Ben Sira 42:5-9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 of bargaining in dealing with a merchant;
Of constant training of children,
of beating the sides of a wicked servant;(A)
6 Of a seal to keep a foolish wife at home,
of a key where there are many hands;
7 Of numbering every deposit,
of recording all that is taken in and given out;
8 Of chastisement for the silly and the foolish,
for the aged and infirm answering for wanton conduct.
Thus you will be truly refined
and recognized by all as discreet.
A Father’s Care for His Daughter[a]
9 A daughter is a treasure that keeps her father wakeful,
and worry over her drives away sleep:(B)
Lest in her youth she remain unmarried,
or when she is married, lest she be childless;
Footnotes
- 42:9–14 Ben Sira considers a daughter to be a source of anxiety to her father, lest she fail to marry, or be defiled, or lest, marrying, she be childless, prove unfaithful, or find herself sterile (vv. 9–10). He is advised to keep a close watch on her and on her companions, lest he suffer on her account among the people (vv. 11–12). The exhortations, which take into account only a father’s concern, are quite unflattering to young women. The concluding statements (vv. 13–14) show the limitations of Ben Sira’s perspective in the male-oriented society of his day.
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