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Sirach / Chapter 42

Sirach 42

26 verses • Latin Vulgate (Jerome)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The chapter opens by completing the shame catalog: certain things should not cause shame, including correcting sinners, keeping accurate accounts, and disciplining children. A frank section on anxieties about daughters follows. The chapter then pivots dramatically to a hymn on God's works in creation -- the glory of the Most High is seen in all things, made in pairs, each complementing the other, none superfluous.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The transition at v. 15 from social wisdom to cosmic theology is one of the most dramatic shifts in all of Sirach. The creation hymn (vv. 15-26) serves as the theological foundation for the Praise of the Ancestors (chs. 44-50): before praising human heroes, Ben Sira first praises the God whose glory is reflected in everything he has made.

Translation Friction

The passage on daughters (vv. 9-14) reflects patriarchal anxieties that modern readers find deeply problematic: the father's fear centers on his daughter's sexuality and the shame it could bring upon the family. The text must be read within its social context while acknowledging its limitations.

Connections

Psalm 19:1 (the heavens declare the glory of God); Psalm 148 (all creation praises God); Romans 1:20 (God's attributes visible in creation); Wisdom 13:1-9 (knowing God through nature).

Sirach 42:1

Non duplices sermonem auditus de revelatione sermonis absconditi et eris vere sine confusione et invenies gratiam in conspectu omnium hominum de his non confundaris et ne accipias personam ut delinquas.

Do not repeat what you hear revealed in confidence, and you will truly be without shame, and you will find favor in the sight of all people. Do not be ashamed of these things, and do not show partiality so as to sin:

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

revelatione sermonis absconditi
"revealed in confidence"

A secret disclosed to you in trust; betraying it violates the fundamental social covenant of friendship.

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter opens with a bridge between the shame catalog (ch. 41) and its continuation. Keeping confidences is both a social virtue and a protection against shame.
Sirach 42:2

De lege Altissimi et testamento et de iudicio iustificare impium.

Do not be ashamed of the law of the Most High and his covenant, or of rendering judgment to acquit the ungodly.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Upholding the Torah and administering justice -- even when the verdict is unpopular -- should never be a source of shame.
Sirach 42:3

De verbo sociorum et viatorum et de datione hereditatis amicorum.

Do not be ashamed of settling accounts with partners and travelers, or of distributing an inheritance among friends.

Sirach 42:4

De aequalitate staterae et ponderum de adquisitione multorum et paucorum.

Do not be ashamed of accuracy with scales and weights, or of acquiring much or little.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

staterae et ponderum
"scales and weights"

The instruments of honest commerce; accuracy in measurement was a central ethical concern in the Torah (Leviticus 19:36).

Translator Notes

  1. Honest measurement is a virtue, not a source of embarrassment. The passage addresses those who might feel shame at being seen as overly precise.
Sirach 42:5

De corruptione emptionis et negotiatorum et de multa disciplina filiorum et servo pessimo latus sanguinare.

Do not be ashamed of profit from buying and selling, or of strict discipline for children, or of drawing blood from the side of a wicked servant.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verse reflects the harsh realities of ancient household management, including corporal punishment of slaves -- practices normalized in Ben Sira's world but morally repugnant by modern standards.
Sirach 42:6

Super mulierem nequam bonum est signum.

Where there is an untrustworthy wife, a seal is proper.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

signum
"seal"

A physical seal on storage containers to prevent unauthorized access; a mark of distrust that is here justified.

Translator Notes

  1. Securing household goods under seal when a wife is unreliable -- a practical if unflattering household management directive.
Sirach 42:7

Ubi manus multae sunt claude et quodcumque trades numera et appende datum vero et acceptum omne describe.

Where many hands are at work, lock up; whatever you hand over, count and weigh; record every expenditure and receipt.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Practical accounting advice: documentation protects against theft and misunderstanding. Ben Sira is unashamed of meticulous bookkeeping.
Sirach 42:8

De disciplina insensati et fatui et de senioribus qui iudicantur ab adulescentibus et eris eruditus in omnibus et probabilis in conspectu omnium vivorum.

Do not be ashamed of correcting the senseless and foolish, or the aged who are judged by the young; and you will be truly instructed and approved in the sight of all the living.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Even correcting elders when they are in the wrong should not cause shame -- truth takes precedence over social hierarchy.
Sirach 42:9

Filia patris abscondita est vigilia et sollicitudo eius auferet somnum ne forte in adulescentia sua adulta efficiatur et cum viro commorata odibilis fiat.

A daughter is a hidden anxiety to her father; worry over her robs him of sleep: lest in her youth she grow past her prime, or once married she become hateful to her husband.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The passage on daughters begins. The father's anxiety centers on the daughter's marriageability and her conduct once married -- reflecting a society where family honor depended heavily on female sexual propriety.
Sirach 42:10

Ne quando polluatur in virginitate sua et in paternis suis gravida inveniatur ne forte cum viro commorata transgrediatur aut certe sterilis efficiatur.

Lest she be defiled in her virginity and be found pregnant in her father's house; or lest living with her husband she prove unfaithful, or else become barren.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Three fears in descending order of social catastrophe: premarital pregnancy, adultery, and infertility. Each threatens family honor and covenant continuity.
Sirach 42:11

Super filiam luxuriosam confirma custodiam ne quando faciat te in obprobrium inimicis a detractione in civitate et obiectione plebis et confundat te in multitudine populi.

Over a headstrong daughter keep a close watch, lest she make you a disgrace to your enemies, a byword in the city, a reproach among the people, and shame you before the multitude.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

luxuriosam
"headstrong"

Luxuriosa here carries connotations of willfulness and sexual license rather than mere extravagance.

Sirach 42:12

Omni homini noli intendere in specie et in medio mulierum noli commorari.

Do not gaze at anyone's beauty, and do not linger among women.

Sirach 42:13

De vestimentis enim procedit tinea et a muliere iniquitas viri.

For from garments comes the moth, and from a woman comes a man's wickedness.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A misogynistic proverb that attributes male moral failure to female influence. The moth-from-garments comparison naturalizes this claim, though modern readers rightly question it.
Sirach 42:14

Melior est enim iniquitas viri quam benefaciens mulier et mulier confundens in obprobrium.

Better is a man's harshness than a woman's indulgence, and a woman who brings shame and reproach.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. One of the most difficult verses in Sirach for modern readers. The comparison is between strict male discipline and permissive female nurture, with Ben Sira preferring the former. The patriarchal value system is on full display.
Sirach 42:15

Memor ero igitur operum Domini et quae vidi annuntiabo in sermonibus Domini opera eius.

I will now call to mind the works of the Lord, and what I have seen I will declare. By the words of the Lord his works exist.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The dramatic pivot: from domestic anxieties to cosmic theology. Ben Sira announces a hymn to creation that will culminate in the Praise of the Ancestors.
Sirach 42:16

Sol inluminans per omnia respexit et gloria Domini plenum est opus eius.

The sun shining upon all things looks down, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

gloria Domini
"glory of the Lord"

The kavod -- the radiant, weighty presence of God made visible in the created order.

Translator Notes

  1. The sun as God's witness: it illuminates everything, and everything it illuminates reveals divine glory.
Sirach 42:17

Nonne Dominus fecit sanctos enarrare omnia mirabilia sua quae confirmavit Dominus omnipotens stabiliri in gloria sua.

Has not the Lord made the holy ones to declare all his wonders, which the Lord Almighty has established to be confirmed in his glory?

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Dominus omnipotens
"Lord Almighty"

The Pantokrator title emphasizing God's absolute sovereignty over all creation.

Translator Notes

  1. The 'holy ones' (sancti) may be angels or faithful humans; either way, creation requires witnesses who can articulate its meaning.
Sirach 42:18

Abyssum et cor hominum investigavit et in astutia eorum excogitavit.

He has searched out the abyss and the human heart, and has pondered their secrets.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

abyssum
"abyss"

The tehom -- the primordial deep of Genesis 1:2, representing the most inaccessible realm of creation.

Translator Notes

  1. God's knowledge extends to the two most unfathomable depths: the oceanic abyss and the human heart.
Sirach 42:19

Cognovit enim Dominus omnem scientiam et inspexit in signum aevi quae praeterierunt et quae superventura sunt revelans vestigia occultorum.

For the Lord knows all knowledge and has gazed upon the signs of the age, declaring things past and things to come, revealing the traces of hidden things.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

signum aevi
"signs of the age"

The markers and portents of each era; God reads history as a book whose every sign he authored.

Translator Notes

  1. Divine omniscience extends across time: past, present, and future are equally transparent to God.
Sirach 42:20

Non praeterit illum omnis cogitatus et non abscondit se ab eo ullus sermo.

No thought escapes him, and no word is hidden from him.

Sirach 42:21

Magnalia sapientiae suae decoravit quae est ante saeculum et usque in saeculum nec adiectum est.

He has adorned the mighty works of his wisdom, for he exists before time and forever, and nothing has been added.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

magnalia sapientiae
"mighty works of his wisdom"

The great deeds that display divine wisdom in action; creation as the external expression of internal wisdom.

Translator Notes

  1. God's wisdom is not progressive but complete from eternity. Nothing can be added to what is already perfect.
Sirach 42:22

Nec minuitur et non eguit alicuius consilio.

Nor has anything been diminished, and he has needed no one's counsel.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God acts without advisors -- a polemic against polytheistic council-of-gods mythology and a reinforcement of divine self-sufficiency (cf. Isaiah 40:13-14).
Sirach 42:23

Quam desiderabilia omnia opera eius et tamquam scintilla quae est considerare.

How desirable are all his works, like a spark that one may glimpse!

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Even the smallest manifestation of God's works (a spark) is worthy of contemplation. The simile suggests that creation's beauty is both brilliant and fleeting.
Sirach 42:24

Omnia haec vivunt et manent in saeculum et in omni necessitate omnia oboediunt ei.

All these things live and remain forever, and for every need they all obey him.

Sirach 42:25

Omnia duplicia unum contra unum et non fecit quicquam deesse.

All things come in pairs, one opposite the other, and he has made nothing incomplete.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

duplicia
"in pairs"

The dyadic structure of creation: everything exists in a complementary relationship with its counterpart.

Translator Notes

  1. The principle of complementary pairs: light/darkness, good/evil, male/female. Creation's structure is binary and complete.
Sirach 42:26

Uniuscuiusque confirmavit bona et quis satiabitur videns gloriam eius.

Each confirms the other's goodness, and who could ever be sated with beholding his glory?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The closing question is rhetorical: God's glory in creation is inexhaustible. No amount of contemplation can exhaust its wonder.
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