Sirach — Chapter 26 — Hebrew–Greek comparison
A Good Wife and Difficult Partnerships
| Hebrew–English · Literal-Smooth | Greek–English · Literal-Smooth | Classification & Notes |
|---|---|---|
Hebrew 26:1 · translated A good wife—happy her husband; the number of his days is doubled. Hebrew witness C · C VII Verso (Beentjes: C V Verso)אשה טובה אשרי / בעלה ומספר ימיו כפלים׃ | Happy is the husband of a good wife, and the number of his days is doubled. | Similar · Hebrew 26:1 — Core sense agrees; independent Hebrew rendering of the selected primary witness. No claim of letter-for-letter identity. |
Hebrew 26:2 · fragmentary A capable wife makes her husband flourish, and his yea[rs … she] gladd[ens]. Hebrew witness C · C VII Verso (Beentjes: C V Verso)אשת חיל תדשן לבעלה / ושנו[תו– ת]שמ[ח] Additional folio transcriptions: 2 | A courageous wife gladdens her husband, and he will complete his years in peace. | Different · Hebrew 26:2 — Hebrew fatten/flourish and gladden years differs Greek gladden husband/complete years in peace. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. Inherited Greek note26:2 Courageous translates ἀνδρεία, also capable or valiant, rather than an unprinted narrower virtue. |
Hebrew 26:3 · fragmentary A [g]ood wife is a portion […], and in the lot of one who fears YHWH she is giv[en]. Hebrew witness C · C VIII Recto (Beentjes: C VI Recto)אשה [ט]ובה מנה [ ] / ובחלק ירא ייי תנת[ן] | A good wife is a good portion; she will be given among the portion of those who fear the Lord. | Similar · Hebrew 26:3 — C damaged. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | Whether rich or poor, his heart is good, and at every time his face is cheerful. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | My heart feared three things, and before a fourth presence I made supplication: a city’s slander, an assembled mob, and a false accusation—all more grievous than death. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:5 The difficult fourth presence wording follows τῷ τετάρτῳ προσώπῳ. The following list expressly gives three items; a new item is not inserted to complete an assumed enumeration. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | A wife jealous of another wife is heartache and mourning, and a scourge of the tongue that reaches everyone. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | An evil wife is a shifting ox-yoke; the one who takes hold of her is like someone grasping a scorpion. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | A drunken wife is great wrath, and she will not conceal her shame. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | A woman’s sexual immorality will be known in the lifting of her eyes and in her eyelids. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | Keep a firm watch over a headstrong daughter, so that she does not find freedom and use it for herself. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:10 The source’s restrictive ancient household instruction is retained without introducing an unprinted form of confinement or punishment. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | Be on guard after a shameless eye, and do not marvel if she offends against you. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | Like a thirsty traveler she will open her mouth and drink from every nearby water; she will sit before every tent peg and open her quiver before an arrow. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:12 The sexual imagery is retained through the source’s own water, peg, arrow, and quiver terms. |
Hebrew 26:13 · fragmentary A wife [does good to] her husband […]; her understanding makes flourishing. Hebrew witness C · C VIII Recto (Beentjes: C VI Recto)אשה [מט]יב בעלה [ ] / ידשן שכלה· | A wife’s grace will delight her husband, and her knowledge will fatten his bones. | Different · Hebrew 26:13 — Damaged C; Greek grace and bones cannot be filled into the losses. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. Inherited Greek note26:13 The bone-fattening image expresses well-being and is retained. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | A silent wife is a gift of the Lord, and there is no exchange for a disciplined soul. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. |
Hebrew 26:15 · fragmentary Grace [upon grace] is a modest wife, and there is no weight for a restrained mouth. Hebrew witness C · C VIII Recto (Beentjes: C VI Recto)חן ע[ל חן] / אשה ביישת ואין משקל / לצרורת פה׃ | A modest wife is grace upon grace, and no weight is worth a self-controlled soul. | Different · Hebrew 26:15 — Hebrew restrained mouth versus Greek self-controlled soul. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
Hebrew 26:16 · fragmentary The sun [rising] in the heights above: a beau[tiful woman] in a chosen inner chamber. Hebrew witness C · C VIII Recto (Beentjes: C VI Recto)שמש [זורחת] / במרומי מעל יפה א[שה] / בדביר בחור· | The sun rising in the Lord’s heights—so is a good wife’s beauty in the order of her house. | Different · Hebrew 26:16 — Hebrew heights above/chosen chamber differs Greek Lord’s heights/order of house. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
Hebrew 26:17 · translated A burning lamp upon a holy lampstand: splendor of face upon a well-formed stature. Hebrew witness C · C VIII Recto (Beentjes: C VI Recto)נר שרף / על מנורת קדש הוד / פנים על קומת תוכן׃ | A lamp shining upon a holy lampstand—so is a beautiful face upon a firmly established stature. | Similar · Hebrew 26:17 — Core sense agrees; independent Hebrew rendering of the selected primary witness. No claim of letter-for-letter identity. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | Golden pillars upon a silver base—so are beautiful feet upon the breast of one who stands firm. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:18 The anatomically difficult στέρνοις, “breast/chest,” was visually confirmed in Swete, p. 697. His printed apparatus reports the alternate words πτερνοις and ευσταθμοις, which yield “upon steady heels.” Those words were read in the edition’s note; no original manuscript was collated. The declared publisher text remains in the main column. Labels 19–27 are absent there. [SWETE-SIR] |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | At two things my heart has grieved, and at the third anger came upon me: a warrior in want through need, understanding men when they are treated as refuse, and someone turning back from righteousness to sin. The Lord will prepare him for the sword. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:28 All three objects of grief or anger are retained; the final singular him refers to the one turning to sin. |
No Hebrew text is available in the selected manuscript coverage for this unit. This is a source gap, not a classified omission. | A merchant will hardly be delivered from wrongdoing, and a retailer will not be acquitted of sin. | Not classified. No paired Hebrew reading is supplied. Inherited Greek note26:29 The two commercial roles remain distinct. |
Source and numbering
Hebrew English is newly translated from the manuscript-specific transcriptions in The Book of Ben Sira portal. Each translated unit identifies its selected witness and folio. This is a selected-witness working edition, not an exhaustive collation of every manuscript or a reconstruction of lost Hebrew. Brackets and fragmentary status identify uncertainty; no Greek text has been back-translated to fill Hebrew gaps.
The Greek-source English and its notes are inherited from the existing Sirach edition. The comparison categories are provisional editorial assessments against that English; this update is not a fresh verification of every Greek reading or its apparatus.
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.