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Sirach / Chapter 38

Sirach 38

40 verses • Latin Vulgate (Jerome)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Ben Sira presents a theological defense of medicine: the physician's art comes from God, and the wise man does not reject it. Instructions for mourning follow, balanced by counsel against excessive grief. The chapter concludes with a vivid portrait of manual laborers -- the farmer, the engraver, the smith, and the potter -- who sustain the fabric of society but do not sit in the council of rulers.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The command 'Honor the physician' (v. 1) became one of the most cited verses in the history of medical ethics and was foundational for medieval Christian and Jewish attitudes toward medicine. The portrait of craftsmen (vv. 25-39) is the most detailed description of ancient trades in any biblical or deuterocanonical text and provides invaluable social-historical data.

Translation Friction

The concluding contrast between manual laborers and the scribe (continued in chapter 39) has been criticized as elitist. Ben Sira clearly values the scribe's vocation above manual trades, though he acknowledges that craftsmen are indispensable to civilization.

Connections

Exodus 15:26 (the Lord your healer); 2 Chronicles 16:12 (Asa criticized for consulting physicians instead of God); Genesis 50:2 (Joseph commands physicians to embalm Jacob); Proverbs 31:10-31 (domestic industry).

Sirach 38:1

Honora medicum propter necessitatem etenim illum creavit Altissimus.

Honor the physician for his service, for the Most High created him.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

medicum
"physician"

The Greek iatros behind Jerome's medicus was a professional healer; Ben Sira legitimizes the entire medical profession as divinely ordained.

Translator Notes

  1. One of the most influential verses in all deuterocanonical literature. By grounding the physician's authority in divine creation, Ben Sira resolves the tension between faith-healing and medicine.
Sirach 38:2

A Deo est enim omnis medella et a rege accipiet donationem.

For all healing comes from God, and the physician will receive gifts from the king.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

medella
"healing"

A poetic term for cure or remedy, emphasizing the restorative process rather than the technique employed.

Translator Notes

  1. Healing is ultimately divine, but the physician's social status is affirmed: he receives patronage from the highest authority.
Sirach 38:3

Disciplina medici exaltabit caput illius et in conspectu magnatorum conlaudabitur.

The skill of the physician lifts his head high, and in the presence of the great he is admired.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

disciplina
"skill"

Disciplina encompasses both learned knowledge and practiced technique; the physician's competence is the product of rigorous training.

Sirach 38:4

Altissimus creavit de terra medicamenta et vir prudens non abhorrebit illa.

The Most High created medicines from the earth, and a prudent man will not despise them.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

medicamenta
"medicines"

Remedies derived from plants and minerals; the term covers the full range of ancient pharmacology.

Translator Notes

  1. A decisive theological statement: pharmaceuticals derived from natural substances are part of God's creation, not pagan sorcery. This verse was repeatedly cited in medieval debates over the legitimacy of herbal medicine.
Sirach 38:5

Nonne a ligno indulcata est aqua amara.

Was not bitter water made sweet by a piece of wood?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. An allusion to Exodus 15:25, where Moses cast a tree into the bitter waters of Marah to make them drinkable -- a biblical precedent for using natural substances to heal.
Sirach 38:6

Ad agnitionem hominum virtus illorum et dedit hominibus scientiam Altissimus honorari in mirabilibus suis.

Their power is made known to mankind, and the Most High gave knowledge to mortals so that he might be glorified through his wonders.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

scientiam
"knowledge"

Here specifically medical and pharmacological knowledge, treated as a divine gift rather than a human invention.

Translator Notes

  1. Medical knowledge itself is a revelation: God grants it so that human healing becomes an occasion for divine praise.
Sirach 38:7

In his curans mitigabit dolorem et unguentarius faciet pigmenta suavitatis et unctiones conficiet sanitatis et non consummabuntur opera eius.

With these the physician soothes pain; the pharmacist prepares fragrant compounds and blends healing ointments, and his works are never finished.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

unguentarius
"pharmacist"

Literally 'ointment maker'; the specialist who compounds medicines, distinct from the diagnosing physician.

Translator Notes

  1. The pharmacist (unguentarius) is distinguished from the physician -- an early recognition of pharmacy as a distinct profession.
Sirach 38:8

Pax enim Dei super faciem terrae.

For the peace of God extends over the face of the earth.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

pax Dei
"peace of God"

Not merely absence of conflict but total well-being; health and healing are manifestations of divine shalom.

Translator Notes

  1. A surprising interjection: healing arts are expressions of God's shalom -- his comprehensive well-being for creation.
Sirach 38:9

Fili in tua infirmitate ne despicias te ipsum sed ora Dominum et ipse curabit te.

My son, in your illness do not despair, but pray to the Lord and he will heal you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Prayer comes first -- not because medicine is rejected, but because the ultimate source of healing is God. The sequence is: pray, then consult the physician.
Sirach 38:10

Averte a delicto et dirige manus et ab omni delicto munda cor tuum.

Turn away from sin and direct your hands aright, and cleanse your heart from every offense.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Moral self-examination accompanies the healing process: Ben Sira does not separate physical illness from the moral life, without simplistically equating them.
Sirach 38:11

Da suavitatem et memoriam similaginis et inpingua oblationem et da locum medico.

Offer sweet incense and a memorial of fine flour, and enrich the offering -- then give place to the physician.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

da locum medico
"give place to the physician"

A directive to make room for professional medical care after fulfilling religious obligations -- not instead of them.

Translator Notes

  1. The prescribed sequence: sacrifice and prayer first, then medical treatment. Both are legitimate responses to illness.
Sirach 38:12

Etenim illum Dominus creavit et non discedat a te quia opera eius sunt necessaria.

For the Lord created him too; let him not depart from you, for his services are necessary.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Reaffirms v. 1: the physician's existence is divinely willed, and his work is genuinely needed -- not a concession to weak faith.
Sirach 38:13

Est enim quando in manus illorum incursus.

For there is a time when recovery lies in their hands.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

incursus
"recovery"

Literally 'an advance' or 'onset'; here meaning the turning point toward health, which sometimes depends entirely on medical skill.

Translator Notes

  1. A remarkably modern recognition that in certain situations, the physician's intervention is the decisive factor in survival.
Sirach 38:14

Et ipsi Dominum deprecabuntur ut dirigat requiem eorum et sanitatem propter conversationem illorum.

And they too will pray to the Lord, that he may grant them relief and healing for the sake of their patient's way of life.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The physician himself prays -- medicine and prayer are not alternatives but collaborators in the healing process.
Sirach 38:15

Qui delinquit in conspectu eius qui fecit eum incidet in manus medici.

He who sins before his Maker will fall into the hands of the physician.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A sobering warning: while medicine is legitimate, needing it may sometimes result from one's own moral failures. The verse does not condemn all illness as punishment, but acknowledges the connection between conduct and health.
Sirach 38:16

Fili in mortuum produc lacrimas et quasi dira passus incipe plorare et secundum iudicium contege corpus illius et non despicias sepulturam illius.

My son, shed tears over the dead, and as one who suffers terribly begin to weep; wrap the body according to custom, and do not neglect the burial.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

sepulturam
"burial"

Proper interment was a sacred duty in ancient Israel; to leave a body unburied was the ultimate dishonor (cf. Tobit 1:17-18).

Translator Notes

  1. The transition to mourning rituals. Proper burial and genuine grief are obligations, not optional expressions of sentiment.
Sirach 38:17

Propter delaturam autem amare fer luctum illius uno die et consolare propter tristitiam.

Bear the bitter grief of mourning for one day on account of reproach, then console yourself in your sorrow.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Ben Sira counsels genuine but bounded mourning: grief has its proper season, but must not become self-destructive.
Sirach 38:18

Et fac luctum secundum meritum eius uno die vel duobus propter detractionem.

And mourn according to what is fitting, one day or two, to avoid gossip.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Social reputation is a practical concern: excessive public mourning may attract harmful talk.
Sirach 38:19

A tristitia enim festinat mors et cooperit virtutem et tristitia cordis flectit cervicem.

For grief hastens death and overwhelms one's strength; sorrow of heart bows the neck.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A medical observation embedded in moral advice: prolonged grief has physiological consequences.
Sirach 38:20

In abductione permanet tristitia et substantia inopis secundum cor eius.

In exile sorrow endures, and the life of the poor weighs on the heart.

Sirach 38:21

Ne dederis in tristitia cor tuum sed repelle eam a te et memento novissimorum.

Do not give your heart to sorrow, but drive it from you and remember the end.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

novissimorum
"the end"

The last things; one's own mortality, which relativizes present grief.

Translator Notes

  1. 'Remember the end' -- the inevitability of one's own death, which puts mourning in perspective.
Sirach 38:22

Noli oblivisci neque enim est conversio et huic nihil proderis et te ipsum pessimabis.

Do not forget: there is no return. You will not help the dead, and you will only harm yourself.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

conversio
"return"

No turning back from death; Ben Sira's theology here does not include resurrection, reflecting pre-Maccabean thought.

Translator Notes

  1. A blunt statement of finality: the dead cannot be recalled, and excessive mourning serves no one.
Sirach 38:23

Memor esto iudicii mei sic enim erit et tuum mihi heri et tibi hodie.

Remember my judgment, for so too will be yours: yesterday it was mine, today it is yours.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The dead speak to the living: my fate will be yours. A memento mori that encourages the living to accept mortality.
Sirach 38:24

In requie mortui requiescere fac memoriam eius et consolare illum in exitu spiritus sui.

When the dead is at rest, let his memory rest also, and be comforted when his spirit departs.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

in requie
"at rest"

Death as rest -- a gentle metaphor that frames dying as cessation of labor rather than annihilation.

Translator Notes

  1. Allow the dead their peace; continuing grief disturbs both the living and, symbolically, the dead.
Sirach 38:25

Sapientia scribae in tempore vacuitatis et qui minoratur actu sapientiam percipiet.

The wisdom of the scribe depends on the leisure of study, and he who has less to do can become wise.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

vacuitatis
"leisure of study"

Not idleness but scholastic leisure: the freedom from manual labor that permits sustained intellectual and spiritual pursuit. The Greek equivalent is schole, from which 'school' derives.

Translator Notes

  1. The pivotal verse that introduces the contrast between intellectual and manual labor. Wisdom requires leisure (vacuitas) -- time freed from physical toil.
Sirach 38:26

Qua sapientia replebitur qui tenet aratrum et qui gloriatur in iaculo stimuli boves agit et conversatur in operibus eorum et enarratio eius in filiis taurorum.

How can the one who holds the plow become wise, who takes pride in wielding the goad, who drives oxen and is occupied with their labors, and whose talk is only of young bulls?

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

aratrum
"plow"

The primary instrument of ancient agriculture; holding it represents total commitment to physical labor.

stimuli
"goad"

A pointed stick for driving oxen; the farmer's tool becomes a metonymy for his entire vocation.

Translator Notes

  1. The farmer is the first of four craftsmen portrayed. His absorption in agricultural work leaves no room for the study that wisdom requires.
Sirach 38:27

Cor suum dabit ad versandos sulcos et vigilia eius in sagina vaccarum.

He sets his heart on turning furrows, and his wakeful care is for fattening heifers.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

sulcos
"furrows"

The grooves cut by the plow; the farmer's mind runs in the same tracks as his field.

Sirach 38:28

Sic omnis faber et architectus qui noctem tamquam diem transigit qui sculpit signacula sculptilia et adsiduitas eius variat picturam.

So too every artisan and master builder who works through the night as through the day, who carves engraved seals, and whose constant effort varies the design.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

signacula sculptilia
"engraved seals"

Carved seal stones used for authenticating documents; their production required extraordinary precision and artistic skill.

Translator Notes

  1. The engraver/seal-carver: a skilled artisan whose work requires unceasing concentration and artistic sensitivity.
Sirach 38:29

Cor suum dabit in similitudinem picturae et vigilia sua perficiet opus.

He sets his heart on producing a lifelike image, and his watchful labor brings the work to completion.

Sirach 38:30

Sic faber ferrarius sedens iuxta incudem et considerans opus ferri vapor ignis uret carnes eius et in calore fornacis concertatur.

So too the smith sitting beside the anvil, studying the iron work: the vapor of fire scorches his flesh, and he contends with the heat of the furnace.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

faber ferrarius
"smith"

An ironworker; the Latin specifically identifies him as working with ferrum (iron), the dominant metal of the period.

incudem
"anvil"

The iron block on which metal is hammered; the smith's central tool and workplace.

Translator Notes

  1. The most physically vivid of the four portraits: the smith endures bodily suffering in his craft.
Sirach 38:31

Vox mallei innovat aurem eius et contra similitudinem vasis oculus eius.

The sound of the hammer rings ceaselessly in his ear, and his eye is fixed on the pattern of the vessel.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Sensory immersion: the smith's entire perceptual world is consumed by his work -- hearing the hammer, seeing the emerging form.
Sirach 38:32

Cor suum dabit in consummationem operum et vigilia sua ornabit in perfectionem.

He sets his heart on completing his works, and his watchful care perfects the finishing.

Sirach 38:33

Sic figulus sedens ad opus suum convertens pedibus suis rotam qui in sollicitudine positus est semper super opus suum et in numero est omnis operatio eius.

So too the potter sitting at his work, turning the wheel with his feet, who is always anxiously devoted to his work, and all his output is measured by number.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

figulus
"potter"

The clay-worker; pottery was one of the most essential and ubiquitous trades in the ancient world.

rotam
"wheel"

The potter's wheel, here specifically the foot-driven type that allowed both hands to shape the clay.

Translator Notes

  1. The potter is the fourth and final craftsman. The foot-operated wheel dates this description to the Hellenistic period.
Sirach 38:34

In brachio suo formabit lutum et ante pedes suos curvabit virtutem suam.

With his arm he shapes the clay, and before his feet he bends his strength.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

lutum
"clay"

The raw material of pottery; its malleability in the potter's hands became a universal metaphor for God's sovereignty over humanity (Isaiah 64:8, Romans 9:21).

Translator Notes

  1. The physical posture of the potter: arms working the clay, body stooped, all strength directed into the material.
Sirach 38:35

Cor suum dabit ut consummet linitionem et vigilia sua mundabit fornacem.

He sets his heart on finishing the glazing, and his watchful care tends the kiln.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

linitionem
"glazing"

The application of a smooth coating before firing; a finishing technique that required precise timing and temperature control.

fornacem
"kiln"

The furnace in which pottery is fired; maintaining correct temperature was crucial and required constant attention.

Sirach 38:36

Omnes hi in manibus suis speraverunt et unusquisque in arte sua sapiens est.

All these trust in their hands, and each is wise in his own craft.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Ben Sira grants genuine wisdom (sapiens) to the craftsmen within their domain -- their expertise is real, though limited in scope.
Sirach 38:37

Sine his omnibus non aedificatur civitas.

Without all of these, no city is built.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

civitas
"city"

The organized human community; its physical existence depends on the labor of craftsmen.

Translator Notes

  1. The essential dignity of manual labor: civilization itself depends on these workers. Ben Sira is not contemptuous of their contribution.
Sirach 38:38

Et non inhabitabunt nec inambulabunt et in ecclesiam non transilient.

Yet they will not dwell there as leaders, nor walk about in prominence, nor have a seat in the assembly.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

ecclesiam
"assembly"

The deliberative body of the community; ecclesia here denotes the council where civic and religious decisions are made.

Translator Notes

  1. The crucial distinction: craftsmen build the city but do not govern it. Ben Sira reserves civic and religious leadership for the learned scribe.
Sirach 38:39

Super sellam iudicis non sedebunt et testamentum iudicii non intelligent et non patefacient disciplinam et iudicium et in parabolis non invenientur.

They will not sit on the judge's seat, nor understand the covenant of judgment; they will not expound instruction and law, nor be found among those who speak in proverbs.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

testamentum iudicii
"covenant of judgment"

The legal and covenantal framework within which justice is administered; mastery of it requires sustained study.

parabolis
"proverbs"

The wisdom genre par excellence: mashal, the crafted comparison that distills truth into memorable form.

Translator Notes

  1. The judicial, legal, and literary functions of wisdom are reserved for those with the leisure to study. The craftsmen's exclusion is practical, not moral.
Sirach 38:40

Sed creaturam aevi confirmabunt et deprecatio illorum in operatione artis accomodantes animam suam et conquirentes in lege Altissimi.

But they sustain the fabric of the age, and their prayer is in the practice of their craft, applying their souls and seeking understanding in the law of the Most High.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

creaturam aevi
"fabric of the age"

The created order of the present world; the craftsmen's labor maintains the physical infrastructure of civilization across time.

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter's closing affirmation: the craftsmen's work is itself a form of prayer. Their labor sustains the world order (creaturam aevi), even if they do not articulate it in words.
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