Chapter XXVI.

¹ A good wife, ⁴ and a good conscience doe glad men. ⁶ A wicked wife is a feareful thing. ¹³ Of good and bad wiues. ²⁸ Of three things that are grieuous. ²⁹ Merchants and hucksters are not without sinne.
1 Blessed is the man that hath a vertuous wife, for the number of his dayes shall be double.
2 A vertuous woman reioyceth her husband, and he shall fulfill the yeeres of his life in peace.
3 A good wife is a good portion, which shall be giuen in the portion of them that feare the Lord.
4 Whether a man be rich or poore, if he haue a good heart towards the Lord, he shall at all times reioyce with a cheerefull countenance.
5 There bee three things that mine heart feareth: and for the fourth I was sore afraid: [ Greek: an euill report.] the slander of a citie, the gathering together of an vnruly multitude, and a false accusation: all these are worse then death.
6 But a griefe of heart and sorrow, is a woman that is ielous ouer another woman, and a scourge of the tongue which communicateth withall.
7 An euil wife is a [ Or, a yoke of oxen.] yoke shaken to and fro: he that hath hold of her, is as though he held a scorpion.
8 A drunken woman and a gadder abroad, causeth great anger, and shee will not couer her owne shame.
9 The whordome of a woman may be knowen in her haughtie lookes, and eye lids.
10 [ Sirach 44.11.] If thy daughter be shamelesse, keepe her in straitly: lest she abuse her selfe through ouermuch libertie.
11 Watch ouer an impudent eye: and marueile not, if shee trespasse against thee.
12 Shee will open her mouth as a thirstie traueiler, when he hath found a fountaine: and drinke of euery water neere her: by euery [ Or stake.] hedge will she sit downe, and open her quiuer against euery arrow.
13 The grace of a wife delighteth her husband, and her discretion will fat his bones.
14 A silent and louing woman is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so much worth, as a mind well instructed.
15 A shamefast and faithfull woman is a double grace, and her continent mind cannot be valued.
16 As the Sunne when it ariseth in the [ Greek: in the highest places of the Lord.] high heauen: so is the beautie of a good wife in the [ Or, ornament.] ordering of her house.
17 As the cleare light is vpon the holy candlesticke: so is the beautie of the face [ Or, in constant age.] in ripe age.
18 As the golden pillars are vpon the sockets of siluer: so are the [ Or, comely.] faire feete with a constant [ Or, brest.] heart.
19 My sonne, keepe the flowre of thine age sound: and giue not thy strength to strangers.
20 When thou hast gotten a fruitfull possession through all the field: sowe it with thine owne seede, trusting in the goodnesse of thy stocke.
21 So thy race which thou leauest shalbe magnified, hauing the confidence of their good descent.
22 An harlot shall bee accounted as [ Or, a swine.] spittle: but a maried woman is a towre against death to her husband.
23 A wicked woman is giuen as a portion to a wicked man: but a godly woman is giuen to him that feareth the Lord.
24 A dishonest woman contemneth shame, but an honest woman will reuerence her husband.
25 A shamelesse woman shalbe counted as a dog: but she that is shamefast will feare the Lord.
26 A woman that honoureth her husband, shall bee iudged wise of all: but she that dishonoureth him in her pride, shall be counted vngodly of all.
27 A loude crying woman, and a scolde, shall be sought out to driue away the enemies.
28 There be two things that grieue my heart: and the third maketh me angry: a man of warre that suffereth pouerty, and men of vnderstanding that are not set by: and one that returneth from righteousnesse to sinne: the Lord prepareth such a one for the sword.
29 A merchant shall hardly keepe
himselfe from doing wrong: and an huckster shall not be freed from sinne.

La mujer mala - La mujer buena - Exhortación. Salen aquí a flote los conceptos socio-culturales y religiosos de toda la época del Antiguo Testamento concentrados en esta instrucción. Por supuesto que una lectura femenina de este pasaje, antes de enjuiciar al autor, debe primero tener en cuenta esos parámetros socio-culturales en que él se mueve, no propiamente para justificarlo, sino más bien para caer en la cuenta de que cada uno es hijo de su tiempo y que a Ben Sirá no se le puede exigir ningún giro especial en el comportamiento social patriarcal de su época, toda vez que no era su interés al poner por escrito su pensamiento. Esta aproximación descriptiva de lo que es la buena y la mala mujer no es más que la constatación del comportamiento social de una época y el reflejo de unos valores culturales que desde luego tienen que ser modificados e iluminados a la luz de las enseñanzas de Jesús, pero más especialmente a la luz de sus actitudes reales y concretas respecto a la mujer. Pasajes como este no hay que ignorarlos ni nos deben exasperar; por el contrario deberíamos mantenerlos a la mano para poder ir estableciendo con hechos reales y concretos las diferencias -si es que de verdad las hay- entre el modo de ser y de pensar de aquella «lejana» época patriarcal respecto a la mujer, y nuestras relaciones actuales con ellas y la visión que de sí misma tiene la mujer contemporánea.

— soldado: Algunas versiones antiguas proponen leer: rico.

18. Los versículos que faltan no figuran en los mejores manuscritos.