Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 26
Chapter 26 continues the treatment of women by antithesis: after the wicked wife, Lapide expounds the blessings of the virtuous wife (vv. 1-4, 16-18), then four additional objects of fear (vv. 5-8), and the dangers of the jealous wife (vv. 8-10), the wanton woman (vv. 11-15), before concluding with an extended praise of the good wife's virtues. The chapter is a systematic comparison of virtue and vice in the domestic sphere.
Verse 1
Blessed is the husband of a good wife; for the number of his years is doubled. The virtuous wife is her husband's greatest natural blessing—doubling his years, giving peace, joy. Lapide cites Prov. 31 and expounds the good wife's virtues at length as a mirror of divine wisdom in the domestic sphere.
Verse 2
A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall fulfil the years of his life in peace. Peace is the specific gift of the virtuous wife: interior peace of soul, domestic tranquility, and length of days. Lapide treats this as reflecting the natural law of harmony between spouses as God intended in creation.
Verse 5
At three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled. Four great social dangers: slander of a city, mob assembly, false accusation (worse than death), and the jealous wife. Lapide treats the jealous wife last because her domestic danger is most immediate and inescapable.
Verse 16
As the sun when it riseth to the world in the high places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house. The good wife illuminates her household like the sun rising over the world. Lapide uses this solar image to summarize the wife's role as light, warmth, and beauty in the domestic world.