Ecclesiasticus 49

The memory of Josias is like a blend of perfume mixed by a skilled perfume maker. It is sweet as honey in every mouth, and like music at a banquet where wine is served.

1The remembrance of Josias is like the composition of the perfume that is made by the art of the apothecary: it is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as musick at a banquet of wine.

NoteJosias is the Greek form of Josiah, king of Judah in the late seventh century BC, remembered for tearing out shrines and images and for restoring the temple worship. This chapter belongs to a long roll call of Israel's famous men that runs from chapter 44 onward, and it works roughly backward from the last kings to the first man. "The composition of the perfume" is the sacred incense blended for the temple from a fixed recipe of spices; a recipe no one was permitted to copy for ordinary use.

2He acted rightly while he turned the people back to God, and he removed the disgusting things that came from wrongdoing.

2He behaved himself uprightly in the conversion of the people, and took away the abominations of iniquity.

NoteThe "abominations" are idols and the shrines and objects that went with them. The word in the King James is the standard term for an object of another people's worship seen from the inside of Israel's own; it carries disgust rather than description. In 1611 "conversion" simply meant a turning around, with no sense of a private change of heart.

3He set his heart toward the Lord, and in a time when people ignored God, he made the worship of God firm again.

3He directed his heart unto the Lord, and in the time of the ungodly he established the worship of God.

4Except for David and Ezekias and Josias, they all fell short, because they abandoned the law of the Most High. The kings of Judah came to an end.

4All, except David and Ezekias and Josias, were defective: for they forsook the law of the most High, even the kings of Juda failed.

NoteEzekias is the Greek form of Hezekiah, a king of Judah about a century before Josiah. "Defective" here means falling short or failing, not damaged. The kings "failed" in the sense that the line came to its end: the last kings of Judah were deposed by Babylon and the kingdom stopped existing in 587 BC.

5So he handed their power over to others, and gave their glory to a foreign nation.

5Therefore he gave their power unto others, and their glory to a strange nation.

Note"He" is God, though the King James does not say so outright. "A strange nation" means a foreign one, with no suggestion of oddness; the nation meant is Babylon.

6They burned the chosen city where the holy place stood, and left its streets empty, just as Jeremias had said would happen.

6They burnt the chosen city of the sanctuary, and made the streets desolate, according to the prophecy of Jeremias.

NoteThe chosen city is Jerusalem, and the sanctuary is the temple standing in it; both were burned by the Babylonian army. Jeremias is the Greek form of Jeremiah, the prophet who had announced this during the city's last years.

7For they treated him badly, though he was a prophet, set apart while he was still in his mother's body, so that he might pull up, and bring trouble, and tear down, and also build up and plant.

7For they entreated him evil, who nevertheless was a prophet, sanctified in his mother’s womb, that he might root out, and afflict, and destroy; and that he might build up also, and plant.

Note"Entreated him evil" means treated him badly. Jeremiah was beaten, put in the stocks and lowered into a muddy cistern by people who resented what he said. The six verbs that follow, rooting out, afflicting, destroying, building and planting, are quoted from the opening of his own book, where they describe the commission he was given.

8It was Ezekiel who saw the vision full of glory, which was shown to him on the chariot of the cherubim.

8It was Ezekiel who saw the glorious vision, which was shewed him upon the chariot of the cherubims.

NoteThe reference is to the vision that opens the book of Ezekiel. Cherubim are not the plump winged children of later art but composite winged creatures, with faces of more than one kind, who bear or guard God's throne; "cherubim" is already a plural, so "the cherubims" of 1611 is a double plural.

9For he spoke of the enemies using the picture of rain, and he gave direction to those whose ways were right.

9For he made mention of the enemies under the figure of the rain, and directed them that went right.

NoteThis line is obscure and the ancient copies do not agree. The Greek behind the King James speaks of the enemies being remembered in a rainstorm, probably pointing to Ezekiel's picture of a storm that tears down a badly built wall. A surviving Hebrew copy of this book reads instead that he mentioned Job, who kept to the ways of righteousness. The translation here follows the Greek, but the sense remains disputed.

10As for the twelve prophets, may their memory be blessed, and may their bones bloom again out of the place where they lie. For they comforted Jacob and rescued them by giving them a sure hope.

10And of the twelve prophets let the memorial be blessed, and let their bones flourish again out of their place: for they comforted Jacob, and delivered them by assured hope.

Note"The twelve prophets" are the shorter prophetic books from Hosea to Malachi, which were copied together on a single scroll and counted as one book. Bones flourishing or sprouting out of their resting place is a set phrase for renewed life and strength, borrowed from Isaiah; it is a wish, not a claim about what happened. "Jacob" stands for the whole people descended from him.

11How can we praise Zorobabel highly enough? He was like a signet ring on the right hand.

11How shall we magnify Zorobabel? even he was as a signet on the right hand:

NoteZorobabel is the Greek form of Zerubbabel, who led a party of exiles home from Babylon and began rebuilding the temple around 520 BC. A signet was a ring carved with its owner's personal mark, pressed into wax or clay to make a document genuine. Because forging it would be ruinous, a man kept it on his own hand and never let it out of his sight, so calling someone a signet ring on the right hand means he is both trusted absolutely and never set aside.

12So was Jesus the son of Josedec. In their days these two built the house, and set up a holy temple for the Lord, which was made ready for glory that never ends.

12So was Jesus the son of Josedec: who in their time builded the house, and set up an holy temple to the Lord, which was prepared for everlasting glory.

Note"Jesus" here is simply the Greek form of the name Joshua, a common name; this is Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest who returned from exile alongside Zerubbabel. "The house" means the temple, rebuilt on the site of the one the Babylonians burned.

13Among those God chose was Neemias, whose fame is great. He raised up for us the walls that had fallen, and put the gates and their bars in place, and raised up our ruins again.

13And among the elect was Neemias, whose renown is great, who raised up for us the walls that were fallen, and set up the gates and the bars, and raised up our ruins again.

NoteNeemias is the Greek form of Nehemiah, who came from the Persian court about 445 BC and rebuilt Jerusalem's city wall in the face of local opposition. The "bars" are the heavy beams dropped across the inside of a gate to lock it; walls and barred gates together are what made a place a city rather than an open village.

14But no one was ever created on the earth like Enoch, for he was taken up from the earth.

14But upon the earth was no man created like Enoch; for he was taken from the earth.

NoteEnoch appears in the list of long-lived men in Genesis, where the usual formula "and he died" is replaced by the statement that God took him. He is singled out here because he left the earth without dying.

15And no young man was ever born like Joseph, a ruler over his brothers, a support for the people, whose bones the Lord took care for.

15Neither was there a young man born like Joseph, a governor of his brethren, a stay of the people, whose bones were regarded of the Lord.

NoteJoseph, sold into Egypt by his brothers, rose to govern the country and later kept his family alive through a famine. The note about his bones refers to his deathbed request that his remains not be left in Egypt; they were carried out at the exodus and buried at Shechem generations later.

16Sem and Seth were greatly honored among people, and Adam was honored above every living thing in creation.

16Sem and Seth were in great honour among men, and so was Adam above every living thing in creation.

NoteSem is the Greek form of Shem, one of Noah's sons. Seth was the son born to Adam after Cain and Abel. The chapter ends by reaching back past every figure already named to the first man of all.