones, and "tried" means tested, put to the proof.

5He will set his heart to turn early to the Lord who made him. He will pray before the Most High, and open his mouth in prayer, and beg pardon for his sins.

5He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and will pray before the most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and make supplication for his sins.

Note"Resort early" renders a verb built on rising at dawn. It carries both literal morning prayer and the idea of seeking something first and eagerly, before anything else.

6When the great Lord wills it, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding. He will pour out wise sayings, and give thanks to the Lord in his prayer.

6When the great Lord will, he shall be filled with the spirit of understanding: he shall pour out wise sentences, and give thanks unto the Lord in his prayer.

7He will guide his own advice and knowledge, and he will think deeply about his secrets.

7He shall direct his counsel and knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate.

NoteWhose secrets is left open. The phrase can mean that the sage ponders God's hidden things, or that he does his thinking in private, or that he keeps his own counsel. The Greek pronoun does not settle it.

8He will show others what he has learned, and he will take pride in the law of the Lord's covenant.

8He shall shew forth that which he hath learned, and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement with sworn terms. Here it is the agreement made at Sinai between God and Israel, whose terms are the law; hence "the law of the covenant".

9Many will praise his understanding. As long as the world lasts, it will not be blotted out. The memory of him will not go away, and his name will live on from one generation to the next.

9Many shall commend his understanding; and so long as the world endureth, it shall not be blotted out; his memorial shall not depart away, and his name shall live from generation to generation.

NoteTo blot out was to sponge ink off a scroll, wiping a name out of a written record. A "memorial" in this English is the memory of a person kept alive by others, not a monument.

10Nations will tell of his wisdom, and the gathered people will speak his praise.

10Nations shall shew forth his wisdom, and the congregation shall declare his praise.

Note"The congregation" is the assembled community of Israel gathered for worship; the Greek word is the one later used for a church.

11If he dies, he will leave behind a greater name than a thousand others. And if he lives, he will make that name greater still.

11If he die, he shall leave a greater name than a thousand: and if he live, he shall increase it.

NoteThe Greek is read two ways. The King James takes the verbs as "if he die" and "if he live"; others read them as "if he continues" and "if he comes to rest", ending "it is enough for him".

12I still have more to say, things I have thought about, for I am as full as the moon when it is full.

12Yet have I more to say, which I have thought upon; for I am filled as the moon at the full.

NoteVerses 12 to 35 are a hymn of praise, marked off from the teaching that precedes it. The full moon is an image of being filled to capacity.

13Listen to me, you holy children, and bud out like a rose growing beside a stream in the field.

13Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field:

Note"Holy children" is a teacher addressing his pupils: the "my son" of wisdom writing put into the plural. The "rose" is Greek rhodon, used loosely of any showy flower, and what grows beside a stream in this landscape may be the oleander rather than a garden rose.

14Give off a sweet smell like frankincense, and bloom like a lily. Send out your fragrance, and sing a song of praise. Bless the Lord for all his works.

14And give ye a sweet savour as frankincense, and flourish as a lily, send forth a smell, and sing a song of praise, bless the Lord in all his works.

NoteFrankincense is a fragrant gum resin tapped from trees in southern Arabia and east Africa, imported at high cost and burned in temple worship, so the comparison is with the smell of the sanctuary.

15Make his name great, and show his praise with the songs of your lips and with harps. When you praise him, say it in this way:

15Magnify his name, and shew forth his praise with the songs of your lips, and with harps, and in praising him ye shall say after this manner:

NoteThe "harp" is the kinnor, a small handheld lyre with a sounding box and a handful of strings, standard in temple singing, not the tall modern concert harp.

16All the works of the Lord are extremely good, and whatever he commands will be carried out at the right time.

16All the works of the Lord are exceeding good, and whatsoever he commandeth shall be accomplished in due season.

17No one may say, "What is this? Why is that?", for at the proper time everything will be searched out. At his command the waters stood up in a heap, and at the words of his mouth the storehouses of water stood.

17And none may say, What is this? wherefore is that? for at time convenient they shall all be sought out: at his commandment the waters stood as an heap, and at the words of his mouth the receptacles of waters.

Note"The waters stood as an heap" quotes the crossing of the sea in Exodus 15:8, where the water is described as piling up. The "receptacles of waters" are the storehouses or reservoirs in which ancient cosmology pictured God keeping the waters above and below the earth, to be released at his word.

18At his command whatever pleases him is done, and no one can stop him when he chooses to save.

18At his commandment is done whatsoever pleaseth him; and none can hinder, when he will save.

19The deeds of every living person are laid out before him, and nothing can be hidden from his eyes.

19The works of all flesh are before him, and nothing can be hid from his eyes.

20He sees from forever past to forever ahead, and nothing is a wonder to him.

20He seeth from everlasting to everlasting; and there is nothing wonderful before him.

Note"Wonderful" keeps its older sense: nothing causes him wonder, nothing takes him by surprise. The Greek can also be read as nothing being too marvelous, that is too difficult, for him, and the two senses are hard to separate.

21A person has no need to say, "What is this? Why is that?", for he has made everything for its own use.

21A man need not to say, What is this? wherefore is that? for he hath made all things for their uses.

22His blessing covered the dry land like a river, and soaked it like a flood.

22His blessing covered the dry land as a river, and watered it as a flood.

NoteThe picture is of a great river overflowing its banks. In this part of the world the annual flood that soaked the ground was what made farmland fertile.

23Just as he has turned waters salty, so the heathen will receive his anger as their inheritance.

23As he hath turned the waters into saltness: so shall the heathen inherit his wrath.

NoteTurning waters salty points to the salt waste around the Dead Sea, remembered as country ruined by judgment (Genesis 19, Deuteronomy 29:23). "Heathen" translates a word meaning simply the nations, the peoples other than Israel, without the later sneering tone. An inheritance is the portion allotted to someone as his share, so wrath is what falls to them as their portion.

24Just as his ways are smooth and clear to those who are holy, so they are things that make the wicked trip and fall.

24As his ways are plain unto the holy; so are they stumblingblocks unto the wicked.

25Good things were created from the beginning for the good, and evil things in the same way for sinners.

25For the good are good things created from the beginning: so evil things for sinners.

26The main things needed for a person's whole life are water, fire, iron, and salt, wheat flour, honey, milk, the blood of the grape, oil, and clothing.

26The principal things for the whole use of man’s life are water, fire, iron, and salt, flour of wheat, honey, milk, and the blood of the grape, and oil, and clothing.

NoteThis is the basic store cupboard of an ancient household: water, fire for cooking and warmth, iron for tools, salt for seasoning and for preserving food, wheat flour, honey as the ordinary sweetener since there was no sugar, milk, wine, olive oil for cooking, lamps, washing and medicine, and cloth. "The blood of the grape" is an old set phrase for wine.

27All these things are good for those who honor God, but for sinners they are turned into evils.

27All these things are for good to the godly: so to the sinners they are turned into evil.

28There are winds created to carry out punishment, and in their rage they strike heavy blows. In the time of destruction they pour out their strength and satisfy the anger of the one who made them.

28There be spirits that are created for vengeance, which in their fury lay on sore strokes; in the time of destruction they pour out their force, and appease the wrath of him that made them.

NoteThe Greek word means both "winds" and "spirits", and the ambiguity is genuine: the passage lists these alongside fire, hail and famine, yet speaks of them raging and obeying orders. "Sore strokes" are severe lashes, the blows of a whip. To "appease the wrath" of their maker is to spend the anger that sent them, so that it is exhausted.

29Fire, hail, famine, and death, all these were created to carry out punishment;

29Fire, and hail, and famine, and death, all these were created for vengeance;

NoteSword, famine, wild beasts and plague are a standard set of judgments in Israel's scriptures (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 32, Ezekiel 14), which is why these particular items appear together in a list.

30and so were the teeth of wild animals, and scorpions, and snakes, and the sword that punishes the wicked and destroys them.

30Teeth of wild beasts, and scorpions, serpents, and the sword punishing the wicked to destruction.

31They will be glad to obey his command, and they will stand ready on the earth for when they are needed. And when their time comes, they will not go against his word.

31They shall rejoice in his commandment, and they shall be ready upon earth, when need is; and when their time is come, they shall not transgress his word.

32So from the beginning my mind was settled, and I thought about these things, and I have left them behind in writing.

32Therefore from the beginning I was resolved, and thought upon these things, and have left them in writing.

NoteThe "I" is the author of the book, a Jerusalem teacher named Jesus son of Sirach, writing about 180 BC; his grandson later translated the work into Greek.

33All the works of the Lord are good, and he will supply everything that is needed at the right time.

33All the works of the Lord are good: and he will give every needful thing in due season.

34So no one can say, "This one is worse than that one," for in their own time they will all prove good.

34So that a man cannot say, This is worse than that: for in time they shall all be well approved.

Note"Well approved" means tested and found genuine, the word used of metal assayed for purity: given time, each thing will be shown to answer the purpose it was made for.

35So praise the Lord with your whole heart and mouth, and bless the name of the Lord.

35And therefore praise ye the Lord with the whole heart and mouth, and bless the name of the Lord.