Ecclesiasticus 41

O death, how bitter it is to think of you, for a man who lives at ease among the things he owns, for the man who has nothing to trouble him and who does well in everything, and who still has the strength to enjoy his food!

1O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto the man that hath nothing to vex him, and that hath prosperity in all things: yea, unto him that is yet able to receive meat!

NoteThe King James "able to receive meat" uses "meat" in its old general sense of food of any kind, not flesh in particular. The picture is of a man still healthy enough to eat and take pleasure in eating.

2O death, how welcome your sentence is to a man who is poor and whose strength is giving out, who is very old, who is troubled by everything, who has given up hope and has lost all patience!

2O death, acceptable is thy sentence unto the needy, and unto him whose strength faileth, that is now in the last age, and is vexed with all things, and to him that despaireth, and hath lost patience!

Note"Sentence" is a legal word: the verdict a judge hands down, which cannot be appealed. Death is being pictured as a sentence already passed. "In the last age" means in extreme old age, and "vexed with all things" means worn down and irritated by everything, not angry.

3Do not be afraid of the sentence of death. Remember the people who lived before you and the people who will come after you. This is the sentence the Lord has passed on every living person.

3Fear not the sentence of death, remember them that have been before thee, and that come after; for this is the sentence of the Lord over all flesh.

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew idiom carried over into Greek, meaning every living creature, and here every human being without exception.

4And why do you set yourself against what pleases the Most High? Whether you have lived ten years, or a hundred, or a thousand, no one asks about it in the grave.

4And why art thou against the pleasure of the most High? there is no inquisition in the grave, whether thou have lived ten, or an hundred, or a thousand years.

Note"The pleasure of the most High" means what he has decided and chosen, his will, not his enjoyment. "Inquisition" in 1611 English means simply an inquiry or investigation. "The grave" translates Hades, the underworld where the Greek Old Testament places all the dead together, a shadowy holding place rather than a place of reward or punishment; the point is that no one down there asks how long you lived.

5The children of sinners are detestable children, and they spend their time in the homes of the ungodly.

5The children of sinners are abominable children, and they that are conversant in the dwelling of the ungodly.

Note"Conversant in" is 1611 English for spending your time somewhere and keeping company there. It has nothing to do with conversation, or with being well informed about a subject.

6What the children of sinners inherit will be lost, and their descendants will carry disgrace that never ends.

6The inheritance of sinners’ children shall perish, and their posterity shall have a perpetual reproach.

NoteAn inheritance meant the family's land and property passed from father to son, the basis of a household's security and its standing among neighbors; losing it meant losing the family's place in the community altogether. "Posterity" means descendants.

7Children will complain about an ungodly father, because they are disgraced on account of him.

7The children will complain of an ungodly father, because they shall be reproached for his sake.

8How terrible for you, ungodly men, who have abandoned the law of God Most High! If you increase in number, it will only lead to your destruction.

8Woe be unto you, ungodly men, which have forsaken the law of the most high God! for if ye increase, it shall be to your destruction:

Note"Woe be unto you" opens a standard form of speech used by the prophets: a cry of grief over people already as good as doomed, rather than a curse being laid on them here and now. "The law of the most high God" is the Torah, the body of instruction given to Israel through Moses. "If ye increase" means increase in number, having many children, which was ordinarily counted the clearest sign of a flourishing family.

9If you are born, you will be born under a curse, and if you die, a curse will be your share.

9And if ye be born, ye shall be born to a curse: and if ye die, a curse shall be your portion.

NoteA "portion" is the share allotted to you, the word used for dividing out an inheritance among heirs. Instead of land or goods, what gets handed to these people is a curse.

10Everything that comes from the earth goes back to the earth again. In the same way the ungodly go from a curse to ruin.

10All that are of the earth shall turn to earth again: so the ungodly shall go from a curse to destruction.

NoteThe line echoes the words spoken over Adam in Genesis, "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Burial put the body back into the ground it was said to have been made from.

11When people mourn, they mourn over bodies, but the bad name of sinners will be wiped out.

11The mourning of men is about their bodies: but an ill name of sinners shall be blotted out.

NoteThe line is compressed and hard in the Greek. Mourning is something done over a body, and it ends when the body is gone; the name is what remains afterward. To be "blotted out" is to have your name wiped off a record, leaving nothing of you behind. The Greek can also be read as "the name of sinners, which is not good, shall be blotted out."

12Take care of your name, because it will stay with you longer than a thousand great treasures of gold.

12Have regard to thy name; for that shall continue with thee above a thousand great treasures of gold.

Note"Name" here means reputation, what people say about you and remember of you. In this culture a person's name was the part of them expected to outlast them, since the dead were thought of as surviving chiefly in being spoken of.

13A good life lasts a counted number of days, but a good name lasts forever.

13A good life hath but few days: but a good name endureth for ever.

NoteThe King James "hath but few days" and the plain rendering differ because the Greek says a good life has "the number of its days," that is, a fixed and countable span. The King James translators took that to mean a short one.

14My children, hold on to instruction and stay at peace. But wisdom that is hidden, and treasure that no one sees, what good is either of them?

14My children, keep discipline in peace: for wisdom that is hid, and a treasure that is not seen, what profit is in them both?

Note"Discipline" translates the Greek paideia, meaning upbringing, training and education, the whole business of raising a child into an adult. It does not mean punishment. The Greek is also ambiguous about whether "in peace" belongs with the instruction or begins the next thought.

15A man who hides his foolishness is better than a man who hides his wisdom.

15A man that hideth his foolishness is better than a man that hideth his wisdom.

16So then, have a sense of shame in the way my word tells you, because it is not good to hold on to every kind of shame, and not every kind of shame is approved in every situation.

16Therefore be shamefaced according to my word: for it is not good to retain all shamefacedness; neither is it altogether approved in every thing.

NoteIn 1611 "shamefaced" and "shamefacedness" meant modest, having a proper sense of shame about the things that deserve it. The words did not mean looking embarrassed or caught out. What follows is a list of the things that should produce that feeling, a recognized form in ancient moral teaching; the qualification here is that not every kind of shame is worth keeping.

17Be ashamed of sexual sin in front of your father and mother, and of a lie in front of a ruler and a powerful man,

17Be ashamed of whoredom before father and mother: and of a lie before a prince and a mighty man;

Note"Whoredom" is the King James word for sexual immorality generally, not only for prostitution. "Before father and mother" does not mean in their sight; the sense is that these are the people whose regard should hold you back in this matter. "Prince" in the King James means any ruler.

18of an offense in front of a judge and an official, of wrongdoing in front of the assembly and the people, of dishonest dealing in front of your business partner and your friend,

18Of an offence before a judge and ruler; of iniquity before a congregation and people; of unjust dealing before thy partner and friend;

Note"Congregation" here means the assembled community acting as a public body, the townspeople or the nation gathered together, not a religious congregation in the modern sense.

19and of stealing in the place where you are living as a stranger. Be ashamed in the matter of God's truth and his covenant, and of leaning on your elbow at the table, and of showing contempt in giving and receiving,

19And of theft in regard of the place where thou sojournest, and in regard of the truth of God and his covenant; and to lean with thine elbow upon the meat; and of scorning to give and take;

NoteTo "sojourn" is to live somewhere as a resident foreigner, without the standing and protection that came from belonging to the place; theft there disgraced you as an outsider and endangered others like you. "To lean with thine elbow upon the meat" is about table manners: diners reclined or sat around shared dishes, and sprawling across the food on your elbow marked you as greedy. "Meat" again means food of any kind. "Scorning to give and take" means behaving contemptuously in ordinary dealings where goods are handed over and received.

20and of saying nothing to people who greet you, and of staring at a prostitute,

20And of silence before them that salute thee; and to look upon an harlot;

Note"Salute" in the King James means to greet someone, not to make a military gesture. Failing to answer a greeting was a public insult.

21and of turning your face away from a relative, or of taking away someone's share or gift, or of gazing at another man's wife,

21And to turn away thy face from thy kinsman; or to take away a portion or a gift; or to gaze upon another man’s wife.

NoteA "kinsman" is a blood relative, a member of your extended family, who had a recognized claim on your help; turning your face away is refusing to acknowledge that claim. "To take away a portion or a gift" means withholding what is somebody's due, such as a share of food at a shared meal or a share in a distribution.

22or of meddling with his female servant, and do not go near her bed; and of insulting words in front of friends, and after you have given something, do not follow it with insults;

22Or to be overbusy with his maid, and come not near her bed; or of upbraiding speeches before friends; and after thou hast given, upbraid not;

NoteA "maid" is a female household slave or servant, part of a man's property and in no position to refuse; the warning is against interfering with her. "Upbraiding speeches" means reproaching or scolding words, and the last clause warns against giving someone a thing and then throwing it back at them afterward in conversation.

23or of repeating and passing on what you have heard, and of telling secrets.

23Or of iterating and speaking again that which thou hast heard; and of revealing of secrets.

Note"Iterating" simply means repeating. The concern is passing on what was said to you in confidence.

24In this way you will be ashamed of the right things, and you will find favor with everyone.

24So shalt thou be truly shamefaced and find favour before all men.

Note"Find favour before all men" means to be well thought of by everybody. "Favour" here is other people's good opinion of you, not a kindness done for you.