Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Aramaic Literature - Part 3

After the Wisdom of Solomon come the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus. This book is known by several names, derived from this full title. It is perhaps best known as Ecclesiasticus. It is also known as Ben (that is, son of) Sirach, Ben Sira, the Wisdom of Ben Sira/Sirach, or the Book of Sirach. The book was written approximately 200 BC in Hebrew, but until relatively recently, it was known only in Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions. Fragments of the Hebrew text of the book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. A larger portion of the Hebrew text was found in the Cairo genizah (synagogue storage room for texts to be destroyed) in the late 19th century. When combined with the material from the Dead Sea Scrolls, about two-thirds of the Hebrew text is now known.

The book itself is similar in many ways to Proverbs, though it contains more extended discourses than pithy sayings. It inculcates the same kinds of themes as Proverbs, but it works in more clearly material from the Pentateuch. As such, it is essentially an extended collection of directions on how the pious Jew should live.

The AV Apocrypha follows Ben Sirach with the additions to the Book of Daniel. Of course, in Roman Catholic translations, such as the New American Bible, these sections are found as part of the Book of Daniel itself. These sections appear to have been written in Greek, with no Hebrew original. There are three sections to these additions. The first is the “The Prayer of Azariah [Abednego] and the Song of the Three Holy Children.” The first part of this insertion is the prayer of Abednego as the three walk around in the fiery furnace. The second part contains the song which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego allegedly sang while they were in the fire. These two together appear in the Septuagint of Daniel between what are verses 23,24 of the Hebrew text of Daniel 3. The second addition is the story of “Susanna,” a beautiful but righteous young woman put upon by two lecherous old men. The last addition is the story of “Bel and the Dragon.” This is a case where Daniel shows the King of Babylon that the food that has been presented to his gods is actually consumed by the priests, showing the folly of his paganism. An interesting sidelight on “Susanna” and “Bel and the Dragon” is that Dorothy Sayers included them in a collection of detective fiction she edited, as some of the earliest examples of the genre. “Susanna” and “Bel and the Dragon” constitute chapters 13,14 of the Septuagint of the Book of Daniel and are found in that position in the Roman Catholic canon.

Following the additions to Daniel, the AV Apocrypha contains the “Prayer of Manasseh.” This is supposedly the prayer of Manasseh’s repentance that is alluded to in 2Chronicles 33:12-13. It is found in the appendix to the Vulgate, but is not included in the Roman Catholic canon.

Discussion to be continued.

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