章节研读
Sirach 5 — Warnings Against Presumption and Double-Tongued Speech
Sirach 5 warns against trusting wealth, presuming on divine mercy, and using a double-tongued mouth, urging steadiness, careful speech, and prompt repentance.
经文
- 1.日常生活的训诫 不要把心放在财富上，也不要说“我已经足够了”Precepts for Everyday Living Do not set your heart on your wealth, nor say, “I have enough.”
- 2.不要随着自己的情欲和力量行事，按照心中的欲望而行。Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.
- 3.不要说“谁能管辖我”，因为主必定会惩罚你。Do not say, “Who will have power over me?” for the Lord will surely punish you.
- 4.不要说“我犯罪了，但我没有受到什么”，因为上帝是忍耐的。Do not say, “I sinned, and what happened to me?” for the Lord is slow to anger.
- 5.不要过于自信于赎罪，以至于罪上加罪。Do not be so confident of atonement that you add sin to sin.
- 6.不要说“他的慈悲很大，他会赦免我许多的罪”，因为他同时拥有慈悲和愤怒，他的愤怒也在罪人身上。Do not say, “His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins,” for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger rests on sinners.
- 7.不要延迟归向主，也不要一天一天地拖延；因为主的愤怒会突然发作，在惩罚的时候你就会灭亡。Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish.
- 8.不要倚靠不义之财，因为它在灾难的日子里不能使你受益。Do not depend on dishonest wealth, for it will not benefit you in the day of calamity.
- 9.不要随着每一阵风摇摆，也不要跟随每一条路，因为口是心非的罪人就是这样做的。Do not winnow with every wind, nor follow every path: the double-tongued sinner does that.
- 10.要在信仰上坚定不移，并且说话要一致。Be steadfast in your understanding, and let your speech be consistent.
- 11.要做个快听的人，回答时要谨慎。Be quick to hear, and be deliberate in answering.
- 12.你若有知识，就当回答邻舍；你若没有知识，就当把手按在口上。If you have understanding, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand on your mouth.
- 13.荣辱由口出，人言语是他的败坏Glory and dishonor come from speaking, and a man’s tongue is his downfall.
- 14.不要被称为诽谤者，也不要用舌头设下埋伏；因为羞耻降临于小偷，严厉的谴责降临于双舌的人。Do not be called a slanderer, and do not lie in ambush with your tongue; for shame comes to the thief, and severe condemnation to the double-tongued.
- 15.无论大事小事都不要处理失当，以免变成敌人而不是朋友；In great and small matters do not act amiss, and do not become an enemy instead of a friend;
这段经文的意思
The opening lines (vv. 1–8) address the inner posture toward wealth and toward God. Sirach forbids saying "I have enough," forbids following the heart's desire as if no one rules, and forbids saying "I sinned, and what happened to me?" The premise behind each warning is that the Lord is patient but will surely punish, and that mercy and wrath are both present with him (v. 6). The danger is not merely the act of sinning but the reasoning that surrounds it: calculating that atonement is certain enough to add more sin (v. 5), or stretching mercy into permission (v. 6). Verse 7 makes the temporal point — sudden wrath can come, and the day of punishment is the wrong time to first turn to the Lord.
The second block (vv. 9–15) shifts from the heart to the mouth. "Do not winnow with every wind" (v. 9) and "Be steadfast in your understanding, and let your speech be consistent" (v. 10) frame the issue as consistency: the double-tongued person shifts with every breeze, but the prudent person holds one settled course. Verses 11–14 press the practical point — be quick to hear, deliberate to answer, silent when one has nothing sound to say — because "a man's tongue is his downfall" (v. 13) and shame or severe condemnation comes to the slanderer and the double-tongued (v. 14).
Verse 15 closes the chapter by widening speech into conduct: "do not act amiss" in great or small matters, and do not let a careless word turn a friend into an enemy. Read together, the chapter treats wealth, mercy, and speech as a single test: does the person rely on what they control (money, reputation, cleverness) or on the Lord whose patience is real but not unlimited? Sirach's answer is to flee presumption, flee the double tongue, and turn to the Lord without delay.
背景
The provided chapter note simply identifies Sirach 5 as part of the backfilled material from the book outside its P0/P1 priority range. No additional chapter-level commentary, full-chapter surrounding text, cross-references, or original-language word entries were supplied, so the context for this page is limited to the fifteen verses themselves. Within those verses the internal logic moves from the heart (vv. 1–8) to the mouth (vv. 9–15), and the closing verse (v. 15) ties conduct and speech together.
常见问题
Why does Sirach 5 forbid saying "I have enough" if wealth itself is not condemned in Proverbs?
The warning in verse 1 targets the inner posture, not the possession. Saying "I have enough" treats wealth as a self-sufficient security, which verse 8 then exposes as unreliable "in the day of calamity." The danger is the conclusion drawn from the wealth, not the wealth as such.
Is Sirach 5 contradicting itself by warning both against delaying repentance (v. 7) and against presuming on atonement (v. 5)?
There is no contradiction once the two warnings are distinguished. Verse 7 addresses the procrastinator who keeps delaying repentance; verse 5 addresses the one who repents in form but plans to keep sinning because atonement feels guaranteed. Both abuses assume a future mercy while acting against it now.
What is the "double-tongued sinner" that verse 9 describes?
Verses 9–14 build a portrait. The double-tongued person "winnows with every wind" (v. 9), lacks consistent speech (v. 10), and becomes a slanderer whose tongue causes his own downfall (vv. 13–14). The term covers anyone whose words shift to suit the listener rather than reflect a settled mind.