The chapter examines governance, pride, and the reversal of human fortunes. A wise ruler disciplines his people; a foolish one destroys them. God has transferred kingdoms from one nation to another because of injustice. Pride is the beginning of all sin, and God uproots the proud and plants the humble in their place. True honor comes from the fear of the Lord, not from wealth or birth.
The theological claim that God transfers sovereignty between nations because of pride and injustice (vv. 8-14) is a remarkable philosophy of history. It explains the rise and fall of empires as moral events, not merely political ones. The definition of pride as 'the beginning of all sin' (v. 15) influenced Augustine's theology of original sin and the entire Western tradition of the capital vices.
The assertion that 'the beginning of human pride is to depart from God' (v. 14) creates a chicken-and-egg problem: does pride cause departure from God, or does departure cause pride? Ben Sira seems to treat them as simultaneous. The social conservatism (do not reproach a poor man who fears God) coexists with a willingness to overturn social hierarchies (God enthrones the humble).
Daniel 2:21 (God removes kings and sets up kings); 1 Samuel 2:7-8 (Hannah's song: God raises the poor); Luke 1:52 (the Magnificat: he has brought down the mighty); Proverbs 16:18 (pride goes before destruction); Genesis 11:1-9 (the tower of Babel as paradigm of pride).
Iudex sapiens iudicabit populum suum et principatus sensati stabilis erit.
A wise judge will govern his people well, and the rule of a discerning man will be stable.
Principatus means both the office of leadership and the act of governing; stable governance requires wisdom.
Secundum iudicem populi sic et ministri eius et qualis rector est civitatis tales et inhabitantes in ea.
As the judge of the people is, so are his ministers; and as the ruler of the city is, so are all its inhabitants.
Rex insipiens perdet populum suum et civitates inhabitabuntur per sensum potentium.
An unwise king will destroy his people, but a city will be built up through the understanding of its leaders.
In manu Dei potestas terrae et utilem rectorem suscitabit in tempus super illam.
In the hand of God is the authority over the earth, and in due time he will raise up the right ruler over it.
All political power is derivative; it originates in and remains subject to God's hand.
In manu Dei prosperitas hominis et super faciem scribae imponet honorem suum.
In the hand of God is the prosperity of a man, and upon the face of the scribe he will set his honor.
The professional class of literate scholars and teachers; Ben Sira elevates their honor as God-given.
Non irascaris proximo in omni iniuria et nihil agas in operibus iniuriae.
Do not be angry with your neighbor for every wrong, and do nothing by way of unjust deeds.
Odibilis coram Deo est et hominibus superbia et exsecrabilis omnis iniquitas gentium.
Pride is hateful before God and before men, and all injustice of the nations is abominable.
Superbia is the fundamental vice in the Latin moral tradition: self-exaltation above one's proper station.
Regnum a gente in gentem transfertur propter iniustitias et iniurias et contumelias et diversos dolos.
Sovereignty is transferred from nation to nation because of injustice, violence, insults, and various deceits.
The divine passive: God is the unnamed agent who moves sovereignty from one people to another.
Avaro autem nihil est scelestius quid superbit terra et cinis.
Nothing is more wicked than a miser. Why does earth and ash have pride?
Nihil est iniquius quam amare pecuniam hic enim et animam suam venalem habet quoniam in vita sua proiecit intima sua.
Nothing is more unjust than to love money, for such a person puts even his own soul up for sale, because in his lifetime he has cast away his inmost being.
Omnis potentatus brevis vita languor prolixior gravat medicum.
Every powerful reign is brief; a prolonged illness wears out the physician.
Brevem languorem praecidit medicus sic et rex hodie est et cras morietur.
The physician cuts short a brief illness; likewise a king exists today and tomorrow dies.
Cum enim morietur homo hereditabit serpentes et bestias et vermes.
For when a man dies, he inherits serpents and beasts and worms.
Initium superbiae hominis apostatare a Deo.
The beginning of human pride is to depart from God.
Apostatare means to rebel, to stand away from; the word carries overtones of deliberate defection.
Quoniam ab eo qui fecit illum recessit cor eius quoniam initium omnis peccati est superbia qui tenuerit illam adimplebitur maledictis et subvertet eum in finem.
Because his heart has withdrawn from the one who made him, for the beginning of all sin is pride; whoever clings to it will be filled with curses, and it will overthrow him in the end.
A universal claim: every sin has its root in the self-exaltation that refuses to acknowledge creatureliness.
Propterea exhonoravit Dominus conventus malorum et destruxit eos usque in finem.
Therefore the Lord has dishonored the assemblies of the wicked and destroyed them utterly.
Sedes ducum superborum destruxit Deus et sedere fecit mites pro eis.
God has overthrown the thrones of proud rulers and has seated the gentle in their place.
Mites (meek, gentle) are those who do not grasp for power; God's preferred rulers.
Radices gentium superbarum arefecit Deus et plantavit humiles ex ipsis gentibus.
God has dried up the roots of proud nations and has planted the humble from among those same peoples.
Terras gentium evertit Dominus et perdidit eas usque ad fundamentum.
The Lord has overturned the lands of the nations and destroyed them to their foundations.
Arefecit ex ipsis et disperdidit eos et cessare fecit memoriam eorum a terra.
He has dried them up and destroyed them, and has caused their memory to cease from the earth.
Memoriam superborum perdidit Deus et reliquit memoriam humilium sensu.
God has destroyed the memory of the proud, and has preserved the memory of those humble in mind.
Non est creata hominibus superbia neque iracundia nationi mulierum.
Pride was not created for human beings, nor fierce anger for those born of woman.
Semen hominum honorabitur hoc quod timet Deum semen autem hoc exhonorabitur humanum quod praeterit mandata Domini.
Those of human descent who fear God will be honored; but those of human descent who transgress the commandments of the Lord will be dishonored.
In medio fratrum rector illorum in honore et qui timent Dominum erunt in oculis illius.
In the midst of his brothers the ruler is held in honor, and those who fear the Lord are esteemed in his eyes.
Timor Dei gloria divitum et honoratorum et pauperum.
The fear of God is the glory of the rich, the honored, and the poor alike.
Noli despicere hominem iustum pauperem et noli magnificare virum peccatorem divitem.
Do not despise a just man who is poor, and do not exalt a sinful man who is rich.
Magnus et iudex et potens est in honore et non est maior illo qui timet Deum.
The great man, the judge, and the powerful are held in honor, but none of them is greater than the one who fears God.
Servo sensato liberi servient et vir prudens et disciplinatus non murmurabit correptus et inscius non honorabitur.
Free men will serve a wise servant, and the prudent and disciplined man will not grumble when corrected; but the ignorant will not be honored.
Noli extollere te in faciendo opere tuo et noli cunctari in tempore angustiae.
Do not exalt yourself in doing your work, and do not hesitate in the time of distress.
Melior est qui operatur et abundat in omnibus quam qui gloriatur et eget pane.
Better is the one who works and has abundance in all things, than the one who boasts and lacks bread.
Fili in mansuetudine serva animam tuam et da illi honorem secundum meritum suum.
My son, in gentleness preserve your soul, and give it the honor it deserves.
Peccantem in animam suam quis iustificabit et quis honorificabit exhonorantem animam suam.
Who will justify one who sins against his own soul? And who will honor one who dishonors himself?
Pauper gloriatur per disciplinam et timorem suum et est homo qui honorificatur propter substantiam suam.
The poor man is honored for his discipline and his fear of God, and there is a man who is honored for his wealth.
Qui autem gloriatur in paupertate quanto magis in substantia et qui gloriatur in substantia paupertatem vereatur.
If one is honored in poverty, how much more in wealth? And if one is honored in wealth, let him fear poverty.