Context No. 2717 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 41:17-24: in context

17Be ashamed of sexual immorality before father and mother, of a lie before a prince and a mighty man, 18of an offense before a judge and ruler, of iniquity before the congregation and the people, of unjust dealing before a partner and friend, 19and of theft in the place where you sojourn. Be ashamed in regard of the truth of God and his covenant, of leaning on your elbow at dinner, of contemptuous behavior in the matter of giving and taking, 20of silence before those who greet you, of looking at a woman who is a prostitute, 21of turning away your face from a kinsman, of taking away a portion or a gift, of gazing at a woman who has a husband, 22of meddling with his maid—and don’t come near her bed, of abusive speech to friends—and after you have given, don’t insult, 23of repeating and speaking what you have heard, and of revealing of secrets. 24So you will be ashamed of the right things and find favor in the sight of every man.

This is a list of things to be ashamed of, and it sounds strange to modern ears that treat shame as always damaging. Ben Sira thinks differently: a rightly aimed shame is a guardrail. Be ashamed of sexual sin before your parents, of a lie before those in authority, of theft where you are a guest, of cheating a partner, of coveting another man's wife, of betraying a confidence.

The key is what he calls shameful and what he does not. Elsewhere he insists there is a false shame that leads to sin, being ashamed of honest labor or of the truth of God. Here he trains the reader to blush at the right things, so that a formed conscience, not the crowd, decides what should make him look away. Do this, he says, and you will be ashamed of the right things and find favor. He is retuning an instinct we tend to leave scrambled.

Have I let my sense of shame get so scrambled that I blush at the wrong things and shrug at the real ones?

Sources

Sirach 4:21: "For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace."
Romans 6:21: "What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed?"
2 Corinthians 7:10: "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret."