经文研读
Sirach 6:18–37 — Pursuing and Keeping Wisdom
A father's instruction on choosing wisdom from youth, enduring her discipline, and finding that her yoke becomes honor and joy.
经文
- 18.智慧的祝福 我的儿子，从你年轻时就选择教诲，直到你年老，你仍将不断寻找智慧。Blessings of Wisdom My son, from your youth up choose instruction, and until you are old you will keep finding wisdom.
- 19.像一个耕种和撒种的人来到她身边，等待她美好的收获。因为在她的服务中，你只会劳苦一会儿，很快你就会享用她的产物。Come to her like one who plows and sows, and wait for her good harvest. For in her service you will toil a little while, and soon you will eat of her produce.
- 20.她对没有受过教诲的人似乎非常严厉；软弱的人不能与她同在。She seems very harsh to the uninstructed; a weakling will not remain with her.
- 21.她将像一块沉重的试验石压在他身上，他也不会迟延地将她抛弃。She will weigh him down like a heavy testing stone, and he will not be slow to cast her off.
- 22.因为智慧如同她的名字一样，不为许多人所显现。For wisdom is like her name, and is not manifest to many.
- 23.听啊，我的儿子，也要接受我的判断，不要丢弃我的劝诫。Listen, my son, and accept my judgment; do not reject my counsel.
- 24.把你的脚放在她的锁链里，把你的脖子放在她的枷锁中。Put your feet into her fetters, and your neck into her collar.
- 25.把你的肩膀放在她身上，承担她，不要为她的重担烦恼。Put your shoulder under her and carry her, and do not fret under her bonds.
- 26.用你全部的灵魂亲近她，并用你全部的力量遵守她的道。Come to her with all your soul, and keep her ways with all your might.
- 27.寻找和寻求，她就会为你所知晓；当你抓住她时，不要放手。Search out and seek, and she will become known to you; and when you get hold of her, do not let her go.
- 28.最后你们终必找到她所赐的安息，她也必变为你们的喜乐。For at last you will find the rest she gives, and she will be changed into joy for you.
- 29.到那时，她的锁链要成为你强大的保护，她的项圈要成为你荣耀的外袍。Then her fetters will become for you a strong protection, and her collar a glorious robe.
- 30.她的轭是金子的装饰，她的锁链是蓝色的绳子。Her yoke is a golden ornament, and her bonds are a cord of blue.
- 31.你们必将她如同荣耀的衣服穿上，如同喜乐的冠冕戴上。You will wear her like a glorious robe, and put her on like a crown of gladness.
- 32.你若愿意，我的儿子，你就会受到教诲，并且你会变得聪明。If you are willing, my son, you will be taught, and if you apply yourself you will become clever.
- 33.如果你喜欢听，你就会获得知识，如果你侧耳倾听，你就会变得聪明。If you love to listen you will gain knowledge, and if you incline your ear you will become wise.
- 34.站在长老的会中。 谁是智慧人？ 就与他亲近。Stand in the assembly of the elders. Who is wise? Cleave to him.
- 35.要准备好听每一个故事，切不可让智慧的谚语从你身边溜走。Be ready to listen to every narrative, and do not let wise proverbs escape you.
- 36.如果你看见一个智慧人，就要早去拜访他，让你的脚常常磨损他的门槛。If you see an intelligent man, visit him early; let your foot wear out his doorstep.
- 37.思考主的律法，并常常默想他的诫命。他将使你心中明白，并使你智慧的愿望得以成就。Reflect on the statutes of the Lord, and meditate at all times on his commandments. It is he who will give insight to your mind, and your desire for wisdom will be granted.
这段经文的意思
Verses 18–22 frame wisdom as a pursuit that begins in youth and demands endurance. The opening call to "choose instruction" and plow for her harvest assumes that wisdom is not received passively but cultivated through labor. The text candidly warns that wisdom appears harsh to the uninstructed and weighs like a heavy testing stone on the weak; a person lacking resolve will cast her off. The statement "wisdom is like her name, and is not manifest to many" (v. 22) explains this resistance: her value is not immediately visible, so most people abandon the search before discovering what she actually offers.
Verses 23–31 extend the agricultural image into the striking language of fetters, collar, yoke, and bonds. What looks like constraint is in fact the form wisdom's benefits take when held closely. The passage promises a reversal: toil becomes rest (v. 28), fetters become protection, collar becomes glorious robe, yoke becomes golden ornament, bonds become a cord of blue (v. 30) — colors and materials associated in the Hebrew Bible with priestly and royal honor. Thus disciplined submission to wisdom is not loss of freedom but the path by which wisdom itself adorns the one who carries her.
Verses 32–37 turn from images to practical disciplines: willingness to be taught, attentive listening, seeking out the wise, frequenting intelligent counselors, and meditating continually on the Lord's commandments. The closing verse grounds the entire program theologically: human effort in seeking wisdom is answered by divine gift, for it is the Lord who gives insight to the mind and grants the desire for wisdom.
背景
Sirach 6 divides into two clearly marked halves. Verses 1–17 discuss the testing and choosing of true friends, concluding that a faithful friend is a "sturdy shelter" (v. 14) and an "elixir of life" (v. 16) found by those who fear the Lord. At v. 18 the section title "Blessings of Wisdom" opens, and the topic shifts from human friendships to wisdom personified as the far greater companion. The transition is deliberate: just as one must test and keep a true friend, so one must test, endure, and keep wisdom — and the reward is greater still.
Within chapter 6 as a whole, the passage functions as the positive counterpart to the warnings about false friends in vv. 8–13. Where unreliable friends "will not stand by you in your day of trouble" (v. 10), wisdom promises that her fetters become "a strong protection" (v. 29). The closing move to meditating on the statutes of the Lord (v. 37) also ties the chapter together: fearing the Lord was already named in v. 16 as the path to finding a faithful friend, and here it is repeated as the source from which wisdom's insight flows.
常见问题
Why does wisdom seem "harsh" to the uninstructed?
Because wisdom's value is not immediately visible. Like a heavy testing stone, her discipline resists quick or shallow engagement, and without perseverance the untrained person casts her off before discovering her fruit.
What does it mean that wisdom's fetters and yoke become a "glorious robe" and "golden ornament"?
The image reverses expectation: what begins as constraint — submission to her discipline — becomes, through endurance, the very adornment of the one who bears her. The gold and blue evoke honor drawn from priestly and royal imagery in the Hebrew Bible.
How does this passage connect wisdom to the fear of the Lord?
The unit closes by grounding human effort in divine gift: meditation on the Lord's statutes and commandments is the practice, and it is the Lord who gives insight to the mind and grants the desire for wisdom (v. 37).