Sirach 28:17-26: a reflection

Sirach warns of the great harm the tongue can do, comparing its wounds to blows that break bones, and urges us to guard our speech carefully, as we would guard a treasure. The stroke of a whip makes a mark in the flesh, he says, but the stroke of a tongue will break bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, yet not so many as those who have fallen because of the tongue. And so he counsels: as you hedge your possession about with thorns, and secure your silver and gold, so make a balance and a weight for your words, and make a door and a bar for your mouth. The tongue can do terrible harm, wounding deeply, breaking what a physical blow could not; and so we are to guard our speech carefully, weighing our words. This shows the harm the tongue can do and the need to guard our speech. The tongue can wound more deeply than a physical blow. Guard your speech carefully, as you would a treasure. Weigh your words; put a door and bar on your mouth. Careless words do great harm; guard your tongue.

Notice both the harm Sirach ascribes to the tongue and the care he urges. The tongue's wounds, he says, are worse than a whip's, breaking bones; more have fallen by the tongue than by the sword. This is a striking claim about the destructive power of words: careless, cruel, or false words can do harm deeper and more lasting than physical blows, wounding hearts, destroying reputations, breaking relationships. And so Sirach counsels care: just as we carefully guard our possessions, hedging them about and securing our valuables, so we should guard our words, weighing them carefully, putting a door and a bar on our mouths so that harmful words do not slip out. This is wisdom we need. We can be careless with our words, letting them slip out without thought, not reckoning the harm they can do; but words have great power for harm, and we do well to guard our speech, to weigh our words before we speak them, to put a guard on our mouths. The care we would take with a treasure or a dangerous thing, we do well to take with our words. To guard our speech, weighing our words carefully, is real wisdom. The tongue's harm is great; guard your words carefully. Weigh your words before you speak them. Put a guard on your mouth, as you would secure a treasure. Careless words do harm; guarded speech is wisdom.

That is worth taking to heart, for the tongue can do great harm, and we do well to guard our speech carefully, weighing our words, as Sirach urges us to put a door and a bar on our mouths. We can be careless with our words, letting them slip out without thought of the harm they can do; but Sirach warns that the tongue's wounds are worse than a whip's, and counsels us to guard our speech as we would a treasure. Words have great power. Do not be careless with your words; guard your speech, weighing your words carefully before you speak. Guard your speech carefully, weighing your words before you speak them, as Sirach, warning that the stroke of the tongue breaks bones and that more have fallen by the tongue than by the sword, counsels us, just as we hedge our possessions about with thorns and secure our silver and gold, to make a balance and a weight for our words and a door and a bar for our mouth; for the tongue can do terrible harm, wounding more deeply than a physical blow, destroying reputations, breaking relationships, and doing harm more lasting than a whip's stroke, and we can be careless with our words, letting them slip out without thought of the harm they can do, but words have great power for harm, so that we do well to guard our speech, to weigh our words before we speak them, and to put a guard on our mouths so that harmful words do not slip out, taking with our words the care we would take with a treasure or a dangerous thing, since guarded speech is real wisdom.