1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

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Sirach 41:1 O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions!

Death is terrible to all, but most to those who live comfortably. (Calmet) --- O vita misero longa, felici brevis. (Seneca)
Sirach 41:2 To a man that is at rest, and whose ways are prosperous in all things, and that is yet able to take meat!

Sirach 41:3 O death, thy sentence is welcome to the man that is in need, and to him whose strength faileth:

Sentence, pronounced on Adam and all his posterity. (Calmet)
Sirach 41:4 Who is in a decrepit age, and that is in care about all things: and to the distrustful that loseth patience!

Sirach 41:5 Fear not the sentence of death. Remember what things have been before thee, and what shall come after thee: this sentence is from the Lord upon all flesh.

Flesh. "It is a great consolation to share the fate of all." (Seneca, Provid. v.)
Sirach 41:6 And what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of the Most High? whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years.

What. Greek, "why wouldst thou refuse to submit to the?" etc. (Haydock)
Sirach 41:7 For among the dead there is no accusing of life.

Life. Thou wilt not be asked how long, but how well thou hast lived. No one will then envy thy long life. (Calmet) --- It will be in vain to plead that the length or shortness of life has occasioned thy sins; for God does all with justice and for the best, if men would use rightly his benefits. (Worthington) --- Thou wilt not repine at having lived too short a time. (Menochius) --- An evil life will be alone condemned, Wisdom 5. (Du Hamel)
Sirach 41:8 The children of sinners become children of abominations, and they that converse near the houses of the ungodly.

Ungodly. They adopt the wicked manners of their parents (Calmet) and companions, and thus become still more criminal. (Haydock) oetas parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem. (Horace, 2:ode 6.) --- This was terribly verified in the three French assemblies, which overturned the Church and state. (The year of our Lord 1793.) See Barruel. (Haydock)
Sirach 41:9 The inheritance of the children of sinners shall perish, and with their posterity shall be a perpetual reproach.

Sirach 41:10 The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are a reproach.

Father. He is rather their executioner, (Calmet) and would have been less cruel, if he had murdered them while they were innocent, Wisdom 12:10. (Haydock)
Sirach 41:11 Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the most high Lord.

Sirach 41:12 And if you be born, you shall be born in malediction: and if you die, in malediction shall be your portion.

Portion. It would have been better for them never to have existed, Matthew 26:24. This [is] the case of heresiarchs. (Calmet)
Sirach 41:13 *All things that are of the earth, shall return into the earth: so the ungodly shall from malediction to destruction.

Ecclesiasticus 40:11.
From. Greek, "go to destruction." (Haydock) --- It is their destination (chap. 40:11.; Calmet) and choice. (Haydock)
Sirach 41:14 The mourning of men is about their body, but the name of the ungodly shall be blotted out.

Body. The death of the body is bewailed in the just, but that of the soul also of wicked people calls for our tears. They will soon perish, Psalm 9:7.
Sirach 41:15 Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with thee more than a thousand treasures, precious and great.

Great. The concern which all have for a good name, is one of the strongest proofs of the souls' immortality, Proverbs 22:11.
Sirach 41:16 A good life hath its number of days: but a good name shall continue for ever.

Sirach 41:17 My children, keep discipline in peace: *for wisdom that is hid, and a treasure that is not seen, what profit is there in them both?

Ecclesiasticus 20:32.
Peace, with docility, (Matthew 11:25.) or in the midst of prosperity, be on your guard, Ecclesiasticus 20:32. (Calmet)
Sirach 41:18 Better is the man that hideth his folly, than the man that hideth his wisdom.

Sirach 41:19 Wherefore, have a shame of these things I am now going to speak of.

Have a shame, etc. That is to say, be ashamed of doing any of these things, which I am now going to mention: for though sometimes shamefacedness is not to be indulged, yet it is often good and necessary; as in the following cases. (Challoner) --- Disciples ought to esteem what their masters teach, though they do not perceive the reasonableness of what they assert. (Worthington)
Sirach 41:20 For it is not good to keep all shamefacedness, and all things do not please all men, in opinion.

Opinion. Grotius corrects the Greek, "It is not laudable to be incredulous in all."
Sirach 41:21 Be ashamed of fornication before father and mother; and of a lie before a governor and a man in power;

Mother. Thy misconduct seems to redound to their dishonour, as if they had not given thee a proper education.
Sirach 41:22 Of an offence before a prince and a judge; of iniquity before a congregation and a people;

People. They will stone thee. Remember the fate of Roboam, 3 Kings xii. (Calmet)
Sirach 41:23 Of injustice before a companion and friend: And in regard to the place where thou dwellest,

Sirach 41:24 Of theft, and of the truth of God, and the covenant; of leaning with thy elbow over meat, and of deceit in giving and taking;

And of. Literally, "out of respect for the," etc. De veritate Dei et testamento. (Haydock) --- The same words occur [in] Ecclesiasticus 42:2.; whence Jansenius thinks they have been transferred hither. Most refer them to what goes before. Blush for lying, which is contrary to the truth of God; and for the other sins which injure his covenant. --- Meat. This posture betrays idleness or pride.
Sirach 41:25 Of silence before them that salute thee; of looking upon a harlot; and of turning away thy face from thy kinsman.

Harlot. The eyes must be chaste, Jeremias 9:21., and Matthew 5:28. --- Kinsman, when he is poor, and refusing to assist him. (Calmet)
Sirach 41:26 Turn not away thy face from thy neighbour; and of taking away a portion, and not restoring.

Turn. Greek, "of taking away a portion and gift," made already to God or men; (27.) "of considering attentively another's wife; of being too busy about his," etc. (Haydock)
Sirach 41:27 *Gaze not upon another man's wife, and be not inquisitive after his handmaid, and approach not her bed.

Matthew 5:28.
Sirach 41:28 Be ashamed of upbraiding speeches before friends; and after thou hast given, upbraid not.