Scripture Daily

Context No. 170 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 42:17-25: in context

17The Lord has not given power to the saints to declare all his marvelous works, which the Almighty Lord firmly settled, that the universe might be established in his glory. 18He searches out the deep and the heart. He has understanding of their secrets. For the Most High knows all knowledge. He sees the signs of the world. 19He declares the things that are past and the things that shall be, and reveals the traces of hidden things. 20No thought escapes him. There is not a word hidden from him. 21He has ordered the mighty works of his wisdom. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Nothing has been added to them, nor diminished from them. He had no need of any counselor. 22How desirable are all his works! One may see this even in a spark. 23All these things live and remain forever in all manner of uses. They are all obedient. 24All things are in pairs, one opposite the other. He has made nothing imperfect. 25One thing establishes the good things of another. Who could ever see enough of his glory?

Ben Sira turns from practical instruction to the created world, and this passage is his account of why he cannot finish the account. God has not empowered even his holy ones to tell all his marvelous works, he says, the works by which the universe stands firm.

His claim about God's knowledge is total: he searches out the deep and the human heart, he understands their secrets, he declares things past and things to come, and reveals the traces of hidden things. No thought escapes him and no word is hidden from him. Then the line that governs the rest: he has ordered the splendors of his wisdom, and he is from everlasting to everlasting, neither added to nor diminished.

Then the observation the passage is remembered for. All things are in pairs, one opposite the other, and he has made nothing incomplete. Each thing confirms the good of the other, and who could ever tire of seeing his glory? Ben Sira is looking at a world of opposites, day and night, life and death, good and evil, and calling the pairing itself a design rather than a flaw. Nothing lacks its counterpart. Where am I treating the existence of an opposite as evidence that something has gone wrong?

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