NOTES for Sir 35:1-12

The sage's call not to "reduce the gifts" may seem strange, unless one takes into account that all sacrifices were strictly regulated by the Torah, both in quantity, with a fixed number of sacrificial animals for particular feasts, and in quality, since the sacrificial animal had to be of a precisely defined age, could not be maimed, and so on.

In what cases could the one bringing the sacrifice violate these requirements? Obviously, only when he expected some leniency from God, who received his sacrifice.

Such calculation may seem strange, but on the other hand, in human terms it is very understandable. Every believer at least once in life has experienced a peculiar temptation toward an overly familiar attitude toward God and His requirements, when it seems that you are one of God's own, and if you ask Him "as a friend," He will surely not refuse you a small concession.

The sage warns against just such an attitude toward God. He knows that God has no favorites, and that His chosen ones are not favorites to whom He forgives and permits everything, but responsible servants whose responsibility is greater the more they have been given. The point is not that God is merciless and does not want to condescend to our weaknesses and sins. If that were so, none of us would have any chance of salvation at all.

The point is that condescension without correction would in this case mean indulging the very weaknesses and sins that make our salvation impossible. God is ready to accept us as we are. But He is not ready to accept our sins, not because they disgust Him, but because with them we will not be able to enter His Kingdom, where He wants to bring us. Therefore He will not allow us to become His favorites. This, too, comes from His love for us and His desire for our salvation.