Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 14

Blessed is the man that hath not slipped by a word out of his mouth, and is not pricked with the remorse of sin. The first definition of beatitude: the man who controls his tongue and has no guilty conscience. Lapide treats innocent speech as an index of interior innocence, citing James 3:2 on the perfect man who does not offend in word.

To a man without a soul, riches are unprofitable; and to the envious man, of what use is gold? Avarice is exposed as the ultimate absurdity: the miser accumulates what he cannot enjoy, while depriving himself and others. Lapide systematically expounds the moral vacancy of the avaricious: they have riches but no soul to use them well.

Son, if thou hast any thing, do good to thyself, and offer to God worthy offerings. The positive exhortation to proper use of goods: use them for one's genuine needs (not miserliness) and for God (oblations worthy of Him). Lapide carefully distinguishes legitimate self-care from luxury and from miserly self-denial.

Remember that death is not slow, and that the covenant of hell hath been shewn thee. The memory of death urgently motivates generous use of goods. Lapide notes the \"covenant of hell\"—the universal pact sealed by Adam's sin—as the sobering framework: every man owes death, and his possessions will pass to others.

Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all-seeing eye of God. The final definition of beatitude: the man who combines wisdom, justice, and constant awareness of God's gaze. Lapide treats this threefold combination as the apex of the chapter's teaching.

He that shall spy through her windows, and shall hearken at her door. The pursuit of wisdom is described as the passionate courtship of a desired beloved—waiting at her doors, peering through her windows, camping at her walls. Lapide applies this imagery to the soul's intense desire for divine wisdom through prayer, lectio divina, and meditation.