“My child!
Do not lead
The life of a beggar!
It is better to die
Than to beg.
When one looks
To the table of another,
One’s way of life
Cannot be considered a life.
One loses self-respect
With another person’s food.
One who is intelligent,
One who is well instructed
Guards against that.
In the mouth of the shameless
Begging is sweet.
But it kindles
a fire inside him.”
Sirach has a very strong condemnation of begging. He clearly says with very strong words that it is better to die than to beg. He did not want anyone to take up the life of a beggar. Yet he was very strong on almsgiving. If you have to continually eat at someone’s table, he does not consider that to be a worthwhile existence. You lose your self-respect, if you have to eat another person’s food. The intelligent and instructed ones guard against begging. Only the shameless think that begging is a sweet thing to do. However, their begging will lead to a kindling fire in their stomachs. Stay away from beggars. Usually the biblical writers talk about compassion for those in need, but not here.