Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 35
Chapter 35 opens by teaching that keeping the law and showing mercy are the true sacrificial equivalent of the Mosaic offerings (vv. 1-5), then gives instructions on the spirit and disposition required for acceptable sacrifice (vv. 6-14), and closes with a beautiful treatise on God's hearing of the prayer of the humble and His vindication of the oppressed (vv. 14-26). The chapter is a meditation on true religion as moral integrity combined with humble prayer.
Verse 1
He that keepeth the law multiplieth offerings; he that keepeth the commandments, offereth a saving sacrifice. The moral life as liturgy: every act of obedience to God's law is an oblation. Lapide follows Origen, Ambrose, and Augustine in interpreting the Mosaic sacrificial system as a symbolic representation of interior moral and spiritual acts.
Verse 6
Appear not before the Lord empty-handed; for all these things are to be given because of the commandment. No worshipper should come before God without some gift. Lapide expounds the principle of \"first fruits\" as a symbol of giving God the first and best of all one's goods, time, and talents.
Verse 8
The offering of the just enricoeth the altar; and is an odour of sweetness in the sight of the Most High. The just man's offering enriches the altar because it comes from a pure heart with pure intention. Lapide develops an extensive theology of the conditions for acceptable sacrifice.
Verse 16
The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds; and till it come nigh, he will not be comforted; and he will not depart till the Most High behold. The humble prayer penetrates the very clouds and reaches God directly. Lapide cites the widow's prayer, the Publican's prayer, and especially Christ's teaching in Luke 18 on the importunate prayer.
Verse 22
And the Lord will not delay, but will judge for the just; and He will do judgment; and the Almighty will have no patience with them, that He may crush the back of the merciless. God will not delay but will judge swiftly for the oppressed. Lapide treats the eschatological dimension: this refers both to God's providential interventions in history and to the Final Judgment when all accounts will be settled.