Scripture Daily

Context No. 2326 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 26:1-16: in context

1Happy is the husband of a good wife. The number of his days will be doubled. 2A faithful wife gives joy to her husband. He will fulfill his years in peace. 3A good wife is a great gift. She will be given to those who fear the Lord. 4Whether a man is rich or poor, a good heart makes a cheerful face at all times. 5Of three things my heart was afraid, and concerning the fourth kind I made supplication: The slander of a city, the assembly of a mob, and a false accusation. All these are more grievous than death. 6A grief of heart and sorrow is a woman who is jealous of another woman. Her tongue-lashing makes it known to all. 7A wicked woman is like a chafing yoke. He who takes hold of her is like one who grasps a scorpion. 8A drunken woman causes great wrath. She will not cover her own shame. 9The fornication of a woman is in the lifting up of her eyes; it will be known by her eyelids. 10Keep strict watch on a headstrong daughter, lest she find liberty for herself, and use it. 11Watch out for an impudent eye, and don’t be surprised if it sins against you. 12She will open her mouth like a thirsty traveller, and drink from every water that is near. She will sit down at every post, and open her quiver to any arrow. 13The grace of a wife will delight her husband. Her knowledge will strengthen his bones. 14A silent woman is a gift of the Lord. There is nothing worth so much as a well-instructed soul. 15A modest woman is grace upon grace. There are no scales that can weigh the value of a self-controlled soul. 16As the sun when it arises in the highest places of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-organized home.

This passage of Sirach speaks, in the manner of its ancient world, about wives, mingling harsh sayings shaped by their time with genuine praise of a good and faithful spouse. Its enduring wisdom is worth drawing out. A good wife is a great gift, Sirach says, given to those who fear the Lord; a faithful spouse gives joy and peace. And he prizes not outward things but character: the grace of a good spouse, a modest and self-controlled soul, is beyond all price, a treasure that no scales can weigh.

Two pieces of enduring wisdom rise out of this passage. The first is that a good and faithful spouse is a great gift from God. Sirach does not treat a good marriage partner as a mere human arrangement or a matter of luck, but as a gift given by God, a blessing to be received with gratitude. Whoever finds a good spouse, the proverb agrees, finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. A faithful, loving spouse is one of God's good gifts, to be received with thanks rather than taken for granted. And the second is that the true worth of a person lies in character, not outward things. Sirach prizes not beauty or wealth but the grace, faithfulness, modesty, and self-control of a good spouse, calling these treasures beyond price. A self-controlled soul, he says, is beyond all weighing; the real value is in character, in the inner person, not the outward appearance. This wisdom applies to how we value people and what we treasure. In a world that prizes outward appearance, wealth, and status, Sirach directs us to what truly matters: character, faithfulness, grace, self-control, the inner person. These are the treasures beyond price, worth far more than the outward things the world values. Let your beauty be, Peter says, the hidden person of the heart, a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God's sight. The real worth of a person is in the heart, the character, not the outward appearance; and this is what we should value in others and cultivate in ourselves. This searches what we treasure and seek. Do we value people, and seek in a spouse or in ourselves, chiefly the outward things the world prizes, appearance, wealth, status? Or do we value what Sirach calls beyond price: character, faithfulness, grace, self-control, the inner person? And do we receive the good gifts God gives, including good relationships, with gratitude, recognizing them as his gifts? This calls us to receive God's good gifts with gratitude and to value character over outward things. A good and faithful spouse, Sirach says, is a great gift from God, and the true worth of a person lies in character, beyond all price. And we are called to receive the good gifts God gives, including good relationships, with thanks rather than taking them for granted, and to value in others and cultivate in ourselves the character, faithfulness, and grace that are beyond price, treasuring the inner person that is precious in God's sight rather than the outward things the world prizes.

Do I take the good gifts God gives me, including good relationships, for granted rather than receiving them with gratitude, and do I value chiefly the outward things the world prizes, appearance, wealth, and status, rather than character, and can Sirach's wisdom, that a good and faithful spouse is a great gift from God and that the true worth of a person lies in character and grace beyond all price, move me to receive God's gifts with thanks and to value in others and cultivate in myself the inner person that is precious in God's sight?

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