READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART IX

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 9:17-11:1

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Realtors speak of “location, location, and location.”  Likewise, serious students of the Bible understand the necessity of remembering “context, context, and context.”  Recall, O reader, a proverbial drum I have been beating since Part I of this series:  Ben Sira addressed the sons of elites of Jerusalem circa 175 B.C.E.  Some of the fathers were magistrates.  Some of the sons were to become magistrates.  And Jerusalem lay within the frontiers of the Seleucid Empire, the new king of which was Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 B.C.E.), whose name lives in infamy.

Even in other contexts, we understand that the decisions of those in power affect the lives of many people.  So, who decides matters at least as much as the decisions.  To quote a Greek saying,

Character is destiny.

The ruler’s character is the destiny of both the ruler and the ruled.  That may be a sobering and terrifying thought, depending upon the context.

Then Ben Sira wrote of the sovereignty of God.  Rulers work for God, even if they do not understand that they do.  Arrogance and hubris before God is both an individual and a collective sin.  Awe of God is a virtue both individually and collectively.  Ben Sira valued the social hierarchy, but he treasured awe of God more:

The nobleman, and the judge, and the ruler will be honored,

but none of them is greater than the man who fears the Lord.

Free men will be at the service of a wise servant,

and a man of understanding will not grumble.

–10:24-25, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

After all, the rich and the poor alike are “dust and ashes.”  10:9 asks how dust and ashes can be proud.  Yet dust and ashes are frequently proud.  Monuments to the egos of powerful people (usually men) dot the landscape.  Nevertheless, as Ben Sira reminds us down the corridors of time, the dead

will inherit creeping things, and wild beasts, and worms.

–10:11, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Hubris begins with a departure from God (10:12). And hubris is ubiquitous, even in the company of some politicians court the votes of devout people.  Hubris is also vain in every sense of that adjective.  As much as I critique Ben Sira for attitudes outmoded in 2023, I acknowledge that he sought to glorify God, not himself.  May all of us–individually and collectively–succeed, by grace, in glorifying God, not ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN DIEFENBAKER AND LESTER PEARSON, PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA; AND TOMMY DOUGLAS, FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALIPIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TAGASTE, AND FRIEND OF SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

THE FEAST OF JOHN COURTNEY MURRAY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN JONES OF TALYSARN, WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART VIII

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 7:18-9:16

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The theory of retribution, as we read it in chapter 7, is simplistic and unrealistic.  Consider 7:1-2, O reader:

Do no evil, and evil will not befall you;

shun wrong, and it will avoid you.

Son, do not sow in the furrows of wrong-doing,

or you may reap it seven times over.

—The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

This sounds like something the alleged friends of Job could have said.  You, O reader, may recall that they were idiots who blamed the victim when what they saw contradicted their theology.  So, they committed theodicy–idiocy, really.  Finally, a different author tacked an ending onto the Book of Job and thereby contradicted the rest of the book regarding the theory of retribution.  Conventional wisdom may provide comfort, even when the conventional wisdom is false–in a given context, at least.

Indeed, context is always of the essence.  So, recall the context of Ben Sira’s original Hebrew text, circa 175 B.C.E.–in Jerusalem, amid political turmoil and religious persecution, while he lectured the sons of the elites.   To whom one speaks or writes influences what one says and writes, and how one phrases it.  Ben Sira lived in a patriarchal society in which slavery existed and social hierarchies were sacred.  Those three points contradict my values in North America in 2023.  Yet I start by admitting that the text, in its context, says what it says.

The attitudes toward girls and women reflect patriarchy.  Parents should discipline their children, to make them obedient (7:23).  Yet the chastity of daughters–not sons–is of  particular concern in the Greek text (7:24).  Arranging the marriage of a daughter to a “man of understanding” is a “great task” (7:25).  But what did the daughter think?  Ben Sira did not care.  On a related note, a husband (a “man of understanding,” presumably) should not cast out the wife his parents selected for him if she pleases him.  Neither should he trust himself to a wife whom he detests (7:26).

The Hebrew text mentions the libidos of sons.  The advice is to “acquire wives for them while they are young”–or, as James L.  Crenshaw summarizes that line,

…before awakening lust gets them in trouble.

—The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 5 (1997), 695

42:9-14 returns to the subjects of daughters and women in ways which are understandably and correctly objectionable to modern Western sensibilities.  But I get ahead of myself.

9:1-9 contains a range of advice regarding how a pious man should behave with women.  Some counsel is timeless.  For example:

Do not go to meet a loose woman,

lest you fall into her snares.

–9:3, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Yet the misogynistic tone of 9:1-9 offends my egalitarian sensibilities.  Ben Sira–like many of other man throughout time–blamed women for men’s lust.  This attitude has not died, unfortunately.  And Ben Sira thought that a woman gaining mastery over a man was terrible (9:2).

Misogyny and cultural particulars aside, 7:18-9:16 teaches an ethic of mutuality and respect.  People should be generous to the priests, the poor, those who weep, and those who are ill, for example.  Greed is a sin.  Choosing carefully with whom to contend, travel, or consult is of practical importance.  Maintaining friendships and building up the community yields positive results for all involved.  And people should always decide and act in the awe of God.  How we treat others is inseparable from our relationship with God.

I understand all that.  So, we can we drop the sexism?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN DIEFENBAKER AND LESTER PEARSON, PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA; AND TOMMY DOUGLAS, FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALIPIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TAGASTE, AND FRIEND OF SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

THE FEAST OF JOHN COURTNEY MURRAY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN JONES OF TALYSARN, WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART VII

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 6:18-7:17

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The Bible is replete with wordplay, a wonderful rhetorical device.  That rhetorical device is most effective in the original language, though.  When we move beyond the original language, we read translations that probably cannot convey the wordplay.  So, commentaries explain the wordplay to us.

5:22, depending on the translation one reads, tell us that either wisdom or discipline is “like her name” or “true to her name.”  The Hebrew word for wisdom, in this context, conveys the sense of being removed or withdrawn.  Yet we are reading an English translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew text.  Layers of translation obscure the meaning.  Wisdom’s name encapsulates her character, and the path to divine wisdom is not straight.  In a cultural setting in which many people assumed that knowing a person’s or deity’s name granted power over that person or deity, nobody can control divine wisdom.  And many people never find her.

Wisdom also imposes discipline upon those who find her; this is for their own good.  This discipline may feel uncomfortable or worse, but it is better than the alternative.  And this discipline keeps one away from evil, injustice, self-righteousness, hubris, idleness, and other vices.  Consider, O reader, the original audience of Ben Sira’s Hebrew text: sons of the wealthy men Jerusalem.  Reading these verses with that social milieu in mind may unlock meanings one would miss otherwise.  Then one may apply these verses to other contexts without missing or neglecting Ben Sira’s message.

“Discipline” is a common word.  Yet pausing to consider its germane definition in the context of these verses is worthwhile.  The Encarta World English Dictionary (1999) provides more than one definition of “discipline” as a noun.  The definition closest to the verses for this post is:

mental self-control used in directing or changing behavior, learning something, or training for something.

One final point pertains to theological context.  This discipline is for this life because Ben Sira assumed that there is no afterlife:

More and more, humble your pride;

what awaits mortals is worms.

–7:17, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

Even the high and mighty–and the sons of the elites–will become worm food.  And God and people punish sins, we read.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART VI

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 5:1-6:17

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We have a study in contrasts in this post.  Presumption and insincerity contrast with true friendship, just as true friendship contrasts with false friendship.  Backing up into this series by one post and picking up the theme of truth as “activated integrity” contextualizes this material well.

We humans are prone to presume wrongly.  Those who are rich may presume on their wealth.  Those who are prominent may presume on their social status.  Those who mistake God for an absentee landlord (see Psalms 14 and 53) may presume that they need not fear the consequences of their evil actions.  Those who presume on divine mercy underestimate divine judgment.  They miss the balance of divine judgment and mercy.

Insincerity begins internally and extends outwardly.  Such a person may be a false friend who refuses to help a person in trouble.  I write for myself when I tell you, O reader, that adversity has revealed the identities of my true friends.  I also tell you that have been such a friend for a special and beloved woman.  So, I understand what true friendship requires of one; it requires integrity, sincerity, love, endurance, and self-sacrifice.  You, O reader, may also understand, based on your experience.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:

he that has found one has found a treasure.

There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend,

and no scales can measure his excellence.

A faithful friend is an elixir of life;

and those who fear the Lord find him.

Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship right,

for as he is, so is his neighbor also.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 6:14-17, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Those are words to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART V

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 4:11-31

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Those who love divine wisdom love life, we read in 4:12.  This is an echo of Deuteronomy 30:15.  And those who avoid evildoing will also avoid shame (4:20), the dreaded disgrace in Hellenistic society.  Recall, O reader, that Ecclesiasticus/Sirach is a product of the Hellenistic age, although the book condemns Hellenism.

“Truth” is a recurring concept in the Bible.  Frequently it refers to “activated integrity” or “that which is reliable.”  Truth, by these definitions, is tangible and lived.  In contrast, truth, in its Platonist definition, is abstract.  Ben Sira tells us that truth is like the current of a river (4:26), so to attempt to stop it is pointless.  In textual context, truth entails confessing one’s sins (4:25) and is worth dying for under persecution (4:28).  Recall, O reader, that persecution is part of the background of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.

In my context–North America, 2023–“truth” is a word which many people use, misuse, or abuse casually.  Whenever I hear the word, I wonder how the person defines it.  “Truth” often becomes its own opposite, as in the cases of “truthers” who deny thoroughly documented events and swim in an ocean of hare-brained conspiracy theories.  When people grounded in objective reality use the word “truth,” they may understand it as being either abstract or tangible.  Yet if everyone involved in the discourse does not grasp the intended meaning, people talk or write past each other.  And the ubiquity of postmodernism is evident in people speaking of their own truth and of “alternative facts.”

A related matter is the decline of shame in society.  I do not want to live in a society in which the scales tip too far toward shame, often in the cause of forcing people to conform.  I am a default contrarian much of the time; when I pursue my interests, I frequently go against the grain.  I do not want to live in a society which regards me as one who should feel ashamed of being this way.  However, shamelessness has gone too far in my society.  Shamelessness is endemic in my society.  Many people who, according to the moral standards they profess, should care about this problem, seem not to do so, given the shameless politicians whom they defend publicly.  Shame has a legitimate role in a balanced society.  Properly directed shame helps to maintain truth–as “activated integrity”–measured in deeds.  As I have written frequently at my weblogs,

Deeds reveal creeds.

In other words, orthopraxy and orthodoxy are inseparable from each other.  As one thinks, one is.  In the Hebrew Bible, God is like what God has done and does.  That standard is good enough to apply to God.  It is also good enough to apply to mere mortals.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART IV

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 3:1-4:10

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“Traditional family values” is an term one may hear frequently.  The term is inherently relative; its meaning depends upon culture, time, and place.

Ben Sira affirmed traditional family values, he he understood them.  He must have noticed members of younger generations forsaking the Jewish faith and disrespecting parents–fathers, especially.  Hellenism was taking its toll on the Jewish familial hierarchy.  In that context, we read:

Whoever honors his father atones for sins,

and preserves himself from them.

–3:3, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

3:14-16 and 3:20 unpack 3:3.

Hierarchy is a major theme in parts of the Old Testament.  Some verses in Proverbs condemn those who refuse to remain “in their place,” as if God had ordained the hierarchy.  (I do not assume that God has ever done so.)  The same attitude from Proverbs recurs in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.

One can almost hear Protestant blood boiling at the assertion of one’s good deeds scoring credit before God.  Yet this is an old idea (Tobit 14:10-11; 1 Timothy 6:19; Matthew 6:9-20; Luke 12:21).

Ben Sira (who was not a Protestant), argued that good deeds convey merit before God only when prayer accompanies them (verse 5).  He also contextualized good deeds within the framework of humility before God (3:18f).  Ben Sira affirmed maintaining one’s “place” within the hierarchy, with God at the top (3:23-24).

Humility before God is a moral and a theological virtue; I cannot refute that teaching.  Yet one can affirm humility before God without assuming that God has ordained the social hierarchy.  I am an heir to the Enlightenment and the American Revolution, so I do not think as ancients did.

In the context of humility before God, within the social hierarchy, we cross over into chapter 4.  Here the theme of economic justice is obvious.  God is on the side of the unjustly treated and vulnerable people, we read.  Treating people justly will satisfy divine commandments.  The marginalized people are always with us, for social norms marginalize them.  Frankly, hierarchies marginalize them.  So, at the conclusion of this post, I simultaneously agree and argue with Ben Sira.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART III

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2:1-18

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One does well to remember that Ecclesiasticus/Sirach originated in the context of imperial Seleucid persecution of Jews and that subsequent generations of Christians and Jews have read it in the context of persecution, too.  Religious persecution–the real deal, not the narcissistic attitude of one with a victimization complex–is always occurring somewhere, unfortunately.  Frequently, those who perpetrate religious persecution do not think of themselves as persecutors.  They may imagine themselves to be in the right at best or committing “dirty” yet necessary deeds at worst.  National security may be the excuse for the persecution, as it has been in the cases of many instances of martyrdom of which I have read and written.

The Jerusalem Bible (1966) may cut to the chase most effectively:

My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord,

prepare yourself for an ordeal.

–2:1

Chapter 2 urges the audience to cling to God and to endure the ordeal.  Verse 5 refers to the testing of gold in the fire and of “chosen men in the furnace of humiliation.”  Given that Ecclesiasticus/Sirach rejects any concept of the afterlife, the promise that God will deliver the faithful must play out in this life.  Yet the text, like much of the Book of Proverbs, is overly optimistic.  And, we read, woe to those who abandon the faith during persecution.  Woe to them in this life, by the hand of God, in context.

The chapter, which urges humility before God, concludes on a high note:

Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, not into the hands of men;

for as his majesty is, so too is his mercy.

–2:18, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

That is a callback to 2 Samuel 24:17.  In that story, as one may recall, the text had attributed a plague three days in duration to divine wrath over a census.  Divine anger is unpredictable in 2 Samuel 24.  In 2 Samuel 24:14, King David awaited divine punishment.  Yet, in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2:18, Ben Sira understood humility before and dependence on God as a way of evading divine wrath.

The God-concept in 2 Samuel 24 contradicts the revelation of God in Jesus.  And Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2:18, in the context of chapter 2, is simplistic.  Yet it is closer to my theology than 2 Samuel 24 is.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART II

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 1:1-30

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Ben Sira combined thoughts from the Book of Proverbs with the Torah in a way the authors of Proverbs did not.

In the treasures of wisdom are wise sayings,

but godliness is an abomination to the sinner.

If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,

and the Lord will supply it to you.

For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction,

and he delights in fidelity and meekness.

–1:25-27, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

The canon of scriptures is broad and generous enough to include conflicting opinions.  This fact is one reason I reject both Biblical inerrancy and infallibility.  History and science are two other reasons.  I, as an Episcopalian, value scripture, tradition, and reason to matters of faith and theology.

Ben Sira’s cosmology was typical for his context.  The literal reading of Genesis 1:1-2:4a requires one to understand the Earth as a disc with a dome above it, and with water below the disc and above the dome.  This cosmology, imported from ancient residents of Mesopotamia, finds poetic expression in the first few verses of chapter 1.

Then we read of divine wisdom as a creation (verse 9) and a gift of God.  The link between this concept and the presentation of Jesus as the Logos of God (John 1) is clear, with some theological changes on the road to John 1.  But this is neither the time nor the place to rehash the Arian controversy of the 300s C.E.

Verse 32 distinguishes between righteous anger and unrighteous anger.  There is no justification for unjust anger, we read; it leads to the angry person’s ruin.  This is impossible to refute convincingly.  I recall watching a true crime program years ago and learning that the duration of the average violent crime is three seconds. What happens during those three seconds damages, wrecks, and often claims lives.  Beyond violent crime, grudges may have no effect on their targets, but they harm those who harbor and nurture them.

On the other hand, not becoming angry can indicate a grave moral failing.  If systemic economic and other forms of social injustice do not anger someone, that person has a faulty moral conscience.  People of good conscience may disagree about how best to correct such injustice, but they proceed from solid moral ground.  Certain public figures on the far right describe themselves as champions of liberty yet praise Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong, or minimize the horror of chattel slavery.  If one can read those remarks and watch those videos yet not feel moral disgust, one is morally faulty.

Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 1, like the Book of Proverbs, is excessively optimistic (verse 12, for example).  Given that I have already written about excessive, unrealistic optimism recently at this weblog, I choose not to repeat myself on this point in this post.

Despite that excessive and unrealistic optimism, much of chapter 1 does not require faith to accept.  Faith is unnecessary when abundant evidence exists.  One example follows:

Do not be a hypocrite before others,

over your lips keep watch.

–Verse 29, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

This is timeless advice.  One may identify examples from the past and present, wherever or whenever one lives.  Hypocrisy offends; it violates trust.  Hypocrisy differs from changing one’s mind after examining and analyzing evidence or learning from experience.  Hypocrisy is disingenuous.  Furthermore, loose lips sink far more than ships; they frequently torpedo the hypocrite’s reputation and may provide incriminating evidence of an offense.  How many people are in prison partially because of damning evidence they voluntarily posted on social media outlets?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 6, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART I

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What to call this book seems like an ideal point to address first.  Traditional names of the book are  the Book of Sirach, the Book of Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Ben Sira.  “Ecclesiasticus,” or “Church Book,” derives from Liber Ecclesiasticus, a name due to the frequency with which Holy Mother Church has quoted Sirach.  The name of the book depends upon the translation one reads.  The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) calls the book “The Wisdom of Ben Sira.”  The Revised English Bible (1989) calls this book “Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach.”  The Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint, in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008), names this book “The Wisdom of Sirach.”  For the sake of clarity, I prefer “Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.”

The author’s name is Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira (50:27).  That Hebrew name, translated into Greek, is Jesus son of Eleazar son of Sira.  “Sirach,” as a title for this book, derives from the Greek form of “Sira.”

We read an English translation of a Greek translation (after 117 B.C.E.) of a Hebrew text dated circa 175 B.C.E.  The translator, in his prologue, identifies himself as the grandson of the author.  That prologue describes the author–Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira–as a devout Jewish sage and a resident of Jerusalem.  We read that the grandfather followed the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets.  We also read that the grandson translated the book into Greek in Egypt after the reign of King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon (r. 170-163; 145-117 B.C.E.).

Persecution frames Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.  An eagle-eyed student of history may recall that, circa 175 B.C.E., the Seleucid Empire was persecuting devout Jews in the Jewish homeland.  One may also remember that Ptolemaic monarchs persecuted Jews, although not constantly.  And, if one puts the pieces together, one understands that militant devotees of Hellenism persecuted those who refused to conform, whether in Egypt or in Palestine.

The Wisdom of Solomon (perhaps from as late as 50 C.E.) combined Judaism and Greek philosophy in an attempt (a) to persuade errant Jews to return to the fold, and (b) reach out to Gentiles.  In contrast, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach (hostile to Greek philosophy) focused narrowly on Jews and did not syncretize.  Both books, despite their differences, belong to the genre of sacred literature which proclaims fidelity to God in the midst of oppression.  Two notable examples of this genre in the New Testament are Hebrews and Revelation.

Imagine, O reader, that you were a young man studying at the academy of Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira in Jerusalem.  The contents of this book would have been familiar to you.

We, in 2023, can, in a way, attend that academy.  Some of the attitudes will properly offend our egalitarian sensibilities.  The grandfather’s teachings reflect a fondness for patriarchy and misogyny (7:23-29; 22:3; 25:13-26; 26:12).   Yet this book, like the Song of Songs, delights in feminine beauty (26:17-18).  And not one woman features in 44:1-50:24, a hall of fame of faithful people.  One may identify faithful, named women in the Hebrew Bible, but Ecclesiasticus/Sirach does not.

I, standing within my Christian tradition, feel free to critique it.  Respect for one’s tradition need not devolve into blind traditionalism.  Traditions are living and flexible, not rigid and dead.

Another point of critique of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach is the book’s theology of the afterlife.  Ecclesiasticus/Sirach does not indicate a belief in the afterlife.  The book, therefore, is proto-Saddusaic.

The author of the Epistle of James (probably composed in the 80s or 90s C.E.) knew Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.  I encourage you, O reader, to compare Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2:1-6; 5:9-14 to James 1:12-15; 3:1-12.

Jeremy Corley, writing in The New Collegeville Bible Commentary:  Old Testament (2015), outlines Ecclesiasticus/Sirach accordingly:

1. Understanding Wisdom (1:1-4:10),
2. Using Wisdom Personally (4:11-6:17),
3. Applying Wisdom Socially (6:18-14:19),
4. Wisdom in Speech and Thought (14:20-23:27),
5. Wisdom in Domestic Life (24:1-32:13),
6. Using Wisdom to Make Good Decisions (32:14-38:23),
7. Demonstrating the Results of Wisdom (38:24-42:14),
8. Wisdom in Creation and History (42:15-50:24), and
9. Postscripts and Appendices (50:25-51:30).

James L. Crenshaw, writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 5 (1997), differs slightly.  Crenshaw divides Ecclesiasticus/Sirach into only eight sections.  His schema differs from that of Corley after the fourth section:

1. Part V (24:1-33:33:19),
2. Part VI (33:20-39:11),
3. Part VII (39:12-43:33), and
4. Part VIII (44:1-51:30).

As Dianne Bergant wrote in her introduction to Ecclesiasticus/Sirach in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003), the structure of this book is difficult to determine.

Despite the different attitudes of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon regarding Greek philosophy in the context of Hellenism, both books address an overarching issue germane in 2023.  How can the people of God remain faithful to God and their tradition in a hostile society?  Particulars vary according to circumstances.  People live in circumstances, not abstractions.  Yet timeless principles persist.  The greatest challenge to believers may be to pursue a strategy by which our actions in the name of following God do not belie our intention.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN BROWNLIE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRÉDÉRIC JANSSOONE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND FRIAR

THE FEAST OF LAMBERT BEAUDUIN, BELGIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

THE FEAST OF SARAH PLATT DOREMUS, FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S UNION MISSIONARY SOCIETY

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READING 1, 2 AND 4 MACCABEES

Above:  Icon of the Mother and Her Seven Sons

Image in the Public Domain

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PART XII

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2 Maccabees 7:15-19

4 Maccabees 11:1-27

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As usual, 2 Maccabees focuses on theology and is succinct.  Also as usual, 4 Maccabees gives up philosophy, theology, and graphic descriptions of torture.

A few main points stand out in my mind:

1. Again, brothers about to die told King Antiochus IV Epiphanes he would suffer in the afterlife (2 Maccabees 7:17, 19; 4 Maccabees 11:3).
2. Descendants of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes were also going to suffer divine punishment (2 Maccabees 7:17).  Is this an echo of intergenerational reward and punishment (Exodus 20:5-6)?  (Ezekiel 18 argues for individual responsibility before God and against intergenerational reward and punishment, by the way.)  Or were those descendants going to suffer for their sins?
3. God has not abandoned the persecuted Jews (2 Maccabees 7:16).
4. 2 Maccabees (in 6:12-17; 7:18)  teaches that this persecution was a form of divine punishment of Israel for sins.  I chose not to write about this point when I covered 2 Maccabees 6, for I was focusing on other matters.

Let us–you, O reader, and I–unpack this last theological point.  Who (plural) sinned to bring on this punishment, allegedly?  Were pious Jews, especially the ones who willingly suffered and died rather than violate kosher food laws in the Law of Moses–suffering because of the sins of impious Jews.  Or were these pious Jews suffering because of the perfidy of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and those who did his bidding?

Rabbi HIillel quoted Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Judah:

Precious are chastisements, for the name of God rests upon him to whom chastisements come.

The Wisdom of Solomon, a book roughly contemporary with 2 Maccabees, disagrees somewhat with the interpretation of the suffering of pious Jews in 2 Maccabees:

By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people

how the virtuous man must be kind to his fellow men,

and you have given your sons the good hope

that after sin you will grant repentance.

If with such care and such indulgence you have punished

the enemies of your children,

when death was what they deserved,

and given them time and room to rid themselves of wickedness,

with what attention have you not judged your sons,

to whose ancestors you made such fair promises by oaths and covenants.

Thus, while you correct us, you flog our enemies ten thousand times harder,

to teach us when we judge, to reflect on your kindness

and when we are judged, to look for mercy.

–Wisdom of Solomon 12:19-22, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Furthermore, according to the Wisdom of Solomon 11:1-14, the righteous receive benefits through punishments.  Adding the Wisdom of Solomon 12:9-10 to the mix, we read that God permits pagan nations time to repent.  However, according to the Wisdom of Solomon 12:23-27, divine mercy follows divine judgment.  And as Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 5:4-9 warns us, do not assume divine indulgence to be an entitlement.

I recognize Deuteronomic theology of collective suffering when I read it.  That theology exists in 2 Maccabees and the Wisdom of Solomon.  That theology is the Hebrew Biblical party line regarding the causation of the Babylonian Exile.  And that theology may not apply in all circumstances.

We who identify as devout have a responsibility to be careful in how we think, speak, and write about God.  On one hand, we ought never to try to domesticate God.  On the other hand, we must refrain from depicting God as a monstrous figure worthy of our dread and unworthy of praise and adoration.  We have an obligation not to depict God as being abusive.  How can we draw people to the sole deity if we present that deity as an abuser?  Theodicy, poorly executed, quickly devolves into idiocy.

Perhaps the Jews suffered under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes because he was a bastard intolerant of cultural diversity.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPHINE BAKHITA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT JEROME EMILIARI, FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY OF THE SERVANTS OF THE POOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN OF MATHA AND FELIX OF VALOIS, FOUNDERS OF THE ORDER OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPHINA GABRIELLA BONINO, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY

THE FEAST OF MITCHELL J. DAHOOD, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

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