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Sirach / Chapter 14

Sirach 14

27 verses • Latin Vulgate (Jerome)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The chapter opens with beatitudes for the person whose mouth has not betrayed him and whose conscience does not condemn him. It then warns against miserliness: the miser harms himself, hoarding wealth he will never enjoy. Ben Sira counsels enjoying God's good gifts before death, since in Sheol there is no pleasure. The chapter concludes with a beautiful passage on the pursuit of wisdom: blessed is the one who camps near her house and pitches his tent beside her walls.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The carpe diem passage (vv. 11-19) is the most Epicurean-sounding text in the deuterocanonical literature. Ben Sira, who elsewhere warns against luxury, here urges enjoyment of God's gifts. This tension reflects the wisdom tradition's refusal to be systematized: neither asceticism nor indulgence, but appropriate enjoyment within divine boundaries. The closing wisdom-pursuit passage (vv. 20-27) is among the most lyrical in the book.

Translation Friction

The view of death as final (vv. 16-17) -- with no hope of resurrection or afterlife pleasure -- represents a pre-resurrection theology. Sheol is simply the place of ending. This stands in tension with Daniel 12:2 and 2 Maccabees 7, which were developing resurrection theology in the same period.

Connections

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (eat, drink, and enjoy, for there is no work in Sheol); Psalm 1:1-3 (blessed is the one who meditates on Torah); Proverbs 8:34-35 (blessed is the one who watches at wisdom's gates); Isaiah 40:6-8 (all flesh is grass); Luke 12:19-20 (eat, drink, be merry -- but this night your soul is required).

Sirach 14:1

Beatus vir qui non est lapsus verbo ex ore suo et non est stimulatus in tristitia delicti.

Blessed is the man who has not slipped with a word from his mouth, and is not stung by the grief of sin.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

beatus
"blessed"

The classic biblical macarism; beatus declares a state of flourishing under God's favor.

Translator Notes

  1. A beatitude for moral integrity in speech and conscience. The word 'stimulatus' (stung) suggests the ongoing pain of a guilty conscience.
Sirach 14:2

Felix qui non habuit animi sui tristitiam et non excidit a spe sua.

Happy is the one whose spirit has no cause for sorrow, and who has not fallen from his hope.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Felix complements beatus: the person free of self-reproach and still sustained by hope.
Sirach 14:3

Viro cupido et tenaci sine ratione est substantia et homini livido ad quid aurum.

For a greedy and grasping man, wealth has no purpose; and for an envious person, what good is gold?

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

cupido et tenaci
"greedy and grasping"

A double characterization: cupidus (desiring) and tenax (clutching); the miser both craves and clings.

Translator Notes

  1. Wealth without generosity is meaningless; the miser possesses but cannot enjoy.
Sirach 14:4

Qui acervat ex animo suo iniuste aliis congregat et in bonis illius alius luxuriabitur.

Whoever hoards unjustly from his own soul gathers for others, and another will revel in his goods.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The miser's irony: he deprives himself and enriches his heirs.
Sirach 14:5

Qui sibi nequam est cui alii bonus erit et non iucundabitur in bonis suis.

Whoever is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? He will take no pleasure in his own possessions.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A penetrating question: self-deprivation through miserliness is a form of self-harm.
Sirach 14:6

Qui sibi invidet nihil est illo nequius et haec redditio est malitiae illius.

There is no one more wretched than the one who begrudges himself, and this is the repayment for his wickedness.

Sirach 14:7

Et si bene fecerit ignoranter et non volens facit et in novissimo manifestat malitiam suam.

And if he does good, he does it unknowingly and unwillingly, and in the end he reveals his true malice.

Sirach 14:8

Nequam est oculus lividi et avertens faciem suam et despiciens animam suam.

Evil is the eye of the envious; he turns away his face and despises his own soul.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

oculus lividi
"the eye of the envious"

The evil eye tradition: an envious gaze that wishes harm or withholds good.

Translator Notes

  1. The 'evil eye' (oculus nequam) in the Semitic tradition represents stinginess and envy -- the refusal to look generously on others.
Sirach 14:9

Insatiabilis oculus cupidi in parte iniquitatis non satiabitur donec consumat arefaciens animam suam.

The eye of the greedy is not satisfied with his share of iniquity; he will not be sated until he has shriveled his own soul.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Greed is self-consuming: the soul withers (arefaciens) even as the possessions accumulate.
Sirach 14:10

Oculus malus ad mala et non satiabitur pane sed indigens et in tristitia erit super mensam suam.

An evil eye begrudges even bread; he is needy and sorrowful at his own table.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The miser sits at a table laden with food but experiences deprivation -- a psychological poverty amid material abundance.
Sirach 14:11

Fili si habes benefac tecum et Deo dignas oblationes offer.

My son, if you have means, treat yourself well, and offer worthy oblations to God.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The pivot to enjoyment: generosity toward self and toward God are both commanded. Neither miserliness nor impiety is acceptable.
Sirach 14:12

Memor esto quoniam mors non tardat et testamentum inferorum quod demonstratum est tibi testamentum enim huius mundi morte morietur.

Remember that death does not delay, and the decree of the grave has been shown to you; for the covenant of this world is death -- it will surely die.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

testamentum inferorum
"the decree of the grave"

Testamentum here means an established ordinance or decree; death is the fixed decree governing all flesh.

Translator Notes

  1. The memento mori intensifies: death is not a distant possibility but an approaching certainty. The 'covenant of this world' is mortality itself.
Sirach 14:13

Ante mortem benefac amico tuo et secundum vires tuas exporrigens da pauperi.

Before death, do good to your friend, and according to your ability reach out and give to the poor.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The urgency of generosity: once dead, you can neither give nor receive.
Sirach 14:14

Non defrauderis a die bono et particula boni doni non te praetereat.

Do not let a good day pass you by, and do not let your share of a good gift escape you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Carpe diem theology: enjoy what God gives while you can.
Sirach 14:15

Nonne aliis relinques dolores et labores tuos et in divisione sortis.

Will you not leave your griefs and labors to others, and your toil to be divided by lot?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Everything accumulated will pass to heirs who may squander or divide it; the hoarder's labor benefits others, not himself.
Sirach 14:16

Da et accipe et iustifica animam tuam.

Give and receive, and treat your soul justly.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A concise summary of balanced living: generosity, enjoyment, and self-care.
Sirach 14:17

Ante obitum tuum operare iustitiam quoniam non est apud inferos invenire cibum.

Before your death, work righteousness, for in the realm of the dead there is no finding of food.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

inferos
"the realm of the dead"

Inferi/Sheol is the shadowy underworld where the dead exist without activity or pleasure.

Translator Notes

  1. Sheol offers nothing; all opportunity for righteous action ends at death.
Sirach 14:18

Omnis caro sicut faenum veterascet et sicut folium fructificans in arbore viridi.

All flesh ages like grass, and like a leaf that grows green on a flourishing tree.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The grass metaphor for mortality is shared with Isaiah 40:6-8 and Psalm 103:15-16.
Sirach 14:19

Alia generantur et alia deiciuntur sic generatio carnis et sanguinis alia finitur et alia nascitur.

Some leaves sprout and others fall; so it is with generations of flesh and blood -- one comes to an end, and another is born.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The cycle of generations mirrors the cycle of leaves: perpetual replacement, individual impermanence.
Sirach 14:20

Omne opus corruptibile in fine deficiet et qui illud operatur ibit cum illo.

Every corruptible work will fail in the end, and the one who made it will go with it.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Human works share human mortality; only what transcends corruption endures.
Sirach 14:21

Et omne opus electum iustificabitur et qui operatur illud honorabitur in illo.

But every excellent work will be vindicated, and the one who does it will be honored through it.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The contrast with verse 20: while corruptible works perish, excellent works endure and bring lasting honor.
Sirach 14:22

Beatus vir qui in sapientia morabitur et qui in iustitia sua meditabitur et in sensu cogitabit circumspectionem Dei.

Blessed is the man who dwells in wisdom, and who meditates on her righteousness, and in his mind considers the watchful providence of God.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The second beatitude of the chapter opens the closing wisdom-pursuit section. Dwelling in wisdom means making it one's permanent habitation.
Sirach 14:23

Qui excogitat vias illius in corde suo et in absconditis suis intellegens vadens post illam quasi investigator et in viis illius consistens.

The one who ponders her ways in his heart, and has understanding in her hidden things, who goes after her like a tracker, and stations himself on her paths.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

investigator
"a tracker"

From investigare, to follow tracks; wisdom is quarry to be pursued with the skill and patience of a hunter.

Translator Notes

  1. The pursuit of wisdom as a hunt: tracking, following, stationing oneself. The investigator (investigator) is literally one who follows footprints.
Sirach 14:24

Qui respicit per fenestras illius et in ianuis illius audiens.

The one who peers through her windows, and listens at her doors.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The wisdom-seeker becomes a devoted suitor, looking through windows and listening at doors -- images of longing and attentiveness.
Sirach 14:25

Qui requiescit iuxta domum illius et in parietibus illius figens palum statuet casulam suam ad manus illius et requiescent in casula illius bona per aevum.

The one who rests near her house, and drives a stake in her walls, and pitches his tent at her side -- good things will rest in his tent forever.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

casulam
"tent"

Casula is a small dwelling or tent; the seeker builds his life in wisdom's shadow.

Translator Notes

  1. The culminating image: the wisdom-seeker camps permanently beside wisdom's house, driving stakes into her very walls. The intimacy is extraordinary -- not occasional visits but permanent encampment.
Sirach 14:26

Statuet filios suos sub tegmine illius et sub ramis eius morabitur.

He will place his children under her shelter, and will dwell beneath her branches.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Wisdom as a tree providing shade: the seeker's entire family benefits from his choice to camp near her.
Sirach 14:27

Protegetur sub tegmine illius a fervore et in gloria eius requiescet.

He will be sheltered under her covering from the heat, and will rest in her glory.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter ends in rest and glory -- the reward of the one who pursued wisdom with the passion of a hunter and the devotion of a lover.
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