Sirach — Chapter 13 — Hebrew–Greek comparison
The Unequal Power of Wealth
| Hebrew–English · Literal-Smooth | Greek–English · Literal-Smooth | Classification & Notes |
|---|---|---|
Hebrew 13:1 · fragmentary One touching pitch has it stick to his hand; one associating with a scoffer learns his way. Hebrew witness A · A V Rectoנוגע בזפת תדבק ידו וחובר אל לץ ילמד דרכו · ]] [[ ]] [[ | The one who touches pitch will be stained, and the one who associates with a proud person will become like him. | Similar · Hebrew 13:1 — Greek proud person corresponds to Hebrew scoffer. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
Hebrew 13:2 · translated Why carry what is heavier than you? Why associate with someone richer than you? What fellowship has a small pot with a cauldron? It strikes it, and it breaks. Or what fellowship has a rich person with a poor one? Hebrew witness A · A V Rectoכבד ממך ^ מה ^ תשא ואל עשיר ממך מה תתחבר ׃ מה י ^ת^ חבר פרור אֶ ל סיר אשר הוא נוקש בו והוא נשבר ׃ או מה י ^ת^ חבר עשיר אל דל ׃ | Do not lift a burden beyond you, and do not associate with someone stronger and richer than you. What fellowship can an earthen pot have with a cauldron? One will strike, and the other will be shattered. | Different · Hebrew 13:2 — A adds the final explicit rich-poor question; the vessel comparison is shared. Inherited Greek note13:2 The vessel comparison represents unequal strength. The repeated Greek this one does not name each vessel anew. |
Hebrew 13:3 · translated A rich person inflicts harm and acts proudly; a poor person is wronged and must beg. | A rich person has done wrong, yet he adds threats; a poor person has been wronged, yet he must add entreaties. | Similar · Hebrew 13:3 — Same contrast of wrongdoer and victim; the rich person's reaction differs in wording. Inherited Greek note13:3 The source contrasts the actual wrongdoer and the wronged person. |
Hebrew 13:4 · translated If you are useful to him, he works you; if you sink down, he has pity on you. | If you are useful, he makes use of you; if you are in want, he will abandon you. | Divergent · Hebrew 13:4 — A reads יחמל, has pity, where Greek says he abandons you. The apparent contradiction with the surrounding warning is retained. |
Hebrew 13:5 · translated If you have something, he speaks kindly with you and impoverishes you, and it causes him no pain. | If you have something, he will live with you and empty you out, while he himself takes no trouble. | Different · Hebrew 13:5 — Greek says he lives with you and takes no trouble; Hebrew stresses kind speech and unconcern. |
Hebrew 13:6 · translated He needs what is with you, so he misleads you, smiles at you, and reassures you. | He needs you, and he will mislead you, smile at you, and give you hope. He will say pleasant things to you and ask, “What do you need?” | Different · Hebrew 13:6 — Greek adds pleasant speech and the question What do you need? |
Hebrew 13:7 · translated Until he profits he deceives you; two or three times he overawes you. Then he sees you, grows angry with you, and shakes his head at you. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoעד אשר יועיל יהתל בך · פעמים שלש יעריצך ובכן יראך והתעבר בך ובראשו יניע אליך ׃ | He will shame you with his food until he has emptied you out twice or three times, and at the last he will mock you. After this he will see you and abandon you and shake his head at you. | Different · Hebrew 13:7 — Hebrew profiting, intimidation, and anger differ from Greek shame through food, emptying, and abandonment. Inherited Greek note13:7 Twice or three times and the full sequence of actions are retained. |
Hebrew 13:8 · translated Beware: do not grow too bold, and do not resemble those lacking knowledge. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoהשמר אל תרהב מאד ואל תדמה בַ חֲ סֵ ירֵ י מַדַּ ע ׃ | Take care not to be misled or brought low through your folly. | Different · Hebrew 13:8 — Hebrew warns about boldness and ignorance; Greek about deception and humiliation through folly. |
Hebrew 13:9 · translated When a noble draws near, keep your distance, and so he will bring you close. | When a powerful person summons you, be retiring, and he will summon you all the more. | Similar · Hebrew 13:9 — Same counsel about distance and invitation. |
Hebrew 13:10 · translated Do not come too close lest you be put far away, and do not stay too far away lest you be hated. | Do not thrust yourself forward, lest you be pushed away; do not stand too far off, so that you are not forgotten. | Different · Hebrew 13:10 — Hebrew hated differs from Greek forgotten. |
Hebrew 13:11 · translated Do not trust yourself to explore freely with him, nor believe his much talk. His many words are a test: he smiles at you and examines you. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoאל תבטח לחפש עמו ואל תאמן לרב שיחו ׃ כי מ ^ה^ רבות שיחו נסיון ושחק לך וחקרך ׃ | Do not insist on speaking with him as an equal, and do not trust his many words. For through much talk he will test you and examine you as though smiling. | Similar · Hebrew 13:11 — The opening Hebrew expression is difficult; the testing through smiling talk is shared. Inherited Greek note13:11 The smile is part of the testing, not proof of goodwill. |
Hebrew 13:12 · translated A ruler acts cruelly and does not spare the life of many; he plots a conspiracy. | Merciless is the one who does not keep words to himself, and he will certainly not spare you harm and bonds. | Different · Hebrew 13:12 — Hebrew explicitly identifies a ruler and plotting, differing from the Greek compressed statement about keeping words, harm, and bonds. Inherited Greek note13:12 The source’s compressed subject phrase is retained; the precise relation of keeping words to the powerful person’s conduct remains open. |
Hebrew 13:13 · translated Beware and be cautious; do not walk with violent men. | Keep watch and take very great care, because you are walking alongside your downfall. | Different · Hebrew 13:13 — Greek says walking alongside one's downfall; Hebrew names violent companions. Inherited Greek note13:13 The next displayed label is 15; label 14 is absent. |
Hebrew 13:15 · translated All flesh loves its kind, and every person one like himself. | Every living creature loves its like, and every person his neighbor. | Similar · Hebrew 13:15 — Greek neighbor corresponds to Hebrew one like himself. |
Hebrew 13:16 · fragmentary Every kind of flesh stays near its own, and a person joins his own kind. | All flesh gathers according to kind, and a man will cling to someone like himself. | Similar · Hebrew 13:16 — Same association by likeness. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
Hebrew 13:17 · translated What fellowship has a wolf with a lamb? So the wicked with the righteous—and the rich with a man set apart [meaning uncertain]. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoמה יחובר זאב אל כבש כך רשע לצדיק · וכן עשיר אל איש נאצל | What fellowship can a wolf have with a lamb? So it is with a sinner and a godly person. | Different · Hebrew 13:17 — A adds the rich-man comparison to the shared wolf-lamb image. Its נאצל ordinarily means set apart or noble; the expected poor-person contrast is not silently substituted. |
Hebrew 13:18 · fragmentary What peace has a hyena with a dog? Whence peace between a rich person and a poor one? Hebrew witness A · A V Versoמאיש שלום צבוע ׃ אל כלב מאין שלום עשיר אל רש ׃ ]] [[ | What peace can a hyena have with a dog? What peace can a rich person have with a poor one? | Similar · Hebrew 13:18 — A's syntax is awkward; the same paired comparison remains discernible. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. |
Hebrew 13:19 · translated The wild asses of the wilderness are food for a lion; so the poor are the rich person's pasture. | Wild asses in the wilderness are prey for lions; so the poor are feeding grounds for the rich. | Similar · Hebrew 13:19 — Same predatory metaphor. Inherited Greek note13:19 Feeding grounds preserves νομαί, continuing the predatory comparison. |
Hebrew 13:20 · translated Humility is abhorrent to pride, and a needy person is abhorrent to the rich. | Lowliness is an abomination to the proud; so a poor person is an abomination to the rich. | Similar · Hebrew 13:20 — Same criticism of proud and wealthy attitudes. Inherited Greek note13:20 This states the attitude being criticized, not the translator’s valuation of poor people. |
Hebrew 13:21 · translated When the rich totter they have a friend's support; when the poor totter they are pushed from evil to evil. | A rich person who is shaken is supported by friends; a lowly person who falls is pushed away still further by friends. | Different · Hebrew 13:21 — Greek ends with further rejection by friends; Hebrew moves from misfortune to misfortune. |
Hebrew 13:22 · translated A rich person speaks and has many helpers; his ugly words are made beautiful. A poor person totters: rebuke upon rebuke! He speaks wisely, but has no place. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoעשיר מדבר ועזריו רבים ודבריו מכוערין מ ^ה^ ופין ׃ דל נמוט גע גע ושא ודבר משכיל ואין לו מקום ׃ | When a rich person stumbles, many support him. He speaks things that should not be spoken, and they justify him. A lowly person stumbles, and they add rebuke; he utters understanding, and no place is given him. | Different · Hebrew 13:22 — Hebrew first says speaks, Greek stumbles; both expose unequal treatment. The repeated Hebrew rebuke expression is uncertain. Inherited Greek note13:22 All four clauses sustain the unequal treatment; ἀπόρρητα is rendered without inventing a particular secret. |
Hebrew 13:23 · translated A rich person speaks and all fall silent; they raise his understanding to the clouds. A poor person speaks and they say, Who is this? If he stumbles, they too push him down. Hebrew witness A · A V Versoעשיר דובר הכל נסכתו ואת שכלו עד עב יגיעו ׃ דל דובר מי זה יאמרו ואם נתקל גם הם יהדפוהו ׃ | A rich person speaks, and everyone is silent; they raise his word to the clouds. A poor person speaks, and they say, “Who is this?” If he stumbles, they will throw him down all the more. | Similar · Hebrew 13:23 — Same social contrast; Hebrew understanding differs from Greek word. |
Hebrew 13:24 · translated Wealth is good if there is no iniquity, and poverty is evil according to arrogance. | Wealth is good when no sin accompanies it, and poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly. | Similar · Hebrew 13:24 — Hebrew according to arrogance parallels Greek in the mouth of the ungodly; poverty is not made a sin here. Inherited Greek note13:24 The phrase in the mouth is retained; poverty itself is not declared intrinsically sinful. |
Hebrew 13:25 · translated A human heart changes the face, whether for good or for evil. | A person’s heart changes his face, whether for good or for evil. | Similar · Hebrew 13:25 — Same proposition. |
Hebrew 13:26 · translated The traces of a good heart are radiant faces, but attaining discourse requires toilsome thought. | A cheerful face is the trace of a heart in good circumstances, and finding proverbs requires laborious deliberations. | Similar · Hebrew 13:26 — Greek specifies finding proverbs; the Hebrew second clause is compressed. Inherited Greek note13:26 The face observation and the work of finding proverbs are both retained. |
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.