Ben Sirach

1
Ben Sirach

• Wisdom
• Becomes
• History

2
Authorship/Composition

• The Wisdom of Jesus, Ben Sirach, is the only book
  of wisdom literature that records the author
  historical context.
• Joshua ben Sirach, a sage scholar, wrote the
  book about 180 B.C.
• Joshuas grandson translated the original Hebrew
  into Greek after 132 B.C

3
Selected Texts

• Sirach 11-10A Poem on Wisdom
• Wisdom is Gods 1st creation.
• Wisdom is beyond mans ability to comprehend.
• God gave wisdom to all his works.

4
Selected Texts

• Sirach 241-35Wisdom Personified
• Wisdom announces that she has come directly from
  the mouth of God.
• Wisdom is equated with the Torah.
• Both of these are a departure from previous
  wisdom books.

5
Selected Texts

• Sirach 441-5026Wisdom in History
• The wisdom tradition is intertwined with the
  history of Israel.
• This is a connection with history that is missing
  from previous wisdom literature.