Chapter 19 warns against the dangers of wine and loose living, then devotes extensive attention to the ethics of gossip, rumor, and tale-bearing. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the difference between true wisdom rooted in the fear of the Lord and mere cleverness used for wicked ends.
Ben Sira's treatment of gossip is among the most psychologically acute in ancient literature. He does not simply condemn tale-bearing but walks through the social dynamics: the urge to repeat what one has heard, the distortion that inevitably occurs, and the obligation to confront a friend directly rather than spreading rumors. The closing distinction between wisdom and cunning (vv. 20-27) is a penetrating moral insight -- intelligence without moral orientation is worse than ignorance.
The opening warning that 'a worker given to drunkenness will not grow rich' (v. 1) strikes a utilitarian note that sits uneasily beside the chapter's later moral idealism. The idea that one can discern a person's character from physical appearance (v. 26) reflects ancient physiognomic assumptions that modern readers will find problematic.
Proverbs 20:1 (wine is a mocker); Leviticus 19:17 (rebuke your neighbor frankly); James 1:19 (slow to speak); Proverbs 11:13 (a gossip betrays a confidence).
Operarius ebriosus non locupletabitur et qui spernit modica paulatim decidet.
A worker given to drunkenness will not grow rich, and whoever despises small things will fall little by little.
Not a single episode but a habitual condition -- the adjective marks chronic intemperance.
Vinum et mulieres apostatare faciunt sapientes et arguent sensatos.
Wine and women make wise men fall away, and they will bring the sensible into disgrace.
The Latin apostatare carries the strong sense of apostasy -- abandonment of one's commitment to wisdom, not merely a lapse in judgment.
Et qui se iungit fornicariis erit nequam putredo et vermes hereditabunt illum et extolletur in exemplum maius et tolletur de numero anima eius.
And whoever consorts with prostitutes will become depraved; decay and worms will inherit him, and he will be held up as a greater warning, and his soul will be removed from the number of the living.
Qui credit cito levis est corde et minorabitur et qui delinquit in animam suam insuper habebitur.
Whoever trusts too quickly is light of heart and will be diminished; and whoever sins against his own soul will be held in contempt.
Not cheerful but lacking gravity -- the 'light heart' is gullible and unstable, the opposite of the wise person's measured deliberation.
Qui gaudet iniquitate denotabitur et qui odit correptionem minuetur vita et qui odit loquacitatem extinguit malitiam.
Whoever delights in wickedness will be condemned, and whoever hates correction will have his life shortened; but whoever hates gossip quenches evil.
Latin loquacitas can mean mere talkativeness, but in this moral context it implies harmful, uncontrolled speech -- gossip.
Qui peccat in animam suam paenitebit et qui iucundatur in malitia denotabitur.
Whoever sins against his own soul will repent of it, and whoever takes pleasure in malice will be condemned.
Ne iteres verbum nequam et durum et non minoraberis.
Do not repeat a wicked and harsh word, and you will not be diminished.
Amico et inimico noli enarrare sensum tuum et si est tibi delictum noli denudare.
To neither friend nor enemy reveal your private thoughts, and if you have a fault, do not expose it.
Audiet enim te et custodiet te et quasi defendens peccatum odiet te et sic aderit tibi semper.
For he will listen to you and watch you, and while pretending to defend your sin, he will hate you -- and so he will be at your side always.
Audisti verbum adversus proximum tuum commoriatur in te fidens quoniam non te disrumpet.
Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Let it die within you, trusting that it will not burst you apart.
A vivid metaphor: the gossip should literally 'die with you' -- be buried rather than passed along.
A facie verbi parturit fatuus tamquam gemitus partus infantis.
At the face of a word, a fool goes into labor, like the groaning of a woman giving birth.
Sagitta infixa femori carnis sic verbum in corde stulti.
Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in the heart of a fool.
Corripe amicum ne forte non intellexerit et dicat non feci aut si fecit ne iterum adiciat facere.
Confront your friend, lest perhaps he did not understand, so that he may say, 'I did not do it'; or if he did, so that he may not do it again.
Corripe proximum antequam comminetur et da locum timori Altissimi.
Confront your neighbor before he threatens you, and give place to the fear of the Most High.
The fear of God provides the moral framework for honest confrontation -- it is not personal aggression but obedience to a higher standard.
Quia non est omnis in omni sapientia et non est omnis homo in omni sensu.
For not everyone has wisdom in every matter, and not every person has understanding in all things.
Omnis sapientia timor Dei et in omni sapientia dispositio legis.
All wisdom is the fear of God, and in all wisdom there is the fulfillment of the law.
Latin dispositio implies orderly arrangement or implementation -- wisdom is Torah put into practice, not merely known.
Et non est sapientia nequitiae disciplina et non est cogitatus peccatorum prudentia.
The discipline of wickedness is not wisdom, and the thinking of sinners is not prudence.
Est nequitia et in ipsa execratio et est insipiens qui minuitur sapientia.
There is a cleverness that is abomination, and there is a fool who merely lacks wisdom.
Nequitia here denotes not mere wickedness but cunning -- intelligence deployed for evil, which is worse than simple foolishness.
Melior est qui minuitur sapientia et deficit sensu in timore quam qui abundat sensu et transgreditur legem.
Better is one who lacks wisdom and is deficient in understanding but fears God, than one who abounds in understanding yet transgresses the law.
Est sollertia certa et ipsa iniqua et est qui pervertit gratiam ut ostendat iudicium et est iustus qui se nimium submittit.
There is a precise shrewdness that is itself unjust; and there is one who perverts a kindness to make a legal point; and there is a just man who humbles himself excessively.
Et est qui se submittit nimie a multa humilitate et est qui inclinat faciem suam et fingit se non videre quod ignoratum est.
There is one who abases himself excessively out of great humility, and there is one who turns his face away and pretends not to see what is unrecognized.
Et si a viribus prohibeatur peccare si invenerit tempus malefaciet.
And if he is prevented from sinning by lack of power, when he finds the opportunity, he will do evil.
Ex visu cognoscitur vir et ab occursu faciei cognoscitur sensatus.
A person is known by his appearance, and a sensible man is recognized when you meet him face to face.
Amictus corporis et risus dentium et ingressus hominis enuntiant de illo.
A person's clothing and his smile and his manner of walking declare what he is.
Est correptio mendax in ira contumeliosi et est iudicium quod non probatur esse bonum et est tacens et ipse est prudens.
There is a rebuke that is a lie, spoken in the anger of an insolent man; and there is a judgment that is not proved to be just; and there is the silent one -- he is the prudent one.