Ecclesiasticus 1:18
Religiousness shall keep and justify the heart, it shall give joy and gladness.
Open Ecclesiasticus 1:18 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- religiositas custodiet et justificabit cor ; jucunditatem atque gaudium dabit.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Verse numbering differs here, so nothing is shown rather than the wrong verse.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Instructor, Chapter VIII. Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good
God, then, is good. And the Lord speaks many a time and oft before He proceeds to act. “For my arrows,” He says, “will make an end of them; they shall be consumed with hunger, and be eaten by birds; and there shall be incurable tetanic incurvature. I will send the teeth of wild beasts upon them, with the rage of serpents creeping on the earth. Without, the sword shall make them childless; and out of their chambers shall be fear.” For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. “For the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified,” says the Scripture. And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. …
St Jerome Against the Pelagians, Book II
Ecclus. i. 18 . “In much wisdom is much grief,” shows the wise man’s sense of imperfection. So