Font Size
Wisdom of Ben Sira 44:20-22
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom of Ben Sira 44:20-22
New Catholic Bible
20 He observed the law of the Most High
and entered into a covenant with him.
He confirmed the covenant in his flesh,[a]
and when he was tested he proved faithful.
21 Therefore, God assured him with an oath
that the nations would be blessed through his descendants,
that he would make his offspring as numerous as the dust of the earth,
and that they would be exalted like the stars,
and that he would give them an inheritance extending from sea to sea,
and from the river to the ends of the earth.[b]
Isaac and Jacob or the Birth of the Twelve Tribes[c]
22 To Isaac also, God gave the same assurance
for the sake of Abraham his father.
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 44:20 In his flesh: allusion to circumcision (see Gen 17:10, 23). And . . . faithful: allusion to the sacrifice of Isaac, rewarded by the promise of numerous progeny (see Gen 22:16-18).
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 44:21 From the river to the ends of the earth: i.e., from the Euphrates to the southern end of Palestine, marked by the Nile of Egypt (see Gen 15:18).
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 44:22 It is the remembrance of Isaac and Jacob that will be evoked to explain the ideal structure of the people of Israel.
