Chapter 25 opens with a numerical proverb celebrating three things that delight the soul -- harmony among brothers, friendship among neighbors, and a wife and husband in agreement. It then praises the beauty of wisdom in the elderly and transitions into a passionate denunciation of the wicked woman, culminating in the notorious declaration that 'from a woman was the beginning of sin.'
The praise of old age as the crown of wisdom (vv. 4-8) contains a memorable beatitude list -- nine things Ben Sira calls blessed, climaxing in the one who has found wisdom and who speaks to attentive ears. The passage on the wicked woman (vv. 16-33) is among the most vehement in all of ancient literature, its rhetorical energy unmatched even in the polemics of Proverbs. The connection between the wicked woman and the origin of sin through Eve (v. 33) is the first explicit statement of this idea in Jewish literature and profoundly influenced later Christian theology.
The chapter's final section is deeply problematic for modern readers. The attribution of the origin of sin and death to 'woman' (v. 33) became a proof-text for patriarchal theology for millennia. It should be noted that Ben Sira is speaking of a specific type of 'wicked woman,' not women in general, though the rhetorical force of the passage blurs that distinction. The passage must be read in its historical context as reflecting Second Temple anxieties about domestic authority.
Proverbs 31:10-31 (the capable wife, a more positive counterpart); Genesis 3:1-7 (Eve and the fall); 1 Timothy 2:14 (Adam was not deceived, the woman was); Proverbs 21:9, 19 (better to live on a corner of the roof than with a quarrelsome wife).
In tribus placitum est spiritui meo quae sunt probata coram Deo et hominibus.
In three things my spirit takes delight, which are approved before God and before men.
Concordia fratrum et amor proximorum et vir et mulier bene sibi consentientes.
The harmony of brothers, the love of neighbors, and a husband and wife who are in good agreement with each other.
Mutual consent and accord -- the ideal marriage as a partnership of willing harmony, not mere coexistence.
Tres species odivit anima mea et adgravor valde animae illorum.
Three kinds of people my soul hates, and their manner of life greatly offends me.
Pauperem superbum et divitem mendacem senem fatuum et insensatum.
A proud poor man, a rich liar, and an old fool without sense.
Quae in iuventute tua non congregasti quomodo in senectute tua invenies.
What you did not gather in your youth, how will you find it in your old age?
Quam speciosum canitiei iudicium et presbyteris cognoscere consilium.
How beautiful is judgment in gray-haired persons, and for elders to know counsel!
Gray hair as a crown of glory (Proverbs 16:31) -- but only when accompanied by the wisdom it should represent.
Quam speciosa veteranis sapientia et gloriosis intellectus et consilium.
How beautiful is wisdom in the aged, and understanding and counsel in the honored!
Corona senum multa peritia et gloria illorum timor Dei.
The crown of the old is great experience, and their glory is the fear of God.
Novem insuspicabilia cordis magnificavi et decimum dicam in lingua hominibus.
Nine things that are beyond suspicion I have magnified in my heart, and a tenth I will speak aloud to men.
Homo qui iucundatur in filiis vivens et videns subversionem inimicorum suorum.
A person who rejoices in his children, living to see the downfall of his enemies.
Beatus qui inhabitat cum muliere sensata et qui lingua sua non est lapsus et qui non servivit indignis se.
Blessed is he who lives with a sensible wife, and he who has not slipped with his tongue, and he who has not served those unworthy of him.
Beatus qui invenit amicum verum et qui enarrat iustitiam auri audienti.
Blessed is he who has found a true friend, and he who speaks justice to an ear that listens.
Quam magnus qui invenit sapientiam et scientiam sed non est super timentem Dominum.
How great is the one who has found wisdom and knowledge! But none is above the one who fears the Lord.
Timor Dei super omnia se superposuit.
The fear of God has set itself above all things.
Beatus homo cui donatum est habere timorem Dei qui tenet illum cui adsimilabitur.
Blessed is the person to whom it has been given to have the fear of God; he who holds it -- to whom can he be compared?
Omnis plaga tristitia cordis est et omnis malitia nequitia mulieris.
Every wound is a sorrow of the heart, but the wickedness of a woman surpasses every evil.
Et omnem iram nequitia mulieris et omnem nequitiam nequitia mulieris.
Every wrath pales before the wrath of a woman, and every wickedness before the wickedness of a woman.
Omnem malitiam et non malitiam mulieris et omnem obductionem et non obductionem odientium.
Every malice is nothing compared to the malice of a woman, and every covering of spite is nothing compared to the covering of those who hate.
Non est caput super caput colubri et non est ira super iram mulieris commorari leoni et draconi placebit quam habitare cum muliere nequam.
There is no venom worse than the venom of a serpent, and no wrath worse than the wrath of a woman. It would be more agreeable to dwell with a lion and a dragon than to live with a wicked woman.
Nequitia mulieris immutat faciem eius et obcaecat vultum suum tamquam ursus et quasi saccum ostendet in conventione contristabitur vir eius et ingemescet amaritudine.
The wickedness of a woman changes her face and darkens her countenance like a bear. Her husband will sit among his neighbors, and hearing of her, he will sigh bitterly.
Brevis omnis malitia super malitiam mulieris sors peccatorum cadat super illam.
Every malice is slight compared to the malice of a woman; may the lot of sinners fall upon her!
Sicut ascensus harenosus in pedibus veterani sic mulier linguata homini quieto.
Like a sandy climb for the feet of an old man, so is a talkative woman to a quiet husband.
Non respicias in mulieris speciem et non concupiscas mulierem in specie.
Do not be captivated by a woman's beauty, and do not desire a woman for her appearance.
Iracundia mulieris et inreverentia et confusio magna mulier si praeminet viro suo.
A woman's anger, and her shamelessness, and great disgrace: when a woman dominates her husband.
Cor humile et facies tristis et plaga cordis mulier nequam.
A downcast heart and a sorrowful face and a wound of the heart: such is a wicked woman.
Manus debiles et genua dissoluta mulier quae non beatificat virum suum.
Weak hands and feeble knees -- such is the woman who does not make her husband happy.
A muliere initium factum est peccati et per illam omnes morimur.
From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die.
The reference is to Eve in Genesis 3. This is the earliest surviving Jewish text to make this explicit claim, which became enormously influential in Christian hamartiology.
Non des aquae tuae exitum nec modicum nec mulieri nequam veniam prodeundi.
Do not give your water an outlet, not even a small one; nor give a wicked woman freedom to go about.
Si non ambulaverit ad manum tuam confundet te in conspectu inimicorum.
If she does not walk under your guidance, she will put you to shame before your enemies.
A carnibus tuis abscide illam ne semper te abutatur.
Cut her off from your flesh, lest she continually take advantage of you.