1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Sirach 26:1 | Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his years is double. | Double. Uneasiness deprives a person of much comfort. (Worthington) |
| Sirach 26:2 | A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall fulfil the years of his life in peace. | |
| Sirach 26:3 | A good wife is a good portion: she shall be given in the portion of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds: | To a, etc., is not in Greek. (Haydock) |
| Sirach 26:4 | Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be cheerful at all times. | |
| Sirach 26:5 | Of three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled: | Fourth. A jealous wife, ver. 8. |
| Sirach 26:6 | The accusation of a city, and the gathering together of the people: | City. When all are charged with a crime, or when all rise up against a man. (Calmet) |
| Sirach 26:7 | And a false calumny, all are more grievous than death. | |
| Sirach 26:8 | A jealous woman is the grief and mourning of the heart. | Woman. Greek adds, "against another woman." |
| Sirach 26:9 | With a jealous woman is a scourge of the tongue which communicateth with all. | With. Greek, "and the scourge of the tongue, which," etc. (Haydock) --- Back-biting occasions the four evils aforesaid. (Grotius) |
| Sirach 26:10 | As a yoke of oxen that is moved to and fro, so also is a wicked woman: he that hath hold of her, is as he that taketh hold of a scorpion. | Woman. When oxen move, the yoke moves also: Thus heresy will suffer none to rest. (Worthington) --- The yoke ought to fit the neck, and not be fastened to the horns. (Colum. 2:2.) |
| Sirach 26:11 | A drunken woman is a great wrath: and her reproach and shame shall not be hid. | Hid. She will be given to debauchery. (St. Chrysostom) (Calmet) --- Romulus ordered wives to be slain, like adulteresses, who had drunk wine at home. (V. Max. 6:3.) |
| Sirach 26:12 | The fornication of a woman shall be known by the haughtiness of her eyes, and by her eye-lids. | Eye-lids. Shewing her impudence, 2 Peter 2:14., and Isaias 3:16. |
| Sirach 26:13 | *On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict watch: lest finding an opportunity she abuse herself. Ecclesiasticus 42:11. | Herself. From gazing at men. (Calmet) --- Love manifests itself by the eyes. (Propert.) |
| Sirach 26:14 | Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she slight thee. | |
| Sirach 26:15 | She will open her mouth as a thirsty traveller to the fountain, and will drink of every water near her, and will sit down by every hedge, and open her quiver against every arrow, until she fail. | Hedge. Or "stake," palum, (Haydock) on which tents were fixed, Genesis 38:14. (Calmet) --- Fail. Incontinence will at last ruin her health. (Haydock) |
| Sirach 26:16 | The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and shall fatten his bones. | Bones. The Catholic faith is the ground of all virtues. (Worthington) |
| Sirach 26:17 | Her discipline is the gift of God. | |
| Sirach 26:18 | Such is a wise and silent woman, and there is nothing so much worth as a well instructed soul. | Worth. Literally, "exchange;" (Greek; Haydock) such a wife is above all price. (Menochius) |
| Sirach 26:19 | A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace. | |
| Sirach 26:20 | And no price is worthy of a continent soul. | Continent. Adhering to virtue. (Calmet) |
| Sirach 26:21 | As the sun, when it riseth to the world in the high places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house. | |
| Sirach 26:22 | As the lamp shining upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in a ripe age. | Holy. Made of gold, and placed in the sanctuary. (Menochius) |
| Sirach 26:23 | As golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet upon the soles of a steady woman. | Soles. Greek, "heels." Complutensian, "solid pavement." A long addition follows in this edition, which is inserted by Grabe, (Haydock; but is not in the best copies. Calmet) instead of the following verse. (Haydock) |
| Sirach 26:24 | As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the commandments of God In the heart of a holy woman. | |
| Sirach 26:25 | At two things my heart is grieved, and the third bringeth anger upon me: | |
| Sirach 26:26 | A man of war fainting through poverty: and a man of sense despised: | Poverty. The Romans provided for veteran soldiers, as Louis XIV did with great magnificence. (Calmet) --- Greenwich hospital is for the same purpose. (Haydock) --- Despised. Solomon makes the same complaint, Ecclesiastes 9:15. |
| Sirach 26:27 | And he that passeth over from justice to sin, God hath prepared such an one for the sword. | To sin. He is less excusable, as he knows what he abandons, Jeremias 2:12. (Calmet) |
| Sirach 26:28 | Two sorts of callings have appeared to me hard and dangerous: a merchant is hardly free from negligence: and a huckster shall not be justified from the sins of the lips. | Two. Greek, "scarcely is a merchant exempt from negligence, and the seller of wine, and eatables, (Grotius) or retailer (Voss. kapelos) shall not be justified from sin." (Haydock) --- Negligence. That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves. --- A huckster. Or a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to the sins of others. (Challoner) --- Lips. Innkeepers talk much to please, and thus fall into danger, Proverbs 10:19. (Worthington) --- They are also exposed to lying, (Menochius) and to adulterate their merchandise. (Calmet) |