Ecclesiasticus 43

The pride of the heights above is the clear sky, the look of heaven, in all its glorious display.

1The pride of the height, the clear firmament, the beauty of heaven, with his glorious shew;

NoteThis chapter continues a long hymn of praise that began at 42:15, working through the sun, moon, stars, weather and sea in turn. "Pride" here means splendor or magnificence, the thing a height can rightly boast of, and not arrogance. "Shew" is only the old spelling of "show." Note also that 1611 English used "his" as the possessive for things of no gender, where we now say "its": "his glorious shew" means the sky's display, and "his rising" in the next verse means the sun's rising. Throughout the chapter "heaven" means the visible sky overhead.

2The sun, when it appears, tells its news as it rises. It is a wonderful instrument, the work of the Most High.

2The sun when it appeareth, declaring at his rising a marvellous instrument, the work of the most High:

Note"Instrument" translates a Greek word for a made object, a vessel or implement. The sun is being described as a piece of workmanship, not as a tool for measuring or a musical one. The verb behind "declaring" and "tells its news" is the one used of a herald making a public announcement.

3At noon it dries up the land. Who can stand up to its burning heat?

3At noon it parcheth the country, and who can abide the burning heat thereof?

Note"Abide" in 1611 meant to withstand or endure something, not to remain or to live somewhere. The question is who could survive the heat.

4A man tending a furnace works in fierce heat, but the sun burns the mountains three times more. It breathes out fiery vapors and sends out bright beams, and it makes the eyes go dim.

4A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the sun burneth the mountains three times more; breathing out fiery vapours, and sending forth bright beams, it dimmeth the eyes.

NoteA furnace worker forced air into the coals with bellows to drive the heat up, so "a man blowing a furnace" is the hottest job the writer's readers knew. "Three times more" is a round way of saying far hotter still, not a measurement.

5Great is the Lord who made it, and at his command it hurries on its way.

5Great is the Lord that made it; and at his commandment runneth hastily.

6He also made the moon to serve in its season, to mark the times, and to be a sign for the world.

6He made the moon also to serve in her season for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world.

NoteThe Jewish calendar was lunar. Each month began when the new crescent was first sighted, so the moon was the working instrument of timekeeping, fixing the dates of everything in the year.

7From the moon comes the sign of the feast days. It is a light that grows less once it has reached its full.

7From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreaseth in her perfection.

NoteFestivals fell on fixed days of the lunar month, Passover on the fourteenth for example, so the moon's phase itself announced when a feast had come. "A light that decreaseth in her perfection" means that once the moon is full it begins to wane.

8The month is named after it, and it grows wonderfully as it changes. It is an instrument of the armies above, shining in the dome of the sky.

8The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing, being an instrument of the armies above, shining in the firmament of heaven;

Note"The month is called after her name" is a remark about vocabulary: in Hebrew the word for month comes from the word for new, as in new moon, and in Greek the words for moon and month are the same root. "The armies above" is the ancient phrase "the host of heaven," the sun, moon and stars pictured as troops drawn up in ranks. "Firmament" is the sky imagined as a solid dome or vault stretched over the earth.

9It is the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, a decoration that gives light in the highest places of the Lord.

9The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord.

10At the command of the Holy One they stand in their order, and they never grow weak at their posts.

10At the commandment of the Holy One they will stand in their order, and never faint in their watches.

Note"Watches" are shifts of sentry duty through the night. The stars are pictured as guards who hold their assigned posts and never flag.

11Look at the rainbow, and praise the one who made it. It is very beautiful in its brightness.

11Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it; very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof.

NoteA reader of this book would connect the rainbow with the story in Genesis 9, where God sets the rainbow in the cloud after the flood as a standing sign of his promise.

12It circles the sky with a glorious ring, and the hands of the Most High have bent it.

12It compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the most High have bended it.

Note"Compasseth the heaven about" means encircles the sky. The image of hands bending it is exact: in both Hebrew and Greek the word for a rainbow is the ordinary word for an archer's bow, so the rainbow is a bow that God has strung and drawn.

13At his command he makes the snow fall, and he swiftly sends out the lightnings of his judgment.

13By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall aplace, and sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his judgment.

NoteThe 1611 spelling "aplace" is generally read as "apace," meaning swiftly. "Lightnings of his judgment" is the older plural for repeated flashes.

14Because of this the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly out like birds.

14Through this the treasures are opened: and clouds fly forth as fowls.

Note"Treasures" in 1611 meant treasuries, that is, storehouses. Ancient writers pictured snow, hail, rain and wind as kept in stores up in the sky and released at God's word; Job 38:22 speaks the same way of the treasuries of snow and hail.

15By his great power he makes the clouds strong, and the hailstones are broken into small pieces.

15By his great power he maketh the clouds firm, and the hailstones are broken small.

16At the sight of him the mountains are shaken, and at his will the south wind blows.

16At his sight the mountains are shaken, and at his will the south wind bloweth.

NoteIn this part of the world the south wind blows off the desert and is scorching, while the north wind, in verse 20, is the cold one. The contrast the writer is drawing depends on that geography.

17The noise of the thunder makes the earth tremble, and so do the northern storm and the whirlwind. Like birds flying down, he scatters the snow, and it comes down like locusts settling.

17The noise of the thunder maketh the earth to tremble: so doth the northern storm and the whirlwind: as birds flying he scattereth the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of grasshoppers:

Note"Grasshopper" was the ordinary English word in 1611 for a locust, and "lighting" means alighting, coming down to settle. The picture is a locust swarm dropping onto a field in a dense layer, which is how heavy snowfall looks.

18The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the heart is amazed as it rains down.

18The eye marvelleth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the raining of it.

19He also pours frost on the earth like salt, and when it freezes hard it becomes like the tips of sharp stakes.

19The hoarfrost also as salt he poureth on the earth, and being congealed, it lieth on the top of sharp stakes.

NoteHoarfrost is the white crystalline frost that forms on cold clear nights, fine enough to look like scattered salt. "Congealed" simply means frozen. "Sharp stakes" renders a word for thorns or points: when the frost sets hard it stands up in little spikes.

20When the cold north wind blows and the water freezes into ice, the ice settles on every pool of water and covers the water like a breastplate.

20When the cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into ice, it abideth upon every gathering together of water, and clotheth the water as with a breastplate.

NoteA breastplate is body armor, a plate of metal or metal scales worn over the chest. The ice is pictured as armor plating laid across the surface of the water.

21It devours the mountains, burns up the wilderness, and eats up the grass like fire.

21It devoureth the mountains, and burneth the wilderness, and consumeth the grass as fire.

NoteHard frost scorches and kills plants, and ancient writers described that damage in the language of burning, much as we still speak of frostburn. The subject of "it" is the cold.

22A mist that comes quickly is a cure for everything, and a dew that comes after heat brings refreshment.

22A present remedy of all is a mist coming speedily, a dew coming after heat refresheth.

Note"Present" in 1611 meant immediate or prompt, so "a present remedy" is an instant cure. The word behind "remedy" is the ordinary Greek word for healing. In a hot dry climate a sudden mist or a heavy dew was what saved the crops.

23By his plan he quiets the deep sea, and he plants islands in it.

23By his counsel he appeaseth the deep, and planteth islands therein.

Note"The deep" is a standing term for the open sea, the great mass of ocean water. The islands are spoken of as planted, that is, set firmly in place in it like something rooted.

24Those who sail on the sea tell of its dangers, and when we hear it with our own ears we are amazed.

24They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel thereat.

25For in it are strange and wonderful works: every kind of living creature, and the great sea creatures that were made.

25For therein be strange and wondrous works, variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created.

Note"Whales" translates a Greek word meaning the huge creatures of the sea, sea monsters of any kind, rather than whales in the modern zoological sense. It is the same word used in the Greek Bible of the great fish that swallowed Jonah.

26Because of him the outcome of them all succeeds, and by his word all things hold together.

26By him the end of them hath prosperous success, and by his word all things consist.

NoteThis verse is obscure in the Greek and the ancient copies differ. One reading gives "messenger" or "angel," producing something like "because of him his messenger prospers on his way"; the reading behind the KJV takes the word as the end or outcome of all these things. "Consist" is the older sense of the verb, to hold together or stay in one piece, not the modern "consist of."

27We could say much and still fall short. To put it briefly, he is everything.

27We may speak much, and yet come short: wherefore in sum, he is all.

Note"Come short" means fall short, run out of words before the subject runs out. "He is all" renders an extremely compressed Greek phrase, literally "he is the all," which has been understood both as "he is everything" and as "the sum of the matter is: he is."

28How will we find the strength to give him glory? For he is greater than all his works.

28How shall we be able to magnify him? for he is great above all his works.

Note"Magnify" means to declare someone great, to praise them as great. It does not mean to make bigger. The same word returns in verse 31.

29The Lord is awesome and very great, and his power is marvelous.

29The Lord is terrible and very great, and marvellous is his power.

Note"Terrible" in 1611 meant awe-inspiring, the kind of thing that stops you where you stand. It did not carry the modern sense of "very bad." "Marvellous" means causing wonder.

30When you give glory to the Lord, lift him as high as you can, for he will still go far beyond that. When you lift him high, use all your strength and do not grow tired, for you can never go far enough.

30When ye glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as ye can; for even yet will he far exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth all your strength, and be not weary; for ye can never go far enough.

Note"Exalt" means to lift someone high in speech, to praise them as high. The instruction is about how far praise can be pushed, with the answer that it can never reach far enough.

31Who has seen him, so that he could describe him to us? And who can praise him as great as he truly is?

31Who hath seen him, that he might tell us? and who can magnify him as he is?

32There are still greater things hidden than these, for we have seen only a few of his works.

32There are yet hid greater things than these be, for we have seen but a few of his works.

33For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has given wisdom.

33For the Lord hath made all things; and to the godly hath he given wisdom.

NoteThis closes the hymn to the works of creation that began at 42:15. "The godly" translates a word for the devout, those who keep faith with God, and the mention of wisdom returns to the subject the book as a whole is about.