Ecclesiasticus 40

Hard work is laid out for every person, and a heavy load rests on the children of Adam, from the day they come out of their mother's womb until the day they go back to the mother of all things.

1Great travail is created for every man, and an heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother’s womb, till the day that they return to the mother of all things.

Note"Travail" in 1611 meant hard toil and painful effort, not travel. A "yoke" is the heavy wooden beam laid across the necks of oxen to harness them to a plow or cart, so it stands for a burden a person cannot shrug off. "The sons of Adam" is a Hebrew way of saying all human beings. "The mother of all things" is the earth: the first man was said to be formed from the ground, and burial returns the body to it.

2What they picture about what is coming, and the day of death, disturb their thoughts and put fear in their hearts.

2Their imagination of things to come, and the day of death, trouble their thoughts, and cause fear of heart;

3This is true of everyone, from the person who sits on a glorious throne to the person brought low in dirt and ashes,

3From him that sitteth on a throne of glory, unto him that is humbled in earth and ashes;

NoteSitting in dirt and ashes was the recognized posture of a mourner or of someone utterly humiliated, so the phrase means the lowest condition a person can be in. Verses 3 and 4 pair the highest and lowest examples in order to say "everyone in between as well."

4from the person who wears purple and a crown to the person dressed in rough, coarse cloth.

4From him that weareth purple and a crown, unto him that is clothed with a linen frock.

NotePurple cloth was dyed with a secretion from murex sea snails, and it took thousands of them to color one garment. It was therefore ruinously expensive and functioned as a badge of kings and the very rich. The garment at the other end of the scale is coarse working cloth, what the Greek calls sackcloth, the roughest fabric a poor laborer wore.

5There is anger, jealousy, trouble, restlessness, fear of death, rage, and fighting. And when he lies down to rest at night, his sleep changes what he knows.

5Wrath, and envy, trouble, and unquietness, fear of death, and anger, and strife, and in the time of rest upon his bed his night sleep, do change his knowledge.

NoteThe last clause is obscure in the Greek and the King James follows it word for word. The sense seems to be that even in bed his mind is not at rest but is churned and altered by what he has been through, which is what verse 6 then describes.

6He gets little rest or none at all. Then in his sleep, as though he were on watch duty, he is troubled by what he sees in his mind, like someone who has just escaped from a battle.

6A little or nothing is his rest, and afterward he is in his sleep, as in a day of keeping watch, troubled in the vision of his heart, as if he were escaped out of a battle.

Note"A day of keeping watch" is sentry duty, standing guard through the night while everyone else sleeps. The comparison is to a man who is technically lying down but is as alert and strained as a soldier on watch.

7At the very moment he is safe, he wakes up and is amazed that there was nothing to be afraid of.

7When all is safe, he awaketh, and marvelleth that the fear was nothing.

8Things like this happen to every living thing, both people and animals, and seven times more to sinners.

8Such things happen unto all flesh, both man and beast, and that is sevenfold more upon sinners.

Note"All flesh" is a standard Hebrew and Greek phrase for every living creature, people and animals together. "Sevenfold" is a set idiom for many times over rather than an exact multiple.

9Death, bloodshed, fighting, the sword, disasters, hunger, suffering, and plague come on them.

9Death, and bloodshed, strife, and sword, calamities, famine, tribulation, and the scourge;

Note"The scourge" is literally a whip. It was commonly used as an image for an epidemic, which is why modern versions render it plague.

10These things were made for the wicked, and because of them the flood came.

10These things are created for the wicked, and for their sakes came the flood.

NoteThe reference is to the flood of Noah in Genesis 6 to 9, sent because of human wickedness.

11Everything that comes from the earth goes back to the earth, and what comes from the waters returns to the sea.

11All things that are of the earth shall turn to the earth again: and that which is of the waters doth return into the sea.

NoteThe Greek manuscripts read "what is from the waters returns to the sea." A Hebrew copy of Sirach found in the twentieth century reads instead "what is from above returns above," which makes the second line about the breath or spirit rather than water. Both readings are ancient.

12Every bribe and every unfair act will be wiped out, but honest dealing will last forever.

12All bribery and injustice shall be blotted out: but true dealing shall endure for ever.

13The goods of unjust people will dry up like a river, and they will go with a crash, like a great clap of thunder in a rainstorm.

13The goods of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, and shall vanish with noise, like a great thunder in rain.

14When a man opens his hands, he will be glad. In the same way, those who break the law will come to nothing.

14While he openeth his hand he shall rejoice: so shall transgressors come to nought.

NoteThis verse is damaged or garbled in the Greek and its exact sense is disputed. Opening the hand is the ordinary gesture of generous giving, so the line is usually taken as a contrast: the open handed man ends in gladness, the lawbreaker ends in nothing.

15The children of the ungodly will not grow many branches. They are like unclean roots on hard rock.

15The children of the ungodly shall not bring forth many branches: but are as unclean roots upon a hard rock.

NoteBranches stand for descendants, as in a family tree. Roots on bare rock have nothing to grip and no soil to feed on, so they cannot last.

16The reeds that grow beside any water or on a riverbank are pulled up before any of the grass is.

16The weed growing upon every water and bank of a river shall be pulled up before all grass.

Note"Weed" here means the reeds and rushes that grow right at the waterline. Because they sit closest to the edge, they are the first thing stripped away when the river rises or dries, while ordinary grass further back survives.

17Being generous is like a garden full of good things, and giving to the poor lasts forever.

17Bountifulness is as a most fruitful garden, and mercifulness endureth for ever.

Note"Mercifulness" and, in verse 24, "alms" translate a Greek word that covers both compassion and the concrete act of handing money or food to the poor. In this period that giving was a recognized religious duty with a name of its own, not an occasional kindness.

18To work and to be satisfied with what you have makes a sweet life, but the one who finds treasure is better off than both.

18To labour, and to be content with that a man hath, is a sweet life: but he that findeth a treasure is above them both.

NoteBuried treasure was a real category, not a fairy tale. With no banks, people hid coin and valuables in the ground, and wars and sudden deaths meant caches were often left unclaimed and later stumbled on.

19Children and the building of a city keep a man's name going, but a wife with no fault in her counts for more than both.

19Children and the building of a city continue a man’s name: but a blameless wife is counted above them both.

NoteA man's name surviving him depended on descendants who bore it or on a founded settlement that carried it. Both are ways of not being forgotten, which is what "continue a man's name" means.

20Wine and music make the heart glad, but loving wisdom is better than both.

20Wine and musick rejoice the heart: but the love of wisdom is above them both.

21The pipe and the harp make sweet music, but a pleasant tongue is better than both.

21The pipe and the psaltery make sweet melody: but a pleasant tongue is above them both.

NoteThe "psaltery" was a stringed instrument plucked with the fingers, closer to a lyre or lute than to a modern harp. The "pipe" is a reed wind instrument. Both were standard at feasts.

22Your eye longs for grace and beauty, but it longs more than for both of those for grain while it is still green.

22Thine eye desireth favour and beauty: but more than both corn while it is green.

Note"Corn" in the King James means grain of any kind, wheat or barley, never maize. "Corn while it is green" is the young shoots standing in the field, the sight that promises there will be food this year.

23A friend and a companion are always welcome when they meet, but a wife with her husband is better than both.

23A friend and companion never meet amiss: but above both is a wife with her husband.

Note"Never meet amiss" is old English for "their meeting is never ill timed or unwelcome." It is not about quarreling.

24Relatives and helpers are there for a time of trouble, but giving to the poor rescues better than both.

24Brethren and help are against time of trouble: but alms shall deliver more than them both.

Note"Brethren" here means kin generally, not only brothers. See the note at verse 17 for "alms."

25Gold and silver make a person's footing sure, but good advice is valued more than both.

25Gold and silver make the foot stand sure: but counsel is esteemed above them both.

NoteMaking the foot stand sure is an idiom for secure footing in life, the ability to stand your ground rather than slip. Money buys that stability; the saying is that advice buys more of it.

26Riches and strength lift up the heart, but the fear of the Lord is better than both. Nothing is lacking in the fear of the Lord, and with it there is no need to look for help.

26Riches and strength lift up the heart: but the fear of the Lord is above them both: there is no want in the fear of the Lord, and it needeth not to seek help.

Note"The fear of the Lord" is a fixed phrase in these books. It means awe and reverence expressed in how a person lives, not fright. "There is no want" means nothing is lacking.

27The fear of the Lord is a garden full of good things, and it covers a person better than any glory.

27The fear of the Lord is a fruitful garden, and covereth him above all glory.

28My son, do not live the life of a beggar. It is better to die than to beg.

28My son, lead not a beggar’s life; for better it is to die than to beg.

29The life of a man who depends on someone else's table does not count as a life, because he makes himself unclean with another man's food. But a wise, well-taught man will watch out for this.

29The life of him that dependeth on another man’s table is not to be counted for a life; for he polluteth himself with other men’s meat: but a wise man well nurtured will beware thereof.

NoteDepending on another man's table means living as a hanger on in a wealthy household, fed at the patron's expense. "Meat" in the King James means food of any kind. "Polluteth himself" is the language of defilement: the writer treats eating at someone else's expense as staining a person, in the way a ritual impurity would.

30Begging tastes sweet in the mouth of a person with no shame, but inside him it burns like a fire in his belly.

30Begging is sweet in the mouth of the shameless: but in his belly there shall burn a fire.