“Any wound,
But not a wound of the heart!
Any wickedness,
But not the wickedness of a woman!
Any suffering,
But not the suffering
From those who hate!
Any vengeance,
But not the vengeance of enemies!
There is no venom worse
Than a snake’s venom.
There is no wrath worse
Than a woman’s wrath.”
Once again, Sirach emphasizes the male point of view. These powerful females make the poor men suffer. The worst wound is to the heart. The worst wickedness comes from a woman. Hateful suffering is worse than any kind of suffering. The vengeance of enemies is bad. Just like the worse venom is that of a snake, so the worst wrath is that of a woman. Somehow, women do not seem to suffer, only the men, who suffer so much from these evil women.