Scripture Daily

Context No. 1743 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 30:1-16: in context

1He who loves his son will continue to lay stripes upon him, that he may have joy from him in the end. 2He who chastises his son will have profit from him, and will brag about him among his acquaintances. 3He who teaches his son will provoke his enemy to jealousy. Before friends, he will rejoice in him. 4His father dies, and is as though he had not died; for he has left one behind him like himself. 5In his life, he saw his son and rejoiced. When he died, it was without regret. 6He left behind him an avenger against his enemies, and one to repay kindness to his friends. 7He who makes too much of his son will bind up his wounds. His heart will be troubled at every cry. 8An unbroken horse becomes stubborn. An unrestrained son becomes headstrong. 9Pamper your child, and he will make you afraid. Play with him, and he will grieve you. 10Don’t laugh with him, lest you have sorrow with him, and you gnash your teeth in the end. 11Give him no liberty in his youth, and don’t ignore his follies. 12Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat him on the sides while he is a child, lest he become stubborn, and be disobedient to you, and there be sorrow to your soul. 13Chastise your son, and give him work, lest his shameless behavior be an offense to you. 14Better is a poor man who is healthy and fit, than a rich man who is afflicted in his body. 15Health and fitness are better than all gold, and a strong body better than wealth without measure. 16There is no wealth better than health of body. There is no gladness above the joy of the heart.

This chapter of Sirach turns from counsel about raising children to a set of sayings about the goods of life, and it ends on a striking note about health. Better a poor man who is healthy and strong, Sirach says, than a rich man afflicted in body. Health and fitness are better than any amount of gold, and a sound body better than great wealth. There is no wealth, he concludes, better than health of body, and no gladness above the joy of the heart.

Sirach names two goods that we tend to undervalue until we lose them: health of body and joy of heart. There is no wealth, he says, better than health of the body, and no gladness above the joy of the heart. We are prone to measure the good life by wealth, to envy the rich and chase after gold, while taking for granted the health and the inner peace that are worth more than any fortune. But Sirach's ranking is worth pondering: a poor man who is well is better off than a rich man who is sick, for all the rich man's gold cannot buy back his health or give him a glad heart. Health and a peaceful, joyful heart are treasures we often possess without noticing, and would trade all our wealth to regain once they are gone. There is a call to gratitude here, and to a right ordering of what we value. If we have health, even modest health, and a heart at peace, we have goods that the wealthy sick would give everything for; and it is worth pausing to be thankful for them, rather than fixing our envy on riches we lack while overlooking treasures we hold. And there is a warning against chasing wealth at the expense of these greater goods, wearing down our health and poisoning our peace in the pursuit of gold that cannot restore either. Health and a glad heart are not everything, and Sirach does not say they are; but they are worth more than wealth, and the wise are grateful for them and do not sacrifice them for riches that cannot replace them.

Do I chase after wealth while taking for granted the health and the peace of heart that Sirach says are worth more than any gold, and can I learn to be grateful for these treasures I may possess without noticing, rather than envying riches while overlooking goods the wealthy sick would give everything to regain?

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