BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Sirach 26 — The Good Wife and Household Wisdom
A wisdom poem contrasting the good wife, who brings joy, peace, and blessing, with the wicked wife, who brings grief, shame, and ruin, closing with warnings about commerce and apostasy.
Scripture
1The Joy of a Good Wife Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days will be doubled.
2A loyal wife rejoices her husband, and he will complete his years in peace.
3A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord.
4Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad, and at all times his face is cheerful.
5The Worst of Evils: A Wicked Wife Of three things my heart is afraid, and of a fourth I am frightened: The slander of a city, the gathering of a mob, and false accusation—all these are worse than death.
6There is grief of heart and sorrow when a wife is envious of a rival, and a tongue-lashing makes it known to all.
7An evil wife is an ox yoke which chafes; taking hold of her is like grasping a scorpion.
8There is great anger when a wife is drunken; she will not hide her shame.
9A wife’s harlotry shows in her lustful eyes, and she is known by her eyelids.
10Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, lest, when she finds liberty, she use it to her hurt.
11Be on guard against her impudent eye, and do not wonder if she sins against you.
12As a thirsty wayfarer opens his mouth and drinks from any water near him, so will she sit in front of every post and open her quiver to the arrow.
13The Blessing of a Good Wife A wife’s charm delights her husband, and her skill puts fat on his bones.
14A silent wife is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so precious as a disciplined soul.
15A modest wife adds charm to charm, and no balance can weigh the value of a chaste soul.
16Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.
17Like the shining lamp on the holy lampstand, so is a beautiful face on a stately figure.
18Like pillars of gold on a base of silver, so are beautiful feet with a steadfast heart.
28Three Depressing Things At two things my heart is grieved, and because of a third anger comes over me: a warrior in want through poverty, and intelligent men who are treated contemptuously; a man who turns back from righteousness to sin— the Lord will prepare him for the sword!
29The Temptations of Commerce A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing, and a tradesman will not be declared innocent of sin.
What this passage means
Sirach 26 opens with a paired praise-and-blame structure characteristic of wisdom literature: a good wife doubles her husband's days and lets him complete his years in peace, while an evil wife is likened to a chafing ox yoke and a scorpion. The chapter organizes its material around the concrete effects a wife has on her husband's inner life (his heart is glad) and social life (his face is cheerful at all times), so the value of the wife is measured not by wealth or status but by character.
The middle section expands the images for the good wife into a chain of domestic comparisons: she is like the sun rising in the Lord's heights, a lamp on a holy lampstand, and pillars of gold on a base of silver. These temple and creation images signal that the well-ordered home is treated as a small sanctuary, and that the wife's chastity, modesty, and disciplined silence are not merely private virtues but have a kind of sacred order.
The final verses shift register to list what grieves the sage, including a warrior reduced to poverty, intelligent men despised, and a man who turns back from righteousness to sin, followed by a warning that merchants and tradesmen are rarely innocent of wrongdoing. Read together with the wife's-portrait, the chapter teaches that integrity in the home, in the marketplace, and before God are all part of the same demand for disciplined character.
Context
The chapter sits within a longer section of Sirach devoted to household conduct and is paired thematically with the instructions on daughters (vv. 10–12) and on silence and discipline. The notes supplied with the text identify this chapter as part of a backfill of remaining Sirach chapters outside the curated P0/P1 set, so the surrounding commentary, original-language data, and cross references are not provided for this page.
The English text as given supplies verses 1–18 and 28–29; verses 19–27 are not included in the provided material. Any interpretation should stay within the verses actually supplied and should not import claims about authorship, dating, or background beyond what is in the text itself.
Common questions
Why does Sirach 26 use such harsh language about an evil wife?
What is the point of the temple images used to describe the good wife?
Why does the chapter end with warnings about merchants and apostasy?