Ben Sira 42:9-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
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:(A)
Lest in her youth she remain unmarried,
or when she is married, lest she be childless;
10 While unmarried, lest she be defiled,
or in her husband’s house, lest she prove unfaithful;
Lest she become pregnant in her father’s house,
or be sterile in that of her husband.
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.
Sirach 42:9-10
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Daughters and Fathers
9 A daughter is a secret anxiety to her father,
and worry over her robs him of sleep;
when she is young, for fear she may not marry,
or if married, for fear she may be disliked;
10 while a virgin, for fear she may be seduced
and become pregnant in her father’s house;
or having a husband, for fear she may go astray,
or, though married, for fear she may be barren.
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