Sirach — Chapter 8
Prudence in Human Dealings
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
8:1 Do not fight with a powerful person, lest you fall into his hands.
8:2 Do not quarrel with a rich person, lest he set his weight against yours; for gold has destroyed many and turned aside the hearts of kings.
8:3 Do not fight with a talkative person, and do not pile wood upon his fire.
8:4 Do not jest with someone uninstructed, lest your ancestors be dishonored.
8:5 Do not reproach someone turning away from sin; remember that we are all under penalties.
8:6 Do not dishonor a person in his old age, for some of us too grow old.
8:7 Do not rejoice over a dead person; remember that we all die.
8:8 Do not disregard the discourse of the wise; dwell among their proverbs, for from them you will learn instruction and how to serve people of high rank.
8:9 Do not neglect the discourse of the old, for they themselves learned from their fathers; from them you will learn understanding and how to give an answer at a time of need.
8:10 Do not kindle a sinner’s coals, lest you be burned in his blazing fire.
8:11 Do not rise up against an insolent person, lest he sit as an ambush against your mouth.
8:12 Do not lend to someone stronger than you; if you do lend, regard it as lost.
8:13 Do not stand surety beyond your means; if you do stand surety, take thought as someone who will have to pay.
8:14 Do not litigate with a judge, for they will decide in his favor in keeping with his prestige.
8:15 Do not travel on a road with a reckless person, lest he become a burden against you. For he will act according to his own will, and you will perish along with him through his folly.
8:16 Do not fight with a hot-tempered person or cross the wilderness with him. For blood is as nothing in his eyes, and where there is no help, he will strike you down.
8:17 Do not take counsel with a fool, for he will not be able to keep a word concealed.
8:18 Do not do something secret before a stranger, for you do not know what it will bring forth.
8:19 Do not reveal your heart to every person, and do not let him return you a favor.
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.
8:2 The weight or balance image is retained.
8:5 Under penalties renders ἐν ἐπιτίμοις, without limiting the penalty to an unprinted specific offense.
8:6 The source does not say that every individual will reach old age.
8:11 The ambush aimed at one’s mouth, and thus speech, is retained.
8:13 Surety means guaranteeing another’s obligation, not an ordinary gift.
8:14 The indefinite plural they reflects κρινοῦσιν; the source’s cynical observation is not turned into a command to judges.
8:18 The final verb literally means give birth; its unstated subject is not resolved into a claim about one particular person.
8:19 The difficult final clause follows μὴ ἀναφερέτω σοι χάριν literally. It may be a warning about the kind of return one would receive; its precise force remains open rather than being replaced by an unprinted explicit harm.