Ecclesiasticus 47

After him, Nathan rose up to speak as a prophet in the time of David.

1And after him rose up Nathan to prophesy in the time of David.

Note"After him" continues a roll call of Israel's great figures that runs through these chapters; the man just praised was Samuel. Nathan was the court prophet under David, the one who both delivered God's promise about David's dynasty and later confronted David to his face over Bathsheba and Uriah.

2As the fat is taken away from the peace offering, so David was chosen out of the people of Israel.

2As is the fat taken away from the peace offering, so was David chosen out of the children of Israel.

NoteIn Israelite sacrifice the fat around the animal's organs was cut away from the rest of the meat and burned on the altar as God's own portion. It was the choicest part, reserved and set apart, so the comparison says David was singled out as the pick of the nation, not merely selected at random.

3He played with lions as if they were young goats, and with bears as if they were lambs.

3He played with lions as with kids, and with bears as with lambs.

NoteNot a fairy tale detail. This compresses David's own account in 1 Samuel 17 of his years as a shepherd, when he says he killed a lion and a bear that carried off sheep from his father's flock. "Played with" is the writer's way of saying he handled them as easily as a child handles a lamb.

4Did he not kill a giant while he was still young? Did he not take away the shame of his people, when he lifted his hand with the stone in the sling and beat down the boasting of Goliath?

4Slew he not a giant, when he was yet but young? and did he not take away reproach from the people, when he lifted up his hand with the stone in the sling, and beat down the boasting of Goliath?

NoteGoliath was the champion of the Philistine army, described in 1 Samuel 17 as a giant in armor whose daily challenge shamed the Israelite soldiers because no one would face him. "Reproach" in 1611 English means public disgrace, the insult itself rather than any guilt of theirs.

5For he called on the Most High Lord, and the Lord gave strength to his right hand to kill that mighty warrior, and to lift up the horn of his people.

5For he called upon the most high Lord; and he gave him strength in his right hand to slay that mighty warrior, and set up the horn of his people.

NoteThe horn of an ox or ram stood for sheer strength in Hebrew poetry, so to raise up someone's horn is to make them strong and give them standing, and to break a horn is to leave them powerless. The image runs through this chapter at verses 5, 7 and 11.

6So the people honored him with ten thousands, and praised him in the blessings of the Lord, because the Lord gave him a crown of glory.

6So the people honoured him with ten thousands, and praised him in the blessings of the Lord, in that he gave him a crown of glory.

NoteThe reference is to the song the women sang when David returned from battle in 1 Samuel 18: "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." The tens of thousands are enemy dead, counted as praise.

7For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and brought to nothing the Philistines who fought against him, and broke their horn in pieces, as it still is today.

7For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and brought to nought the Philistines his adversaries, and brake their horn in sunder unto this day.

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled on the coastal plain southwest of Israel, organized around five cities, and they were Israel's dominant military rival through the period of the judges and Saul. By the writer's own day, some eight centuries later, they had ceased to be a power, which is what "unto this day" is pointing at.

8In everything he did he praised the Holy One, the Most High, with words of glory. With his whole heart he sang songs, and he loved the one who made him.

8In all his works he praised the Holy One most high with words of glory; with his whole heart he sung songs, and loved him that made him.

9He also placed singers in front of the altar, so that their voices would make sweet music, and they would sing praises in their songs every day.

9He set singers also before the altar, that by their voices they might make sweet melody, and daily sing praises in their songs.

NoteThe Jerusalem temple did not yet exist in David's reign, so this is the altar at the tent shrine. The tradition followed here, set out at length in 1 Chronicles, credits David with organizing the guilds of Levite musicians who sang at the daily sacrifices.

10He made their feasts beautiful, and he set the appointed times in order, right to the end, so that they might praise his holy name, and so that the temple would ring with sound from the morning on.

10He beautified their feasts, and set in order the solemn times until the end, that they might praise his holy name, and that the temple might sound from morning.

Note"Solemn times" in 1611 English does not mean grave or gloomy occasions; it means the fixed festival days of the religious year, appointed and recurring. Setting them "in order" means arranging the calendar and the rotas of priests and singers who served at each one.

11The Lord took away his sins, and lifted up his horn forever. He gave him an agreement that made his family kings, and a throne of glory in Israel.

11The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever: he gave him a covenant of kings, and a throne of glory in Israel.

Note"A covenant of kings" points to the promise in 2 Samuel 7 that David's descendants would hold the throne permanently. A covenant here is a binding agreement with sworn terms, closer to a treaty or a grant than to a mutual understanding.

12After him a wise son rose up, and because of him he lived in safety.

12After him rose up a wise son, and for his sake he dwelt at large.

NoteThe wise son is Solomon. "Dwelt at large" is old English for living in open, unconfined space, hence living in security rather than under siege; the point is that Solomon inherited the safety David's wars had won. The Greek leaves it open whether "because of him" means because of David or because of God.

13Solomon ruled in a time of peace, and he was honored, for God made everything quiet around him, so that he might build a house for God's name, and prepare a holy place forever.

13Solomon reigned in a peaceable time, and was honoured; for God made all quiet round about him, that he might build an house in his name, and prepare his sanctuary for ever.

NoteThe "house" is the temple in Jerusalem, which Solomon built. The tradition was that David was not permitted to build it because he had been a man of war, and that the work fell to a son who reigned in peace.

14How wise you were in your youth, and filled with understanding like a flood!

14How wise wast thou in thy youth and, as a flood, filled with understanding!

15Your soul covered the whole earth, and you filled it with riddles that were hard to understand.

15Thy soul covered the whole earth, and thou filledst it with dark parables.

Note"Dark parables" does not mean sinister ones. A parable in this older sense is a saying with a hidden point, and a dark one is a riddle whose meaning is deliberately veiled. The queen of Sheba's visit in 1 Kings 10 is described as an attempt to test Solomon with exactly this kind of hard question.

16Your name went far away, out to the islands, and you were loved for your peace.

16Thy name went far unto the islands; and for thy peace thou wast beloved.

NoteThe islands, or isles, is a standard biblical phrase for the coastlands and islands of the Mediterranean, the far western edge of the known world. Saying a name reached the islands is saying it reached everywhere.

17The countries were amazed at you for your songs, your proverbs, your comparisons, and your explanations.

17The countries marvelled at thee for thy songs, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations.

NoteThe list matches 1 Kings 4, which credits Solomon with thousands of proverbs and songs and says that people came from every nation to hear his wisdom. "Interpretations" means his solutions to riddles and hard questions put to him.

18By the name of the Lord God, who is called the Lord God of Israel, you gathered gold as if it were tin, and piled up silver as if it were lead.

18By the name of the Lord God, which is called the Lord God of Israel, thou didst gather gold as tin and didst multiply silver as lead.

NoteTin and lead were the cheap, ordinary metals of the ancient world, used for solder and weights. The comparison is about quantity: Solomon accumulated gold and silver in the bulk you would expect only of scrap metal.

19You bowed your body down to women, and through your body you were brought under control.

19Thou didst bow thy loins unto women, and by thy body thou wast brought into subjection.

NoteA restrained way of describing what 1 Kings 11 says openly, that Solomon took hundreds of foreign wives and concubines and that in old age they turned him toward the worship of their own gods. "Brought into subjection" means he ended up under their control rather than in charge of himself.

20You stained your honor, and you spoiled your family line, so that you brought anger down on your children, and you were full of grief over your foolishness.

20Thou didst stain thy honour, and pollute thy seed: so that thou broughtest wrath upon thy children, and wast grieved for thy folly.

Note"Pollute thy seed" means he defiled his own line of descendants, so the consequences fell on his children rather than on him. The last clause is uncertain in the manuscripts: some read "and wast grieved for thy folly" as the King James does, making Solomon the one who grieves, while others read "I was grieved for your folly," putting the grief in the writer's own mouth.

21So the kingdom was divided, and out of Ephraim a rebellious kingdom ruled.

21So the kingdom was divided, and out of Ephraim ruled a rebellious kingdom.

NoteAfter Solomon's death the single kingdom split in two: ten northern tribes broke away under Jeroboam, leaving Solomon's son Rehoboam with Judah in the south. Ephraim was the largest northern tribe, and its name is used throughout the prophets as shorthand for the whole northern kingdom.

22But the Lord will never give up his mercy, and none of his works will be destroyed. He will not wipe out the descendants of the one he chose, and he will not take away the children of the man who loved him. So he gave a remnant to Jacob, and out of him a root to David.

22But the Lord will never leave off his mercy, neither shall any of his works perish, neither will he abolish the posterity of his elect, and the seed of him that loveth him he will not take away: wherefore he gave a remnant unto Jacob, and out of him a root unto David.

NoteA remnant is the surviving fraction left after a disaster, the part not carried off or destroyed. Jacob is the ancestor whose other name was Israel, so "Jacob" here means the nation. A "root" is the living stump left when a tree is cut down, from which new growth can still come; the promise is that David's line is not finished.

23So Solomon rested with his fathers, and out of his descendants he left behind Rehoboam, the foolishness of the people, a man with no understanding, who turned the people away by his advice. There was also Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, and showed Ephraim the way of sin.

23Thus rested Solomon with his fathers, and of his seed he left behind him Roboam, even the foolishness of the people, and one that had no understanding, who turned away the people through his counsel. There was also Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, and shewed Ephraim the way of sin:

Note"Rested with his fathers" is the standard biblical formula for dying and being buried in the ancestral tomb, with no comment implied about the state of the dead. Rehoboam's fatal counsel was his refusal, in 1 Kings 12, to lighten the forced labor and taxes Solomon had imposed, which triggered the northern revolt. Jeroboam "caused Israel to sin" by setting up rival golden calf shrines at Bethel and Dan so that his subjects would not travel south to worship in Jerusalem.

24And their sins grew very many, so that they were driven out of the land.

24And their sins were multiplied exceedingly, that they were driven out of the land.

NoteDriven out of the land means deported. The northern kingdom was broken up and its population resettled by Assyria in 722 BC, and Judah was carried off to Babylon in stages ending in 587 BC.

25For they searched out every kind of wickedness, until vengeance came upon them.

25For they sought out all wickedness, till the vengeance came upon them.