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frustrate. He will make room for every work of mercy; each man shall find according to his works.

Say not thou, I shall be hidden from the Lord; and who shall remember me from on high? I shall not be known among so many people; for what is my soul in a boundless creation?' Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the deep, and the earth, shall be moved when he shall visit. The mountains and foundations of the earth together are shaken with trembling when he looketh upon them. And no heart shall think upon these things: and who shall conceive his ways? And there is a tempest which no man shall see; yea, the more part of his works are hid. Who shall declare the works of his righteousness? or who shall endure them? for his covenant is afar off.' He that is wanting in understanding thinketh upon these things; and an unwise and erring man thinketh follies.

It is the light-hearted sinner who is supposed to say the words, 'Who shall declare the works of his righteousness' down to the words for his covenant is afar off.' They mean that the supposed covenant of God to reward the righteous and requite the sinner was made a long while ago, and seems for the present suspended. These doubts about God's providence and justice the author can only meet by counter-assertions of a sudden and unexpected judgement which shall render to every man according to his works. He would have done better to maintain his belief in divine justice, while freely acknowledging that we do not fully understand the methods of its working. Yet we can even now discern (as I have so often said) that there is a higher theory of justice than that of tit for tat. And if the object of punishment be the improvement of the sinner, the absence of punishment is the cruellest sentence that can be inflicted upon him.

§ 11. Human freedom.-Ben Sira is very sure that it lies in man's own power to be good or to be bad. Readers of philosophy are aware that there has been a vast dispute continuing for many ages on what is usually called the Freedom of the Will. That dispute has a metaphysical and psychological aspect, and it has also a theological and even religious aspect. It is far too huge and difficult a problem to enter on here, even if I were fully competent to do so. Beyond an unphilosophic personal assent to Ben Sira's teaching, I will only add the following. Everybody recognizes that when we are most good we are most 'free,' and that the man who is the slave of his passions is less 'free' than he who is

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the servant of duty and of God. It is also agreed that the better a man is, the more difficult it is for him in any given contingency not to choose the right. So that in that sense the perfect man is the least 'free.' He is only 'free' to be good. He could not do wrong if he tried, as we sometimes half jestingly say. In the saying there lies a truth, as there lies an awful measure of truth in the opposite saying of the habitual sinner, 'He could not do right even if he wished.' For the power of resistance to temptation (other things remaining the same) becomes less and less after each occasion on which the temptation has been yielded to. There is a grim saying: Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. But, finally, there is one other sense in which we are free, inasmuch as there is no external power of sin under whose force and influence we are. Modern Judaism denies that there is any living principle of evil. An evil divinity, or 'devil,' is a figment of the human brain. But Love and Goodness do possess an independent existence. For they are God.

Say not thou, 'It is through the Lord that I fell away'; for thou shalt not do the things that he hateth. Say not thou, 'It is he that caused me to err'; for he hath no need of a sinful man. The Lord hateth every abomination; and they that fear him love it not. He himself made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel. If thou wilt, thou shalt keep the commandments; and to perform faithfulness is of thine own good pleasure. He hath set fire and water before thee: thou shalt stretch forth thy hand unto whichsoever thou wilt. Before man is life and death; and whichsoever he liketh, it shall be given him.

For great is the wisdom of the Lord: he is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things; and his eyes are upon them that fear him; and he will take knowledge of every work of man. He hath not commanded any man to be ungodly; and he hath not given any man licence to sin.

§ 12. On Pride.- In common with the sages of every land, Sirach preaches earnestly against pride and vainglory.

Be not wroth with thy neighbour for every wrong; and do nothing by works of violence. Pride is hateful before the Lord and before men; and in the judgement of both will unrighteousness err. Sovereignty is transferred from nation to nation because, of iniquities, and deeds of violence,

and greed of money. It is a long disease; the physician mocketh: and he is a king to-day, and to-morrow he shall die. For when a man is dead, he shall inherit creeping things, and beasts, and worms. It is the beginning of pride when a man departeth from the Lord; and his heart is departed from him that made him. For the beginning of pride is sin; and he that keepeth it will pour forth abomination. For this cause the Lord brought upon them strange calamities, and overthrew them utterly. The Lord cast down the thrones of rulers, and set the meek in their stead. The Lord plucked up the roots of nations, and planted the lowly in their stead. The Lord overthrew the lands of nations, and destroyed them unto the foundations of the earth. He took some of them away, and destroyed them, and made their memorial to cease from the earth.

Pride hath not been created for men, nor wrathful anger for the offspring of women.

In the midst of brethren he that ruleth them hath honour; and in the eyes of the Lord they that fear him. The rich man, and the honourable, and the poor, their glorying is the fear of the Lord. It is not right to dishonour a poor man that hath understanding; and it is not fitting to glorify a man that is a sinner. The great man, and the judge, and the mighty man, shall be glorified; and there is not one of them greater than he that feareth the Lord. Free men shall minister unto a wise servant; and a man that hath knowledge will not murmur thereat.

Be not over wise in doing thy work; and glorify not thyself in the time of thy distress. Better is he that laboureth, and aboundeth in all things, than he that glorifieth himself, and lacketh bread. My son, glorify thy soul in meekness, and give it honour according to the worthiness thereof. Who will justify him that sinneth against his own soul? and who will glorify him that dishonoureth his own life? A poor man is glorified for his knowledge; and a rich man is glorified for his riches. But he that is glorified in poverty, how much more in riches? and he that is inglorious in riches, how much more in poverty? The wisdom of the lowly shall lift up his head, and make him to sit in the midst of great men. Commend not a man for his beauty; and abhor not a man for his outward appearance. The bee is litt'e among such as fly, and her fruit is the chief of sweetmeats. Glory not

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in the putting on of raiment, and exalt not thyself in the day of honour. For the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works are hidden among men. Many kings have sat down upon the ground; and one that was never thought of hath worn a diadem. Many mighty men have been greatly disgraced; and men of renown have been delivered into other men's hands.

§ 13. On shame.-More striking and original is the following short essay' on True and False Shame:

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Observe the opportunity, and beware of evil; and be not ashamed concerning thy soul. For there is a shame that bringeth sin; and there is a shame that is glory and grace. Accept not the person of any against thy soul; and reverence no man unto thy falling. Refrain not speech, when it tendeth to safety; and hide not thy wisdom for the sake of fairseeming. For by speech wisdom shall be known, and instruction by the word of the tongue. Speak not against the truth; and be abashed for thine ignorance. Be not ashamed to make confession of thy sins; and force not the current of the river. Lay not thyself down for a fool to tread upon; and accept not the person of one that is mighty. Strive for the truth unto death, and the Lord God shall fight for thee.

What a fine text for a fine sermon: There is a shame that bringeth sin; and there is a shame that is glory and grace.' Happily we can all preach that sermon to ourselves.

Force not the current of the river.' The metaphor of swimming against the stream is here used to express the absurdity (to use no stronger word) of refusing to acknowledge an error or a sin which may be patent to all the world and is certainly patent to God.

'Lay not thyself down.' Maintain a proper self-respect. Be not led into sin by weak yielding to fools. In the company of fashionable and frivolous weaklings, it may need some strength of purpose not to join in their follies. False shame may prevent proper firmness.

Accept not the person.' Do not cringe to the great, or act like a toady. Do not allow false respect and feeble flattery towards rank and station to make you swerve or deviate from the strait path of equity, honour and truth,

Elsewhere Pen Sira says―

There is that destroyeth his soul through bashfulness;
And by a foolish countenance he will destroy it.
There is that for bashfulness promiseth to his friend;
And he maketh him his enemy for nothing.

The word translated by 'bashfulness' in the last two distichs is the same as that translated by 'shame' in the essay. It is Aischunê, a famous word which, with its parallel (but not synonym) Aidos, is of considerable importance in Greek morality.

Towards the end of his book Sirach has an essay about things to be rightly and of things to be wrongly ashamed of. We may note in this essay how the author mixes up morality with behaviour, and rightdoing with worldly prudence. As regards slaves and children he is no worse and no better than the average man of his age in Palestine and outside it. In some parts of the essay the Greek text is very corrupt and the meaning very obscure.

It is not good to retain every kind of shame; and not all things are approved by all in good faith. Be ashamed of a lie before a prince and a mighty man; of an offence before a judge and ruler; of iniquity before the congregation and the people; of unjust dealing before a partner and friend; and of theft in regard of the place where thou sojournest, and [of lying] in regard of the truth of God and his covenant; and of leaning with thine elbow at meat; and of scurrility in the matter of giving and taking; and of silence before them that salute thee; and of turning away thy face from a kinsman; of taking away a portion or a gift; of upbraiding speeches before friends; and after thou hast given, upbraid not; of repeating and speaking what thou hast heard; and of revealing of secrets. So shalt thou be truly shamefast, and find favour in the sight of every man.

Of these things be not ashamed, and accept no man's person to sin thereby: of the law of the Most High, and his covenant; and of judgement to do justice to the ungodly; of reckoning with a partner and with travellers; and of a gift from the heritage of friends; of exactness of balance and weights; and of getting much or little; of indifferent selling of merchants; and of much correction of children; and of making the side of an evil servant to bleed. Whatsoever thou handest over, let it be by number and weight;

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