Ben Sirach, Ecclesiasticus

Lecture Notes, Summer 2000 (Chuck Pitts)

è Authorship/Composition

--The Wisdom of Jesus, Ben Sirach, is the only book of wisdom literature that records the author & historical context. (This, of course, suggests that Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs is debatable.)

--Joshua, ben Sirach (Hebrew for Jesus), wrote the book about 180 B.C. He was a sage or scholar (see 51:23, “house of instruction” or “school” in RSV) who decided to record the oral wisdom in written form.

--Joshua’s grandson translated the original Hebrew into Greek after 132 B.C., which was the year he went to Egypt. He recorded his translation activity in the prologue of the work.

è Selected Texts

--Sirach 1:1-10—A Poem on Wisdom

--Wisdom is God’s 1^st creation. He created wisdom before all things.

--Wisdom is beyond man’s ability to comprehend. No one can know her (wisdom’s) ways.

--God gave wisdom to “all his works,” esp. to “those who love him.”

--Sirach 24:1-35—Wisdom Personified

--Wisdom announces that she has come directly from the mouth of God, i.e. she is the “word of God,” perhaps a parallel to the Greek logos (logo"). She is the commandment sent to Israel.

--In 24:23f, wisdom is equated with the Torah, the commandments from God.

--Both of these are a departure from previous wisdom books, Israel & Torah. This is a connection with history that is missing from previous wisdom literature.

--Sirach 44:1-50:26—Wisdom in History

--The wisdom tradition is intertwined with the history of Israel: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David, Nathan, Solomon, Rehoboam & Jeroboam, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah, Josiah, Ezekiel, and Simon son of Onias (2^nd century).

--This, too, is a connection with history that is missing from previous wisdom literature.