Sirach — Chapter 51
Thanksgiving and the pursuit of wisdom
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
51:1 I will give thanks to You, Lord and King, and praise You, God my Savior. I give thanks to Your name,
51:2 because You became my shelter and helper. You redeemed my body from destruction and from the snare of a slanderous tongue, from lips that work falsehood. Before those standing around, You became my helper and redeemed me,
51:3 according to the abundance of Your mercy and Your name, from gnashing teeth when I was ready to be devoured, from the hand of those seeking my life, from the many afflictions I had,
51:4 from the choking of a fire all around, and from the midst of a fire that I did not kindle,
51:5 from the depth of Hades’ belly, from an unclean tongue and a false word—
51:6 slander to a king from an unjust tongue. My soul drew near to death, and my life was close to Hades below.
51:7 They surrounded me on every side, and there was no helper. I looked for support from people, but there was none.
51:8 I remembered Your mercy, Lord, and Your work from of old: You rescue those who wait for You and save them from the hand of enemies.
51:9 I lifted my supplication from the earth and pleaded for deliverance from death.
51:10 I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, not to abandon me in days of affliction, in a time of arrogance when there was no help. I will praise Your name continually and sing hymns with thanksgiving.
51:11 My petition was heard, for You saved me from destruction and rescued me from an evil time.
51:12 Therefore I will give thanks to You and praise You and bless the Lord’s name.
51:13 While I was still young, before I wandered, I openly sought wisdom in my prayer.
51:14 Before the sanctuary I asked for her, and until the end I will seek her out.
51:15 From her blossom, as from a ripening grape, my heart rejoiced in her. My foot stepped in uprightness; from my youth I traced her path.
51:16 I inclined my ear a little and received, and found much instruction for myself.
51:17 I made progress in her; I will give glory to the One who gives me wisdom.
51:18 For I resolved to practice her and was zealous for the good, and I will never be put to shame.
51:19 My soul struggled for her, and I was exact in practicing the law. I spread my hands toward the height and mourned my soul’s unwitting faults.
51:20 I directed my soul toward her and found her in purity. From the beginning I gained a heart together with her; therefore I will never be abandoned.
51:21 My inward parts were stirred to seek her out; therefore I acquired a good possession.
51:22 The Lord gave me a tongue as my reward, and with it I will praise Him.
51:23 Draw near to me, you who are uninstructed, and lodge in a house of instruction.
51:24 Why do you say you are lacking in these things, while your souls thirst exceedingly?
51:25 I opened my mouth and said, “Acquire for yourselves without silver.
51:26 “Put your neck beneath the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction. She is near at hand to be found.
51:27 “See with your own eyes that I labored a little and found much rest for myself.
51:28 “Take part in instruction at the cost of much silver, and acquire much gold through her.
51:29 “May your soul rejoice in His mercy, and may you not be ashamed in His praise.
51:30 “Do your work before the appointed time, and He will give you your reward in His time.”
Source and editorial notes
Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.
The translator’s prologue is separate from the 51 chapters. Its eight source units map to publisher labels 1, 1a–1g; main-text 1:1 maps to 1h. Source 5:15 includes material often numbered 6:1, so chapter 6 begins at 6:2. Source label gaps are preserved; no text is invented.
51:1 The publisher displays no separate prayer superscription. Swete, p. 752, prints Προσευχὴ Ἰησοῦ υἱοῦ Σειράχ, “Prayer of Jesus son of Sirach.” That actually read heading is preserved here as an edition comparison, not counted as an additional publisher verse. The chapter title is editorial. [SWETE-SIR]
51:3 “And Your name” is explicit; the Greek does not supply “glory of” before it.
51:4 The active οὐκ ἐξέκαυσα, rendered “I did not kindle,” was visually confirmed in Swete, p. 752. LSJ documents the transitive sense “kindle”; the grammatical construction and possible broader burning sense remain a review question. No passive form is asserted to occur in the publisher. [SWETE-SIR; LSJ-EKKAIO]
51:6 The first clause is a nominal phrase continuing the preceding slander language; “to a king” preserves the dative βασιλεῖ.
51:10 “The Lord, the Father of my Lord” follows κύριον πατέρα κυρίου μου, also visually confirmed in Swete, p. 753. Its presence alone does not establish the date or doctrinal intention of a textual layer. The address is retained without substituting another form. [SWETE-SIR]
51:13 Πλανηθῆναι may concern traveling about or straying; the English “wandered” preserves the ambiguity without supplying a moral lapse.
51:15 The compressed blossom-and-grape comparison is retained without importing another version’s stage-by-stage description of fruit.
51:19 The final feminine “her/its” can refer back to ψυχή, “soul.” Naming the soul in English avoids attributing ignorance to wisdom as a settled interpretation; the pronoun’s antecedent remains a translation question.
51:20 “Gained a heart” is retained as the source’s expression rather than replaced by an added faculty or emotional state.
51:28 “Much silver” is present here, beside the invitation “without silver” in verse twenty-five. The contrast is retained without deleting either expression or claiming a textual correction.
51:30 The quotation introduced in verse twenty-five is closed editorially here; the Greek source does not mark every intervening verse as a separate speech.
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