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Sirach / Chapter 5

Sirach 5

18 verses • Latin Vulgate (Jerome)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Ben Sira warns against presuming on wealth, self-sufficiency, or God's patience. Do not say 'I will sin and God will forgive' -- divine mercy is not a license for recklessness. The second half is devoted to the ethics of speech: be swift to hear and slow to answer, do not spread slander, guard your tongue, and let your words be consistent and truthful.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The warning against presumptuous reliance on God's mercy (vv. 4-7) directly addresses the theological complacency that later Christian writers called 'cheap grace.' The speech-ethics section (vv. 11-18) is among the most developed in the wisdom tradition and anticipates James 3:1-12 in its concern with the destructive power of the tongue.

Translation Friction

The assertion that God's wrath 'comes suddenly' (v. 7) creates tension with the patience theology of chapter 2. Ben Sira manages both truths -- God is patient AND God's judgment can arrive without warning -- without fully synthesizing them.

Connections

Romans 2:4-5 (presuming on God's kindness); James 3:1-12 (the tongue as fire); Proverbs 10:19 (in many words sin is not absent); Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 (be not rash with your mouth); Psalm 62:10 (do not trust in wealth).

Sirach 5:1

Noli adtendere ad possessiones iniquas et ne dixeris est mihi sufficiens vitae multae enim divitiae sunt mihi.

Do not set your heart on ill-gotten possessions, and do not say, 'I have enough for my life,' for great riches are mine.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

possessiones iniquas
"ill-gotten possessions"

Iniquus marks the wealth as unjustly acquired; the warning applies to both the means of acquisition and the attitude of possession.

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter opens by targeting the wealthy who feel self-sufficient. The danger is not wealth per se but the false security it breeds.
Sirach 5:2

Ne sequaris concupiscentiam et fortitudinem tuam.

Do not follow your desire and your strength.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

concupiscentiam
"desire"

Concupiscentia here is disordered appetite generally, not yet the narrow sexual sense it acquired in later Latin theology.

Translator Notes

  1. Concupiscentia paired with fortitudo: the combination of wanting and having the power to get is particularly dangerous.
Sirach 5:3

Et ne dixeris quomodo potui aut quis me subiciet propter facta mea Deus enim vindicans vindicabit.

And do not say, 'Who can overpower me?' or 'Who will hold me accountable for my deeds?' For God will surely take vengeance.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

vindicans vindicabit
"will surely take vengeance"

The doubled verb (Hebrew infinitive absolute construction preserved in Latin) intensifies certainty: God will without fail repay.

Translator Notes

  1. The arrogant question 'Who can overpower me?' echoes Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and other proud rulers who learned the answer too late.
Sirach 5:4

Ne dixeris peccavi et quid mihi accidit triste Altissimus enim est patiens redditor.

Do not say, 'I sinned, and what harm came to me?' For the Most High is a patient recompenser.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

patiens redditor
"a patient recompenser"

God is patient (patiens) but also one who repays (redditor); patience does not cancel justice.

Translator Notes

  1. The most dangerous presumption: interpreting God's patience as indifference. Ben Sira warns that divine forbearance has a limit.
Sirach 5:5

De propitiato peccato noli esse sine metu neque adicias peccatum super peccatum.

Concerning forgiven sin, do not be without fear, and do not heap sin upon sin.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

propitiato
"forgiven"

From propitiare, to appease or make favorable; the sin has been covered but the inclination to repeat it remains.

Translator Notes

  1. Forgiveness received should produce grateful vigilance, not careless repetition.
Sirach 5:6

Et ne dixeris miseratio Domini magna est multitudinis peccatorum meorum miserebitur.

And do not say, 'His mercy is great; he will forgive the multitude of my sins.'

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

miseratio
"mercy"

Miseratio is the emotional dimension of mercy -- compassion, pity -- as distinct from misericordia, which adds the element of active response.

Translator Notes

  1. This is the classic statement of presumption: using the doctrine of mercy as a pretext for continued sinning. It was a central proof-text in Catholic moral theology against the vice of praesumptio.
Sirach 5:7

Misericordia enim et ira ab illo cito proximant et in peccatores respicit ira illius.

For mercy and wrath alike come swiftly from him, and his anger rests upon sinners.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

ira
"wrath"

Ira Dei (the wrath of God) is not capricious anger but the just response of holiness to persistent rebellion.

Translator Notes

  1. The parallelism is deliberate: mercy and wrath are not opposites but twin aspects of God's engagement with humanity. Both can arrive 'swiftly' (cito).
Sirach 5:8

Non tardes converti ad Dominum et ne differas de die in diem.

Do not delay turning to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

converti
"turning"

Conversio is the Latin rendering of Hebrew teshuvah (return/repentance); it implies a complete reorientation of life.

Translator Notes

  1. The urgency of repentance: delay is itself a form of presumption.
Sirach 5:9

Subito enim veniet ira illius et in tempore vindictae disperdet te.

For his wrath will come suddenly, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Subito' (suddenly) is the key word: the sinner who delays assumes time is available, but judgment may strike without warning.
Sirach 5:10

Noli anxius esse in divitiis iniustis non enim proderunt tibi in die obductionis et vindictae.

Do not be anxious about unjust riches, for they will profit you nothing in the day of adversity and vengeance.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Returns to the opening theme: unjust wealth is useless when divine judgment arrives.
Sirach 5:11

Non ventiles te in omnem ventum et non eas in omnem viam sic enim omnis peccator probatur in duplici lingua.

Do not winnow yourself in every wind, and do not walk in every path; for so is every sinner tested who speaks with a double tongue.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

duplici lingua
"a double tongue"

Parallels the 'double heart' of 1:37 and 2:15; in speech, duplicity means saying one thing and meaning another.

Translator Notes

  1. The winnowing image is agricultural: grain tossed in every breeze scatters uselessly. The 'double tongue' connects speech to moral instability.
Sirach 5:12

Esto firmus in via Domini et in veritate sensus tui et scientia et prosequatur te verbum pacis et iustitiae.

Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of your understanding and knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice attend you.

Sirach 5:13

Esto mansuetus ad audiendum verbum ut intellegas et cum sapientia proferas verum responsum.

Be gentle in hearing a word, so that you may understand, and with wisdom give a true answer.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

mansuetus
"gentle"

The gentle listener is receptive and unhurried, the opposite of the impulsive speaker.

Translator Notes

  1. Listening precedes speaking; understanding precedes answering. This is the core discipline of wise speech.
Sirach 5:14

Si est tibi intellectus responde proximo sin autem sit manus tua super os tuum ne capiaris in verbo indisciplinato et confundaris.

If you have understanding, answer your neighbor; but if not, let your hand be over your mouth, lest you be caught in an undisciplined word and put to shame.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The image of the hand over the mouth is found also in Job 21:5 and 40:4; it represents the physical discipline of silence.
Sirach 5:15

Honor et gloria in sermone sensati lingua vero imprudentis subversio est ipsius.

Honor and glory are in the speech of the discerning, but the tongue of the fool is his own ruin.

Sirach 5:16

Non appelleris susurro et lingua tua ne capiaris et confundaris.

Do not be called a whisperer, and do not be caught and put to shame by your tongue.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

susurro
"a whisperer"

The susurro is a gossip or slanderer who speaks in undertones; the word itself sounds like whispering.

Sirach 5:17

Super furem enim est confusio et paenitentia et denotatio pessima super bilinguem susurroni autem odium et inimicitia et contumelia.

For upon the thief fall shame and reproach, and the worst disgrace upon the double-tongued; but upon the whisperer fall hatred, enmity, and insult.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

bilinguem
"the double-tongued"

Bilinguis (two-tongued) is one who says different things to different people; a more specific form of duplici corde.

Translator Notes

  1. The hierarchy of social censure: the thief loses honor, the two-faced person loses reputation, the gossip loses relationships entirely.
Sirach 5:18

Iustifica pusillum et magnum similiter.

Treat the small and the great alike with justice.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

iustifica
"treat with justice"

Iustificare here means to render a just verdict or fair treatment, not the theological sense of 'declare righteous.'

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter closes with a lapidary command for impartial justice, forming an inclusio with the opening warning against unjust wealth.
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