The Wisdom of Ben Sira

The Mirror of Jewish Fidelity

The cultural atmosphere in which this writing originated, in the beginning of the second century B.C., the Battle of Panion in 198 B.C. had transferred Palestine from the dominion of the Ptolemies (Egypt) to that of the Seleucids (Syria). With the aim of unifying their part of the Empire, exposed to too many internal conflicts, the new kings develop a policy of assimilation and seek to impose the Greek way of life introduced into the East by Alexander the Great.

Among the Jews, one group accepts it as a good thing to open themselves to the new Greek culture so as to adapt Judaism—which they regard as too closed in upon itself—to a more universal civilization. However, a strong traditionalist group opposes this novelty in order to safeguard the faith and vocation of Israel, the witness of the one God before all the nations. This is the same frame provided by the beginning of the Second Book of Maccabees.

The test of might between the pagan rulers and the Jewish faithful will become inevitable. But at the time of this writing, it has not yet occurred. At this very moment, a certain Jesus, son of Sira (see 50:27—hence from the Greek form we obtain Sirach), composes a lengthy meditation on Jewish fidelity as an appeal to his contemporaries. If there is any wisdom and any richness for the believing community, they find their source in worship and in the law. The author is convinced of this and seeks his inspiration both in the great events of the past and in the teachings of the wise, which he reports in great detail in order to better emphasize their relevancy.

Written in Hebrew, this work was not admitted into the Palestinian collection of the sacred books, and indeed was forgotten by the Jews. However, St. Jerome succeeded in seeing it, and it was cited by medieval Jewish writers. But then its text was lost. Ample parts of it were found in the 19th century (amounting to about two-thirds), but they were in an unsatisfactory state.

The Greek text that has come down to us was translated by the author’s nephew, about 130 B.C., for his numerous compatriots living in Alexandria, Egypt. This text, which was favored by the first generations of Christians, may be regarded as the true canonical text. Passages from it were frequently read in liturgical assemblies—which possibly accounts for its name up to modern times: Ecclesiasticus.

This translation is based on a critically established text using both the Hebrew and other ancient witnesses to the original, and following the numbering of the critical Greek text edited by J. Ziegler. When there are gaps in the verse numbering, they are filled from ancient manuscripts and placed in brackets. In this present case, the brackets are not used to denote glosses but to indicate material that might well have been part of the original Hebrew text and been in some way lost in the translation. This explains the diversity of numeration of verses with respect to other editions.

The Wisdom of Ben Sira may be divided as follows:

I: Prologue (1-35)

II: Counsels of a Teacher of Wisdom (1:1—33:18)

III: The Testament of a Teacher of Wisdom (33:19—42:14)

IV: Praise to the Lord of Nature and of Israel (42:15—50:29)

V: Additions (51:1-30)