An Atheist Explores the Apocrypha Part 24: The Biblical Guide To Hosting A Party. Plus: Beat Your Servants, But Not Too Much (Ecclesiasticus 31-35)
Ecclesiasticus
31-35
The Biblical Guide To Hosting A Party. Plus: Beat Your Servants,
But Not Too Much.
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts
(Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old
Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as
literature and mythology.
Ecclesiasticus
31
“Watching for riches consumeth the flesh, and the care
thereof driveth away sleep”
Ben Sirach now turns his attention to wealth, food and drink, and
urges moderation in all things. On gold,
he suggests that it is not the having, or not having, of it that is the cause
of trouble, but the desire to have wealth that makes a person unhappy. How very
Buddhist.
As for food and drink, Ben Sirach recommends not stuffing your
face, partly out of good manners – “Leave off first for manners' sake; and be not unsatiable,
lest thou offend” - and partly for
the good of your health – “Sound sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth early, and
his wits are with him: but the pain of watching, and choler, and pangs of the
belly, are with an unsatiable man”. Ben
Sirach also recommends that “if thou hast
been forced to eat, arise, go forth, vomit, and thou shalt have rest”. Holy
Bulimia, Batman!
Wine is good, as long as enjoyed carefully – “Wine measurably drunk and in season bringeth
gladness of the heart, and cheerfulness of the mind”, but not to excess – “Drunkenness increaseth the rage of a fool
till he offend: it diminisheth strength, and maketh wounds”.
It’s nice that Ben Sirach recognises that wealth, food
and moderate alcohol consumption are all things that make life good, not things
to be shunned by severe asceticism.
Ecclesiasticus
32
“If
thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be
among them as one of the rest; take diligent care for them, and so sit down”
Here Ben Sirach gives advice on how to host a party; a
strange theme for a Biblical text, one might think, but there you go.
Potentially it could be read as some kind of metaphor for … something, but
plainly it states that “A concert of
musick in a banquet of wine is as a signet of carbuncle set in gold” and
when there is music one shouldn’t waste time giving speeches – “Pour not out words where there is a
musician, and shew not forth wisdom out of time”.
Later in the same segment the advice warns against
talking so as to make oneself look foolish in front of “great men” – “Let thy speech
be short, comprehending much in few words; be as one that knoweth and yet holdeth
his tongue”. Which here is still within the “how to socialise” theme but would also apply, according to what
we’ve seen of Ben Sirach so far, to pretty much any occasion.
The latter part of the chapter returns to how to get
wisdom and to come to God (or, rather, vice versa since it is the finding God
that leads a person to Wisdom according to Ben Sirach). We’ve seen this before;
it’s more in that vein.
A couple of noteworthy verses; it states that at home
a person can “take thy pastime, and do
what thou wilt”. Does that imply that what a person gets up to in the
privacy of their own home is nobody’s business? Doesn’t sound very Biblical to
me. And also “beware of thine own
children” says the chapter, with no follow up as to why. Does it mean
“beware” in the sense as we would understand it, that the children are
dangerous? Or is it an older sense that means “be aware of”, i.e. take care of?
Ecclesiasticus
33
“The
heart of the foolish is like a cartwheel; and his thoughts are like a rolling
axletree”
We’re back to more aphorisms about fools and wise men,
which are both quite fun in some ways (like the above, or “A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, he neigheth under every one
that sitteth upon him”) but also repeats of what has gone before. There’s a
bit about God creating everything and thus being allowed to do what He likes
with it, and also that although the sun rises the same way every day, some days
are deemed special because God ordained them so.
The more noteworthy portion of this chapter encourages
putting oneself before all others – “In
all thy works keep to thyself the preeminence; leave not a stain in thine
honour”, and also how to discipline your servants to stop them getting idle
and insolent – “Set him to work, as is
fit for him: if he be not obedient, put on more heavy fetters” and “A yoke and a collar do bow the neck: so are
tortures and torments for an evil servant”. But not too much, apparently. “But be not excessive toward any; and without
discretion do nothing […]If thou have a servant, entreat him as a brother: for
thou hast need of him, as of thine own soul”. Sounds like one of those
Qur’anic verses that tells people not to kill anyone… without sufficient
justification. Tricksy wording.
Ecclesiasticus
34
“The
hopes of a man void of understanding are vain and false: and dreams lift up
fools.”
Another mixed bag, starting with a discussion about
dreams and how they are illusions and that it’s foolish to follow them. As the
text progresses, it becomes apparent that Ben Sirach is talking more about the
interpretation of dreams and oneiromancy, rather than having dreams in the
sense of ambitions.
We are then treated to a bit about travel broadening
the mind – “A man that hath travelled
knoweth many things; and he that hath much experience will declare wisdom”,
spoken from a point of experience. The only thing a person need pack,
apparently, is their faith in God, since “the
eyes of the Lord are upon them that love him, he is their mighty protection and
strong stay, a defence from heat, and a cover from the sun at noon, a
preservation from stumbling, and an help from falling”. Maybe God, and a
hat?
Lastly there’s a section about how you shouldn’t steal
stuff from people and then offer it for sacrifice – “He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering is
ridiculous; and the gifts of unjust men are not accepted”. This goes on for
several verses, and seems kind of strange having gone through the New Testament
to be back in the realms of making offerings at the temple. This, of all
chapters so far, seems to be more concerned with keeping the Jewish Law rather
than any more generally applicable advice.
Ecclesiasticus
35
“The
prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds: and till it come nigh, he will not be
comforted; and will not depart, till the most High shall behold to judge
righteously, and execute judgment”
There’s more here about making sacrifices, which “maketh the altar fat, and the sweet savour
thereof is before the most High”. Although it’s pretty clearly addressed at
making the burnt offerings of meat and “fine
flour” at the temple, one could
almost ready it as a kind of metaphor for simple prayer without the barbecue,
and I’ll bet this has been done by those Christian traditions that include this
book. “Give unto the most High according
as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten, give with a cheerful eye”,
for example. Could be physical offerings, could be prayer.
God will repay seven-fold, apparently, but the chapter
also warns against praying for harmful things, because God is more inclined to
listen to the poor and oppressed – “He
will not accept any person against a poor man, but will hear the prayer of the
oppressed”. This warning not to pray for selfish or cruel things is backed
up with a thundering threat – “the Lord
will not be slack, neither will the Mighty be patient toward them, till he have
smitten in sunder the loins of the unmerciful, and repayed vengeance to the
heathen; till he have taken away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptre
of the unrighteous”. So there.
You’ve been warned!
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