What is the Catholic interpretation of Sirach 42:14?
score:3
The Douay Challoner version renders Ecclesiasticus 42:14 as:
For better is the iniquity of a man, than a woman doing a good turn, and a woman bringing shame and reproach.
The Catholic Haydock Commentary says regarding this verse:
Better, &c. That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men, than from the flattering favours and familiarity of women. (Challoner) --- Josephus (contra Apion ii.) attributes this sentence to Moses, and prefers the worst man to the best woman, as Euripides does in Clement. (Strom. iv.) (Calmet) --- But this is ridiculous. --- Reproach. This explains what sort of good the woman aforesaid has done; she had fostered the passions of men, and brought them to shame, which all the malevolence of an enemy could not have done. (Haydock) --- The company of women is therefore more dangerous, chap. ix. (Worthington)
Upvote:1
The NABRE comments on the section are:
The concluding statements (vv. 13–14) show the limitations of Ben Sira’s perspective in the male-oriented society of his day.
That's the perspective I've heard in Mass with other readings where there's some perceived chauvinism. As a father myself, I think there's a lot of good advice in Sirach, and even the quote from the Good News translation you provided makes it sound worse than it is. I certain don't want my daughters around gossips and learning more about sex and marriage than God has provided their current state of maturity makes them capable of understanding (or wanting to understand)
Anyway, the New American Bible (which is not the worlds greatest, but it is the "Official Catholic" translation in English) says "Woman's indulgence" instead of "woman who does good" and the whole passage is talking about unmarried daughters still living with their Fathers. Combined with the following verse:
a frightened daughter than any disgrace.
which is not even attempted to be paraphrased by the GNT, I think this means, the well-meaning advice of other women whom your daughter may associate with is worse than a Father putting the fear of God into his daughter by prohibiting her from associating with older gossips.
More post
- 📝 Is there any clue/hint in the Bible that tells us “why or how” we won't sin on heaven?
- 📝 What are the main points of Mormons' teaching that this group of people consider contradictory to the Bible?
- 📝 Why do so many Christians call Paul "teacher", when Jesus said it was forbidden?
- 📝 Discrepancy between Yahweh (Christian Bibles) and Eh-yeh (Torah)
- 📝 Are there any scholars or doctrinal schools that address the conspicuous dearth of needy people in Jesus' sayings and stories?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that destroying a grave or body is an act of desecration?
- 📝 What were the "sons of God" in Genesis 6, according to Mormons?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus having two natures?
- 📝 Overview of countries using the Gregorian calendar vs the Julian calendar for calculating Easter?
- 📝 What other customary Catholic fasting periods are there aside from Lent?
- 📝 Did the Jews use icons and images to help them worship as Catholics or Orthodox worshippers do?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that there are humans in heaven now?
- 📝 Lords Prayer. Asking for Forgiveness
- 📝 Did the Early Church believe in purgatory?
- 📝 Unitatis Redintegratio: Analogy to describe those in "partial" or "imperfect" communion?
- 📝 How do Modalist and Oneness Pentecostals interpret Revelation 3:12?
- 📝 What do "Templar" and "Soldiers of Christ" mean?
- 📝 When are the various assorted labels for Catholics - see body - applied and how are they related?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that Jesus is Michael?
- 📝 Does the priest ask for reasons to prevent a marriage during a Catholic wedding?
- 📝 Did Jesus mean a truly spiritual man should feel this rewarded NOW, or in the world to come?
- 📝 Is there a denomination which espouses hard-determinism?
- 📝 How can one say the Novena to St. Michael?
- 📝 How is sin transfered from one to another?
- 📝 According to Catholic teaching, what is the status of a priest who does not agree with the Church's stated teachings on h*m*sexuality and gender?
- 📝 What prompted the change in Christian attitude towards usury?
- 📝 Where does the Catholic church procure most of its Bibles?
- 📝 Who is an "enemy" in the context of this video?
- 📝 If a person undergoes an emergency baptism, then recovers, do they need a "non-emergency" baptism?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for and against the "filioque"?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of Sirach 42:14?
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:3?
- 📝 What is courting according to the Catholic interpretation of the Natural Law?
- 📝 What is the Roman Catholic interpretation of John 3:16?
- 📝 In two online Catholic Bibles, what accounts for the difference in the numbering of the verses in Sirach Chapter 7?
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of John 19:26-27?
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of Soteriology in the Bread of Life Discourse in John chapter 6?
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of Romans 14:5?
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's interpretation of 'hunger and thirst for righteousness'?
- 📝 What is the Catholic interpretation of John 12:32?
- 📝 What does Catholic Church teach about the interpretation of the metaphor of "salt of the earth?"
- 📝 What is the Roman Catholic view on Matthew 23:9?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Catholic apocrypha?
- 📝 What were Martin Luther's main disagreements with the Catholic Church?
- 📝 At what point is a new soul created according to the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's answer to Nancy Pelosi's argument of a double standard between abortion and the death penalty?
- 📝 What are the steps to become Confirmed in the Catholic church?
- 📝 What effect did the Reformation have inside the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the Catholic teaching on the use of animals?
- 📝 What does the Catholic church teach about fate of non-Catholic christians?
- 📝 What does the Roman Catholic church teach about those who die having never heard of Christ?
- 📝 What effect did the 1897 decree regarding the Johannine Comma have on Catholic scholarship?
- 📝 What are the differences between Roman Catholic and Irish Catholic?
- 📝 What should a Catholic Religious Ed. class be taught about the Reformation?
- 📝 What is the Catholic position on Exodus 20:4?
- 📝 What is the argument in support of personal interpretation of the Scriptures?
- 📝 What are the consequences of suicide according to the Roman Catholic church?
- 📝 What is the Catholic concept of grace?
- 📝 What is the official Roman Catholic opinion on Swedenborg?
- 📝 What is the Catholic understanding of the first sin committed by Adam and Eve?