King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 41
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1O , how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto the man that hath nothing to vex him, and that hath prosperity in all things: yea, unto him that is yet able to receive meat! 2O , acceptable is thy sentence unto , and unto him whose strength faileth, that is now in the last age, and is vexed with all things, and to him that despaireth, and hath lost ! 3Fear not the sentence of , remember them that have been before thee, and that come after; for this is the sentence of over . 4And why art thou against the pleasure of ? there is no inquisition in the , whether thou have lived ten, or an hundred, or a thousand years. 5The children of are children, and they that are conversant in the dwelling of the ungodly. 6The of ’ children shall , and their posterity shall have a perpetual . 7The children will complain of an ungodly , because they shall be reproached for his sake. 8Woe be unto you, ungodly men, which have forsaken of ! for if ye increase, it shall be to your : 9And if ye be born, ye shall be born to : and if ye , shall be your . 10All that are of the earth shall turn to earth again: so the ungodly shall go from to . 11The of men is about their bodies: but an ill name of shall be blotted out. 12Have regard to thy name; for that shall continue with thee above a thousand great of gold. 13A good life hath but few days: but a good name endureth for ever. 14My children, keep in peace: for that is hid, and a that is not seen, what profit is in them both? 15A man that hideth his foolishness is better than a man that hideth his . 16Therefore be shamefaced according to my word: for it is not good to retain all shamefacedness; neither is it altogether approved in every thing. 17Be of whoredom before and mother: and of a lie before a prince and a mighty man; 18Of an offence before a judge and ruler; of before a and people; of unjust dealing before thy partner and friend; 19And of theft in regard of the place where thou sojournest, and in regard of the truth of and his ; and to lean with thine elbow upon the meat; and of scorning to give and take; 20And of silence before them that salute thee; and to look upon an ; 21And to turn away thy from thy kinsman; or to take away a or a gift; or to gaze upon another man’s wife. 22Or to be overbusy with his maid, and come not near her bed; or of upbraiding speeches before friends; and after thou hast given, upbraid not; 23Or of iterating and speaking again that which thou hast heard; and of revealing of secrets. 24So shalt thou be truly shamefaced and find before all men.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›
Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.
- The successors
- Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
- Hellenism
- Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
- The crisis
- Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
- Further afield
- Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.
All of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)