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• Wisdom of Jesus (Son of Sirach), Book of

sı̄´rak , or The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach:

I. NAME

II. CANONICITY

III. CONTENTS

IV. TEACHING

1. Religion

2. Morals

3. Manners

4. Counsels of Prudence

V. LITERARY FORM

VI. AUTHOR

1. Jesus, Son of Sirach

2. Other Views

VII. UNITY AND INTEGRITY

VIII. DATE

1. Most Probable Views

2. Brief Statement of Other Views

IX. ORIGINAL LANGUAGES

1. Composed in Hebrew

2. Margoliouth's View

X. VERSIONS

1. Greek

2. Syriac

3. Latin

4. English

LITERATURE

Sirach is the largest and most comprehensive example of Wisdom Literature (see WISDOM LITERATURE ), and it has also the distinction of being the oldest book in the Apocrypha, being indeed older than at least two books (Daniel, Esther) which have found a place in the Canon alike of the Eastern and Western churches.

I. Name.

The Hebrew copy of the book which Jerome knew bore, according to his explicit testimony (see his preface to his version of Libri Sol .), the same title as the canonical Proverbs, i.e. משׁלים , meshālı̄m , "Proverbs" ( Parabolae is Jerome's word). It is quoted in rabbinical literally, by the sing. of this name, נשׁל , māshāl = Aramaic מתלא , mathlā' , but in the Talmud it is cited by the author's name, "Ben Sira" ( סירא בּן , ben ṣı̄ā' ). The Hebrew fragments found in recent years have no title attached to them. In the Greek manuscripts the heading is Σοφία Ἰησοῦ υἱοῦ Σιράχ (or Σειράχ ), Sophı́a Iēsoú huioú Sirách (or Seirách ), "The Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach" (so "A"); or simply Σοφία Σειράχ , Sophı́a Seirách (B), "The Wisdom of Sirach." The Fathers called it either (as Euseb., etc.) ἡ πανάρετος σοφία , hē panáretos sophı́a , "the all virtuous wisdom," or simply ἡ πανάρετος , hē panáretos , "the all virtuous (one)," or (Clement of Alexandria) παιδαβωβός , paidagōgós , "teacher." The first Hebrew and the several Greek titles describe the subject-matter, one Hebrew title ( ben ṣı̄rā' ) the author. But the Latin name Ecclesiasticus was given the book because it was one of the books allowed to be read in the Ecclesia, or church, for edification ( libri ecclesiastici ), though not one of the books of the Canon ( libra canonici ) which could be quoted in proof or disproof of doctrine. The present book is called Ecclesiasticus by way of preeminence since the time of Cyprian ( Testimon . 2, etc.). The Syriac (Peshitta) title as given in the London Polyglot is "The Book of Jesus the son of Simon אסירא , 'Āṣı̄rā' , called also the Book of the Wisdom of Baruch (= Hebrew ben , "son of") 'Āṣı̄rā' ." There can be no doubt that Asira (sometimes translated "bound") is but a corrupted form of Sira. For other explanations see Ryssel in Kautzsch, AT A pocrypha , 234.

Lagarde in his corrected text prefixes the title, "The Wisdom of Baruch = Hebrew ben , "son of") Sira." How is that the Hebrew סירא , ṣı̄rā' , has in the Greek become Sirach (or Seirach )? How are we to explain the final ch in the Greek? The present writer thinks it is due to an attempt to represent in writing the guttural sound of the final letter 'aleph () א in the Hebrew name as in the Greek Akeldamách , for the Aramaic דּמא חקל , ḥăḳal demā‛ ( Acts 1:19 ). Dalman, however (Aramaic Grammar, 161, note 6), followed by Ryssel, holds that the final chapter is simply a sign that the word is indeclinable; compare Ἰωσήχ , Iōsḗch (Luke 3:26 ), for Hebrew יוסי , yōṣē .

II. Canonicity.

Though older than both Dan and Esther, this book was never admitted into the Jewish Canon. There are numerous quotations from it, however, in Talmudic and rabbinic literature, (see a list in Zunz, Die Gottesdiensilichen Vortrage2 , 101 f; Delitzsch, Zur Geschichte der jud. Poesie , 204 f; Schechter, JQR , III, 682-706; Cowley and Neubauer, The Original Hebrew of a Portion of Ecclesiasticus , xix-xxx). It is not referred to explicitly in Scripture, yet it is always cited by Jewish and Christian writers with respect and perhaps sometimes as Scripture. It forms a part of the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) of the Tridentine Council and therefore of the Romanist Canon, but the Protestant churches have never recognized it as canonical, though the bulk of modern Protestant scholars set a much higher value upon it than they do upon many books in the Protestant Canon (Chronicles, Esther, etc.). It was accepted as of canonical rank by Augustine and by the Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397,419), yet it is omitted from the lists of accepted books given by Melito (circa 180 AD), Origen, in the Apostolic Canons and in the list of the Councils of Laodicea (341,381). Jerome writes in Libri Sol. : "Let the church read these two books (Wisdom and Sirach) for the instruction of the people, not for establishing the authority of the dogmas of the church." It suffered in the respect of many because it was not usually connected with a great name; compare the so-called "Proverbs of Solomon." Sirach is cited or referred to frequently in the Epistle of James ( James 1:2-4 - compare Sirach 2:1-5; James 1:5 - compare Sirach 1:26; 41:22; 51:13 f; James 1:8 ("double minded") - compare Sirach 1:28, etc.). The book is often cited in the works of the Fathers (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Augustine, etc.) and also in the Apostolical Constitutions with the formula that introduces Scripture passages: "The Scripture says," etc. The Reformers valued Sirach highly, and parts of it have been incorporated into the Anglican Prayer-book.

III. Contents.

It is quite impossible in the book as it stands to trace any one scheme of thought, for the author's mind moves lightly from topic to topic, recurring frequently to the same theme and repeating not seldom the same idea. It is, however, too much to say with Sonntag ( De Jesu Siracidae , etc.) that the book is a farrago of sayings with no connection, or with Berthold that the "work is but a rhapsody," for the whole is informed and controlled by one master thought, the supreme value to everyone of Wisdom. By this last the writer means the Jewish religion as conceived by enlightened Jews toward the beginning of the 2nd century BC, and as reflected in the Law of Moses (see Sirach 24:23-34 ), and in a less degree in the books of the Prophets and in the other writings (see Prologue). The book follows the lines of the canonical Book of Proverbs, and is made up of short pithy sayings with occasional longer discussions, largely collected but in part composed, and all informed and governed by the dominant note of the book: true Wisdom, the chief end of man. Most of the book is poetical in form, and even in the prose parts the parallelism of Hebrew poetry is found. Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to trace a definite continuous line of reasoning in the book, but the vital differences in the schemes propounded suggest what an examination of the book itself confirms, that the compiler and author put his materials together with little or no regard to logical connection, though he never loses sight of his main theme - W isdom, the chief thing.

Eichhorn ( Einleitung , 50 ff) divides the book into three parts ( Sirach 1 through 23; 24 through 42:14; 42:15 through 50:24), and maintains that at first each of these was a separate work, united subsequently by the author. Julian divides the work into three, Scholz into twelve, Fritzsche ( Einleitung , xxxii) and Ryssel (op. cit., 240) into seven, Edershelm (op. cit., 19 f) and R.G. Moulton ( Modern Reader's Bible: Ecclus , 16 ff) into five portions, and many other arrangements have been proposed and defended as by Ewald, Holzmann, Bissell, Zockler, etc. That there are small independent sections, essayettes, poems, etc., was seen by the early scribes to whom the Septuagint in its present form was largely due, for they have prefixed headings to the sections beginning with the following verses: Sirach 18:30 ("Temperance of Soul"); 20:27 ("Proverbs"); 23:7 ("Discipline of the Mouth"); 24:1 ("The Praise of Wisdom"); 30:1 ("Concerning Children"); 30:14 ("Concerning Health"); 30:16 ("Concerning Foods "; this is absent from many manuscripts, though retained by Swete who, however, omits the preceding heading); 30:24 (English Versions of the Bible 33:24, "Concerning Servants"); Sirach 35 (English Versions of the Bible 32:1, "Concerning Rulers"); 44:1 ("Praise of the Fathers"); 51:1 ("The Prayer of Jesus, Son of Sirach"). Probably the whole book possessed such headings at one time, and it is quite possible that they originated in the need to guide readers after the book had become one of the chief church reading-books (so W. J. Deane 2 The Expositor , II, vi, 327). These headings are given in English in the King James Version proper (in the margin), though in modern reprints, as also in the Revised Version (British and American), they are unfortunately omitted. The whole book has been arranged in headed sections by H. J. Holzmann (Bunsen's Bibelwerk, IX, 392 ff) and by R. G. Moulton (op. cit.).

IV. Teaching.

In general it may be said that the principles enunciated in this book agree with those of the Wisdom school of Palestinian Judaism about 200 BC, though there is not a word in the book about a Messianic hope or the setting up of a Messianic kingdom. None of the views characteristic of Alexandrian Judaism and absent from the teaching of Palestinian Judaism are to be found in this book, though some of them at least are represented in Wisdom (see WISDOM OF SOLOMON , VI.; TEACHING ). Girorer ( Milo und die jud.-alex. Philo ., II, 18 ff) and Dahne ( Gesch. der jud.-alex. rel. Phil ., II, 141 ff) hold that the book contains many Alexandrian expressions and numerous statements peculiar to the Alexandrian philosophy. But apart from some late interpolations, mostly Christian, what these German scholars say is untrue, as Drummond ( Philo Judaeus , I, 144 ff), Deane ( Expos , II, v, 334 ff) and others have shown. The outstanding features of Alexandrianism are the allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures, its conception of the ecstatic vision of God, its doctrine of mediating powers between man and God and its adoption of purely Greek ideas. None of these can be traced in Sir. The Hebrews never developed a theoretical or speculative theology or philosophy: all their thinking gathered about life and conduct; the duties that men owed to God and to one another; the hopes that they cherished and the fears by which they were animated. This is the only philosophy which the Bible and the so-called Apocrypha teach, and it is seen at its highest point in the so-called WISDOM LITERATURE (which see). The main lines of the teaching of Sirach may be set out as follows, under the three heads of religion, morals, and manners.

1. Religion:

The view of God given in this book agrees generally with that put forth by the later writers of the Old Testament from the exile (Second Isaiah, Job, etc.) onward, though the God of this book lacks the love and tenderness of the Yahweh of the Old Testament prophets. God is present everywhere (Sirach 16:17-23 ); He created the world as an ordered whole (Sirach 16:26-30 ) and made man intelligent and supreme over all flesh. The expressions used are no doubt modeled on Genesis 1 , and it may fairly be inferred that creation out of nothing is meant. Wisdom, on the other hand, teaches the Alexandrian doctrine that matter ( húlē ) is eternal and that the Creator's work consisted of fashioning, adapting and beautifying. The world is a creature of God, not (as in Philo, etc.) an emanation from Him. Yet is He compassionate and forgiving ( Sirach 17:24 ff). His works are past finding out ( Sirach 18:2 ff); but His compassion is upon all flesh ( Sirach 18:13 ), i.e. upon all that accept His chastening and seek to do His will (Sirach 18:14 ). In Sirach 43:27 God is said to be "the all" ( τὸ πᾶν , tó pán ), which simply means that He pervades and is the ground of everything. It is not Alexandrian pantheism that is taught. Gfrorer and others take a contrary view.

(2) Revelation.

In harmony with other products of the "Wise Men," Sirach sets chief value upon natural religion, that revealed in the instincts, reason and conscience of man as well as by the sun, moon, stars, etc. Yet Sirach gives far more prominence than Proverbs to the idea that the Divine Will is specially made known in the Law of Moses (Sirach 24:23; 45:1-4 ). We do not meet once with the word "law" in Ecclesiastes, nor law in the technical sense (Law of Moses) in either Job, Wisdom or Proverbs. In the last-named it is simply one of many synonyms denoting "Wisdom." In Sirach the word occurs over 20 times, not, however, always, even when the expression "Law of Moses" is used, in the sense of the "five books" (Pentateuch). It generally includes in its connotation also "the prophecies and the rest of the books" (Prologue); see Sirach 32 (Septuagint 32(35):24; 33 (Septuagint 33(36):1-3 .

(3) Sin.

Sin is due to the wrong exercise of man's free will. Men can, if they like, keep the commandments, and when they break from them they are themselves alone to be blamed (Sirach 15:14-17 ). Yet it was through a woman (Eve) that sin entered the world and death by sin (Sirach 25:24; compare 1 Timothy 2:14 ). See Romans 5:12 where "one man," strictly "human being" ( Romans 5:14 , "Adam"), is made the first cause of sin. But nowhere in Sirach is the doctrine of original sin taught.

(4) Predestination.

Notwithstanding the prominence given to "free will" (see (3), above), Sirach teaches the doctrine of predestination, for God has determined that some men should be high and some low, some blessed and others cursed (33:10 ft).

(5) Satan.

The word "Satan" ( Σατανᾶς , Satanás ) in Sirach 21:27 (it occurs nowhere else in the Apocrypha) denotes one's own wicked heart, as the parallelism shows.

(6) Salvation.

There is no salvation except by way of good works on man's part ( Sirach 14:16 f) and forgiveness on God's ( Sirach 17:24-32 ). The only atonement is through one's own good works (Sirach 5:5 f), honoring parents ( Sirach 32:14 f), almsgiving, etc. ( Sirach 3:30; 17:19 ff). There is no objective atonement ("expiation," literally, "propitiation"; the Greek verb ἐξιλάκομαι , exiláskomai , is the great Septuagint word for the Hebrew כּפּר , kipper , "to atone").

(7) Sacrifice.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God (Sirach 34:18 ff), though He Himself appointed sacrifices and first-fruits ( Sirach 45:20 f), and when the righteous offer sacrifices to God they are accepted and remembered in the time to come ( Sirach 35:1-12 ).

(8) Feasts.

Festivals as well as seasons are ordained by God to be observed by man (Sirach 33 (Septuagint 33(36):8 f; compare Genesis 1:14 ).

(9) Prayer.

The duty of prayer is often pointed out (Sirach 37:15 , etc.), the necessary preparation defined (Sirach 17:25; 18:20,23 ), and its successful issue promised (Sirach 35:17 ). There must be no vain repetitions (Sirach 7:14; compare Matthew 6:7 ), nor should there be any faint-heartedness in the matter (Sirach 5:10; compare James 1:6 ). Men are to pray in sickness (Sirach 38:9), but all the same the physician should be consulted and his advice followed (Sirach 38:1 f, 12 ff).

(10) Angelology.

Sirach nowhere clearly expresses his belief in angels or uses language which implies such a belief. For "an angel ( ὁ ἄγγελος , ho ággelos ) destroyed them" the Hebrew of the original passage ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) has מגּפה , maggēphāh , "plague," and so the Syriac, though the Septuagint (followed by the Vulgate) has "angel."

(11) Eschatology.

Nowhere in this book is the doctrine of a future life taught, and the whole teaching of the book leaves no place for such a doctrine. Men will be indeed rewarded or punished according to their conduct, but in this world (see Sirach 2:10 f; 9:12; 11:26 f). The retribution is, however, not confined to the individuals in their lifetime; it extends to their children and involves their own glorious or inglorious name after death (see Sirach 11:28; 40:15; 41:6; 44:11-13 ). The passage concerning Gehenna (Sirach 7:17 ) is undoubtedly spurious and is lacking in the Syriac, Ethiopic, etc. Since the book is silent as to a future life, it is of necessity silent on the question of a resurrection. Nothing is hinted as to a life beyond the grave, even in Sirach 41:1-4 , where the author deprecates the fear of death. In these matters Sirach agrees with the Pentateuch and the prophetic and poetical books of the Old Testament (Psalms, Job, etc.), none of which give any intimation of a life beyond the grave. Little or nothing is said of the Messianic hope which must have been entertained largely by Palestinian Jews living in the author's time, though in Sirach 36 (Septuagint 36(33):1-17 the writer prays for the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, i.e. R.H. Charles thinks ( Eschatology , etc., 65), for the bringing in of the Messianic kingdom.

(12) Sirach's Doctrine of Wisdom.

For a general discussion of the rise and development of the conception of Wisdom in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha see WISDOM LITERATURE . A brief statement as to what the word implies in Sirach is all that can here be attempted. It is in chapters 1,24 that Ben Sira's doctrine is chiefly contained.

Wisdom is from God: He created it and it must therefore have a separate existence. Yet it is dependent on Him. It is omnipresent, though it dwells in a peculiar sense with all flesh. The root and beginning of Wisdom, its fullness and crown, are the fear of God (Sirach 1:14,16 , 18,21 ); so that only the obedient and pious possess it (Sirach 1:10,26 ); indeed Wisdom is identified with the fear of the Lord and the observance of the Law (Sirach 19:20 ); it is even made one with the Law of Moses (Sirach 24:23 ), i.e. it consists of practical principles, of precepts regulating the life. In this doctrine we have a combination of universalism, principles of reason and Jewish particularism as the teaching of the revealed Law. We have the first in Sirach 24:3-21; the second in 24:23-34. Have we in this chapter, as in Proverbs, nothing outside the teaching of Palestinian Judaism? Gfrorer (op. cit., II, 18 ff) denies this, maintaining that the whole of Sirach 24 was written by an Alexandrian Jew and adopted unchanged by Ben Sira. But what is there in this chapter which an orthodox, well-informed Palestinian Jew of Ben Sira's time might not well have written? It is quite another question whether this whole conception of Wisdom in the so-called Wisdom books is not due, in some measure, to Greek, though not Alexandrian, influence, unless indeed the Greek influence came by way of Alexandria. In the philosophy of Socrates, and in a less exclusive sense in that of Plato and Aristotle, the good man is the wise one. Cheyne ( Job and Solomon , 190) goes probably too far when he says, "By Greek philosophy Sirach, as far as we can see, was wholly uninfluenced."

2. Morals:

The hedonistic principle is carried so far that we are urged to help the good because they are most likely to prove serviceable to us (Sirach 12:2 ); to aid our fellow-man in distress, so that in his days of prosperity he may be our friend (Sirach 22:23 ); contrast the teaching of Jesus Christ (Luke 6:30-36 ). Friends are to be bemoaned for appearance' sake (Sirach 38:17). Yet many of the precepts are lofty. We are exhorted to show kindness and forbearance to the poor and to give help to our fellow-man (Sirach 29:8, 20); to give alms (Sirach 12:3); speak kindly (Sirach 18:15-18); masters should treat servants as brethren, nay as they would themselves be treated (Sirach 7:20-22; 33:30 f); parents should give heed to the proper training of their children (Sirach 3:2; 7:23; 30:1-13); and children ought to respect and obey their parents (Sirach 3:1-16). It is men's duty to defend the truth and to fight for it. So shall the Lord fight for them (Sirach 4:25, 28). Pride is denounced (Sirach 10:2 ff), and humility (Sirach 3:18), as well as forgiveness (Sirach 28:2), commended.

3. Manners:

(4) As regards the character of the language, it may be said that in syntax it agrees in the main with the classical Hebrew of the Old Testament, but its vocabulary links it with the latest Old Testament books. Thus we have the use of the " waw -consecutive" with the imperfect ( Sirach 43:23; 44:9,23; 45:2 f, etc.) and with the perfect ( Sirach 42:1,8 , 11 ), though the use of the simple waw with both tenses occurs also. This mixed usage is exactly what meets us in the latest part of the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes, Esther, etc.). As regards vocabulary, the word חפץ , ḥēphec , has the sense of "thing," "matter," in Sirach 20:9 , as in Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 5:7; Ecclesiastes 8:6 . In general it may be said that the Hebrew is that of early post-Biblical times. Margoliouth holds that the extant Hebrew version is no older than the 11th century, which is impossible. His mistake is due to confounding the age of the manuscripts with that of the version they contain.

(5) It is nevertheless admitted that in some cases the Syriac or the Greek or both together preserve an older and correcter text than the Hebrew, but this because the latter has sometimes been miscopied and intentionally changed.

(6) The numerous Hebraisms in the Greek version which in the Hebrew have their original expression point to the same conclusion - that this Hebrew text is the original form of the book.

Margoliouth has been answered by Smend ( TLZ , 1889, col. 506), Konig ( Expository Times , X, XI, 1899-1900), Noldeke ( ZATW , XX, 81-94), and by many others. Bickell ( Zeitschrift fur katholische Theol ., III, 387 ff) holds also that the Hebrew Sirach extant is a translation from the Greek or Syriac or both.

X. Versions.

1. Greek:

The Septuagint translation was made from the Hebrew direct; it is fairly correct, though in all the extant manuscripts the text is very corrupt in several places. (1) The book occurs in the uncials Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, Ephraemi, and part of Alexandrinus fairly free from glosses, though abounding in obvious errors. (2) The text is found in a much purer form in Codex Venetus and also in Codex Sinaiticus (ca) and part of Codex Alexandrinus. All extant Greek manuscripts except the late cursive 248 seem to go back to one original MS, since in all of them the two sections Sirach 30:25 through 33:15,33:16 through 36:11 have changed places, so that 33:16 through 36:11 follows 30:24,30:25 through 33:15 comes after 36:11. Most scholars accept the explanation of Fritzsche ( Exeg. Handbuch zu den Apok , V, 21 f) that the two leaves on which these two parts (of similar size) were written got mixed, the wrong one being put first. On the other hand, the cursive 248 (14th century) has these sections in their proper order, and the same is true of the Syriac (Peshitta), Latin and Armenian versions and of the Greek version of the Complutensian Polyglot (which follows throughout 248 and not the uncials) and English Versions of the Bible which is made from this Polyglot. The superiority of 248 to the older manuscript (B S A 100 V) is seen in other parts of the Greek text. In the other Greek manuscripts, Sirach 3:25 is omitted, as it is by Edersheim and most commentators before the discovery of the Hebrew text. But this last supports 248 in retaining the verse, and it is now generally kept. In 43:23 "islands" is properly read by 248, Vulgate, Syriac, 23 and the Hebrew, but older Greek manuscripts read "Jesus," making nonsense ("And Jesus planted her" ( αὐτήν , autḗn ) for "he planted islands therein"). The other manuscripts have a text which yields no sense in 43:26: English Versions of the Bible "By reason of him his end hath success." The Greek of 248 and the Hebrew give this sense: "The angel is equipped for his task," etc.

2. Syriac: