Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 22
Chapter 22 treats the contemptible laziness of the sluggard (vv. 1-2) and the shame brought by undisciplined children, especially daughters (vv. 3-5), then gives advice on mourning the foolish more than the dead (vv. 9-13), warns against burdening oneself with a foolish companion (vv. 14-18), and finally treats the preservation of friendship and its violation (vv. 25-33). The chapter ends with a prayer for custody of the tongue.
Verse 1
A slothful man is pelted with a dirty stone, and all men will speak of his disgrace. The lazy man is universally reproached, like one pelted with mud for his contemptible idleness. Lapide uses the Aristotelian and Scriptural condemnation of sloth as the beginning of all social and spiritual ruin.
Verse 3
A shameless daughter shall be counted a disgrace, but a wise daughter shall be a glory to her father. The daughter who brings shame to her father is compared to the shameless slothful man. Lapide treats this as a study in the social consequences of the failure of parental education.
Verse 6
A tale told out of time is music in mourning; but the chastening and doctrine of wisdom are never out of time. Music at a funeral is inappropriate; discipline and wisdom are always timely. Lapide uses this contrast to teach that there is a right time and place for everything, but wisdom's discipline is always appropriate.
Verse 10
Weep for the dead, for his light hath failed; and weep for the fool, for his understanding faileth. Weeping for the fool is more justified than weeping for the dead. Lapide explains: the dead has found rest; the fool continues in a living death, wasting what remains of his life in pointless folly.
Verse 13
Talk not much with a fool, and go not with him that hath no sense. Avoiding the company of the foolish is a form of self-protection. Lapide counsels minimal necessary interaction with the foolish, lest one be contaminated by their senselessness or provoked to sin.
Verse 19
He that striketh the eye bringeth forth tears; and he that striketh the heart bringeth forth grief. Hurt to the eye produces physical tears; hurt to the heart produces grief. Lapide applies this to the hurt done by insults and ingratitude between friends, teaching that the heart's wound is more serious than any bodily one.
Verse 25
Throw away stones from the birds, and fight not with a friend; but if thou have opened a sad mouth, fear not; for there may be a reconciliation. Destroying friendship by slander is compared to stone-throwing at birds. Lapide notes that friendship can survive certain offenses but not treachery, ingratitude, betrayal of secrets, or deliberate injury.
Verse 33
Who shall give a guard to my mouth, and a sure seal upon my lips, that I fall not by them, and that my tongue destroy me not? The closing prayer of the section: a plea for divine guard over the tongue. Lapide treats this prayer as the practical conclusion of all the chapter's warnings about speech, and connects it to Psalm 140:3.