Ecclesiasticus 51

I will thank you, Lord and King, and I will praise you, God my Savior. I give praise to your name.

1I will thank thee, O Lord and King, and praise thee, O God my Saviour: I do give praise unto thy name:

NoteThe book has already closed once, at the end of chapter 50, with the author's name and a blessing. Chapter 51 is an appendix holding two separate poems: a prayer of thanks for rescue from enemies (verses 1 to 12), and a poem about the lifelong search for wisdom (verses 13 to 30). The first poem is written in the style of the thanksgiving psalms, where a person who has survived danger names what he was saved from and then praises God publicly for it.

2You have been the one who defends me and helps me. You kept my body from being destroyed, and kept me out of the trap set by a tongue that spreads lies, and away from lips that make up falsehoods. You have been my helper against those who set themselves against me.

2For thou art my defender and helper, and has preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and has been mine helper against mine adversaries:

NoteIn 1611 "forge" meant to hammer out or manufacture, as a blacksmith forges iron, so "the lips that forge lies" are lips that manufacture falsehoods. The last clause is uncertain in the Greek, which reads something closer to "you were my helper before those who stood by"; the King James takes the bystanders to be opponents.

3You rescued me, because your mercies are so many and your name is so great. You saved me from the teeth of those who were ready to swallow me up, and out of the hands of people who wanted my life, and from the many troubles I went through.

3And hast delivered me, according to the multitude of they mercies and greatness of thy name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had;

Note"They mercies" is a misprint for "thy mercies," meaning your mercies. "Manifold" means many and of many different kinds.

4You saved me from a fire that closed in and choked me on every side, and from the middle of a fire that I had not started.

4From the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not;

NoteTwo pictures of danger, being hemmed in by a fire so close it takes away the breath, and being caught in a fire someone else started. A fire one did not kindle is an old way of speaking about trouble stirred up by other people, which fits the slander and false accusation described in the verses on either side.

5You saved me from deep inside the belly of the place of the dead, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words.

5From the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words.

Note"Hell" here translates the Greek word Hades, the underworld where all the dead were thought to go, not a place of punishment for the wicked. Older English used "hell" for that neutral realm of the dead. "The belly of hell" pictures the grave as a mouth that swallows a person whole, the same image used of Jonah inside the fish.

6A dishonest tongue brought an accusation against me to the king, and my soul came close to death. My life was near to the place of the dead below.

6By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue my soul drew near even unto death, my life was near to the hell beneath.

NoteAn accusation carried to a king was a matter of life and death. Under the Greek kings who ruled Judea in this period, an official or scribe denounced at court had little defense and could be executed without much process. The text names no king and gives no details of the episode, so the occasion is unknown.

7They closed in around me on every side, and there was no one to help me. I looked for help from people, but there was none.

7They compassed me on every side, and there was no man to help me: I looked for the succour of men, but there was none.

Note"Compassed me on every side" means surrounded me. "Succour" is an old word for help or relief brought to someone in trouble, from a root meaning to run to a person's aid.

8Then I thought about your mercy, Lord, and about the things you did long ago, and how you rescue those who wait for you and save them out of the hands of their enemies.

8Then thought I upon thy mercy, O Lord, and upon thy acts of old, how thou deliverest such as wait for thee, and savest them out of the hands of the enemies.

9Then I lifted up my prayers from the earth, and I prayed to be saved from death.

9Then lifted I up my supplications from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death.

Note"Supplications" are urgent, humble requests. "Lifted I up my supplications from the earth" pictures the prayer of someone lying or kneeling low on the ground, the posture of a person in extreme distress.

10I called on the Lord, the Father of my Lord, asking him not to leave me during my days of trouble, in the time of the proud, when there was no help.

10I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help.

Note"The Lord, the Father of my Lord" is awkward in the Greek and no one is certain what the line originally said; the surviving Hebrew version of this poem has a simpler address to God as father. The King James "in the time of the proud" follows a reading where the Greek more likely means that there was no help against the proud, that is, against arrogant enemies.

11I will praise your name without stopping, and I will sing praises with thanks. And my prayer was heard.

11I will praise thy name continually, and will sing praises with thanksgiving; and so my prayer was heard:

12You saved me from destruction and brought me out of the evil time. So I will give thanks and praise you and bless your name, Lord.

12For thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time: therefore will I give thanks, and praise thee, and bless they name, O Lord.

Note"They name" is a misprint for "thy name," your name. "The evil time" means a specific stretch of disaster in the speaker's life, not wickedness in general.

13When I was still young, before I ever traveled away from home, I asked openly for wisdom in my prayer.

13When I was yet young, or ever I went abroad, I desired wisdom openly in my prayer.

Note"Or ever I went abroad" is 1611 English for "before I ever traveled"; "or ever" simply means before. Travel was part of a scribe's training in this book (see 39:4), so the line means before he set out on his journeys. From here to the end of the chapter a second and separate poem begins. A Hebrew copy of it survives, and in Hebrew it is an alphabetical acrostic: each line starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in turn, a pattern that cannot be carried over into English or Greek.

14I asked for her in front of the temple, and I will keep searching for her right to the end.

14I prayed for her before the temple, and will seek her out even to the end.

NoteThe temple is the temple in Jerusalem, and praying "before the temple" means standing in its outer courts, where ordinary worshipers could go. Wisdom is called "her" throughout this poem because the word for wisdom is grammatically feminine in both Hebrew and Greek, and this book regularly speaks of wisdom as a woman to be sought, courted and lived with.

15From the time of the blossom until the grape was ripe, my heart has taken delight in her. My foot walked the right way. From the time I was young I looked for her.

15Even from the flower till the grape was ripe hath my heart delighted in her: my foot went the right way, from my youth up sought I after her.

NoteAn image from the vineyard, running from the first blossom on the vine to the ripened grape at harvest, standing for the speaker's whole life from boyhood to maturity.

16I bent my ear down a little and listened, and I received her, and I gained a great deal of learning.

16I bowed down mine ear a little, and received her, and gat much learning.

Note"Gat" is the old past tense of "get," so this means gained. "I bowed down mine ear a little" describes the physical gesture of a pupil leaning in toward a teacher to catch what is said.

17I gained much through her, so I will give glory to the one who gives me wisdom.

17I profited therein, therefore will I ascribe glory unto him that giveth me wisdom.

18I made up my mind to live by her, and I worked hard at what is good. So I will not be put to shame.

18For I purposed to do after her, and earnestly I followed that which is good; so shall I not be confounded.

Note"Confounded" in 1611 meant publicly shamed or disgraced, not confused or puzzled, which is what the word suggests today.

19My soul has wrestled with her, and in the things I did I was careful and exact. I stretched out my hands to the heaven above, and I grieved over how much about her I did not know.

19My soul hath wrestled with her, and in my doings I was exact: I stretched forth my hands to the heaven above, and bewailed my ignorances of her.

Note"In my doings I was exact" means strict and precise in his conduct. Stretching out the hands toward the sky was the ordinary posture for prayer, palms open and lifted. "My ignorances of her" is an odd plural in the Greek and means the particular things about wisdom he failed to grasp; in this book the word also covers faults committed without knowing they were faults.

20I turned my soul toward her, and I found her in purity. My heart has been joined to her from the beginning, so I will not be left alone.

20I directed my soul unto her, and I found her in pureness: I have had my heart joined with her from the beginning, therefore shall I not be foresaken.

Note"Foresaken" is a misprint for "forsaken," abandoned or left alone.

21My heart was stirred and troubled while I searched for her, and so I have gained a good possession.

21My heart was troubled in seeking her: therefore have I gotten a good possession.

NoteThe Greek says that his belly, or inward parts, was troubled. Ancient writers located strong feeling in the gut rather than the heart, and the line describes a physical churning of longing during the search, not calm study.

22The Lord has given me a tongue as my reward, and I will use it to praise him.

22The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward, and I will praise him therewith.

Note"A tongue for my reward" means the gift of trained, skillful speech, the equipment of a teacher. What he gained for his searching was the ability to say what he had found.

23Come close to me, all of you who have not been taught, and live in the house of learning.

23Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of learning.

Note"Unlearned" means without formal schooling, not unintelligent. "The house of learning" is a school, and the invitation to "dwell" in it suggests a teacher advertising for pupils; the same phrase became the standard Hebrew name for a study house, the beth midrash.

24Why are you so slow, and what do you have to say about all this, when your souls are so thirsty?

24Wherefore are ye slow, and what say ye to these things, seeing your souls are very thirsty?

NoteThe Greek of this line is difficult and is more naturally read as "why are you lacking in these things," that is, why do you still go without. The King James takes it instead as a rebuke for being slow to come.

25I opened my mouth and said, Buy her for yourselves without any money.

25I opened my mouth, and said, Buy her for yourselves without money.

NoteA deliberate paradox, buying something without paying for it, and an echo of the invitation in Isaiah 55:1 to buy wine and milk without money. It sits in tension with verse 28, which tells the hearer to spend a great sum, and the text leaves that tension standing.

26Put your neck under the yoke, and let your soul take in instruction. She is close by and easy to find.

26Put your neck under the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard at hand to find.

NoteA yoke is the wooden bar laid across the necks of a pair of oxen to harness them to a plow or cart. Putting your own neck under it means accepting the harness of a pupil's discipline, taking on set hours, obedience and steady labor.

27See with your own eyes how little work I did, and how much rest I gained for myself.

27Behold with your eyes, how that I have but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest.

Note"How that" is old English for simply "how" or "that," and "I have but little labour" means I labored only a little. The speaker points to himself as visible evidence of the bargain he is offering.

28Get learning even if it costs a large sum of money, and get much gold through her.

28Get learning with a great sum of money, and get much gold by her.

NoteThe Greek says a great sum of silver, silver by weight being the ordinary money of the period. Teachers were paid, so this may be plain advice to spend real money on instruction; it stands beside the offer in verse 25 to get wisdom for nothing.

29Let your soul be glad in his mercy, and do not be ashamed to praise him.

29Let your soul rejoice in his mercy, and be not ashamed of his praise.

Note"Be not ashamed of his praise" means do not be embarrassed to praise him out loud, in front of others.

30Do your work early, and at the right time he will give you your reward.

30Work your work betimes, and in his time he will give you your reward.

Note"Betimes" means early, in good time, while there is still time to do it.