Scripture Daily

Context No. 523 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 42:1-16: in context

1Don’t be ashamed of these things, and don’t sin to save face: 2of the law of the Most High and his covenant, of judgment to do justice to the ungodly, 3of reckoning with a partner and with travellers, of a gift from the inheritance of friends, 4of exactness of scales and weights, of getting much or little, 5of bargaining dealing with merchants, of frequent correction of children, and of making the back of an evil slave to bleed. 6A seal is good where an evil wife is. Where there are many hands, lock things up. 7Whatever you hand over, let it be by number and weight. In giving and receiving, let all be in writing. 8Don’t be ashamed to instruct the unwise and foolish, and one of extreme old age who contends with those who are young. So you will be well instructed indeed and approved in the sight of every living man. 9A daughter is a secret cause of wakefulness to a father. Care for her takes away sleep— in her youth, lest she pass the flower of her age; when she is married, lest she should be hated; 10in her virginity, lest she should be defiled and be with child in her father’s house; when she has a husband, lest she should transgress; and when she is married, lest she should be barren. 11Keep a strict watch over a headstrong daughter, lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and notorious among the people, and shame you in public. 12Don’t gaze at every beautiful body. Don’t sit in the midst of women. 13For from garments comes a moth, and from a woman comes a woman’s wickedness. 14Better is the wickedness of a man than a pleasant woman, a woman who puts you to shame and disgrace. 15I will make mention now of the works of the Lord, and will declare the things that I have seen. The Lord’s works are in his words. 16The sun that gives light looks at all things. The Lord’s work is full of his glory.

Sirach here is giving practical wisdom, and it opens with a line that cuts surprisingly deep: do not be ashamed of these things, and do not sin to save face. Then it lists the things a person of integrity should never be embarrassed about, even when they are socially awkward: upholding God's law, judging justly, keeping exact scales and weights, being precise about money owed and money lent, putting agreements in writing, correcting a child who needs it. The thread running through the list is honesty that refuses to bend for the sake of appearances. Be scrupulously fair, be accurate, do the right thing in your dealings, and do not be ashamed of it even if it makes you look fussy or difficult or unsophisticated.

And the hinge of it all is that one phrase: do not sin to save face. Sirach knows how much wrong gets done not out of greed or malice but simply to avoid embarrassment. We fudge the number so we do not look cheap. We stay silent about the thing that is wrong so we do not look difficult. We go along with what we know we should not, because objecting would be awkward and we would rather sin than lose face. It is a quiet, respectable motive for doing wrong, and Sirach names it flatly as sin. (This same chapter, it should be said honestly, goes on to some harsh and anxious sayings about daughters and women that reflect the fears of a very different world and sit hard on modern ears; the enduring wisdom is in its refusal to let shame drive anyone into wrong.)

That puts a specific question to me, because I do this more than I notice. Some of my compromises are not dramatic; they are just me choosing to do or allow a small wrong rather than endure the embarrassment of doing right. I would rather sin quietly than look foolish, cheap, rigid, or out of step. Where am I sinning to save face, letting the fear of embarrassment push me into a wrong I would never commit for money, and what would it take to be, as Sirach says, unashamed of simply doing what is right?

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