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O l d T e s t a m e n t G u i d e
SIRACH
By ANTONIO FUENTES
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 1
 January 1994 
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IN the Greek version of the
Bible, the first title of this book was "The Wisdom of Ben Sirach,"
but from the time of Cyprian (early third century) the Latin title,
Ecclesiasticus, was used. It received this name from the fact
that, after the Psalms, it was the book most used in the liturgy;
in fact, in the early Church it was a kind of official catechism used
in the catechumenate.
Sirach was originally written in Hebrew, as the Greek
translator says in the prologue. Jerome was acquainted with the Hebrew
text, which was used up to the Middle Ages. In the eleventh century
the Hebrew disappeared and could not be used again until about two-thirds
of it was discovered in an old synagogue in Cairo in 1896. The archaeological
evidence given by that manuscript, together with the portions of the
same which survive in rabbinical literature, proves that the Hebrew
text dates from before 132 B.C. The New Vulgate conserves the Old
Latin text, which was made from a Greek codex containing some interpolations,
to which certain glosses and retouches were added.
According to the prologue and other passages in the
book, the inspired author was a learned scribe, a humble and zealous
man, who lived in Jerusalem. Through application and response to grace,
from an early age he had meditated deeply on sacred Scripture. As
an adult he was an indefatigable traveler and always kept his eyes
and his soul open to test "the good and the evil among men"
(34:12, 39:5). He eventually settled in Jerusalem, where he opened
a school to give moral and civic education to all comers; there, under
the inspiration of God, he wrote this book. His grandson--the
Greek translator--arrived in Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of
the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes (170-116 B.C.). He began on his translation
in the year 132, working on the Hebrew text, which probably was written
prior to 170 B.C., since it contains no reference to the persecution
of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, this book has no
particular structure. Subjects arise in delightful and even planned
disorder--praise of wisdom, fortitude in temptation, filial
piety, praise of parents, friendships; he parades before the reader
a whole series of themes taken from the world around him, in a period
on the threshold of the heroic age of the Maccabees--things to
do with family life, with work, situations affecting old people, the
rich, people in power, parents and children. Alongside this Sirach
also deals with typical wisdom themes--the origin of evil, human
freedom, creation, sin, penance. In treating each of these he uses
the classical sapiential form of the mashal--numerical
(25:7-11), parallel (21:16- 19) and anaphoristic (2; 4; 7:20-16).
The book closes with hymns giving thanks to God the
Creator, who has arranged things in the best possible way to benefit
the just and punish the evildoer; these are followed by a hymn praising
the patriarchs for having lived in accordance with the laws God gave
them, from Adam up to Simon, the son of Onias, the high priest in
Ben Sirach's time.
As happened with all the wisdom books of the Bible,
the Greek translator puts special emphasis on the practical purpose
of Sirach. First, he advises everyone to
live in accordance with divine Law, which should be the highest rule
and main.aspiration of man's behavior. But as he says in the prologue,
Ben Sirach wanted to write this book for those living abroad "who
wished to gain learning, being prepared in character to live according
to the law."
This book played an important part in shaping the faith
of the Jewish people to equip them to cope with the imminent menace
of Hellenism, which ran completely counter to the monotheism of the
people of the Old Covenant. At the basis of his teaching Ben Sirach
puts fear of God. In concrete terms this means fleeing from sin, as
a first step on the road to virtue, and then walking that way in humility,
which is the basis of all the other virtues; through humility a person
accepts himself and recognizes his defects, while also respecting
his neighbor and never engaging in defamation and calumny (7:12-17).
This follows logically from obedience to God's commandments and implies
total trust in God's power and majesty. This sense of trust grows
the more a person is tested and tempted--an experience he needs
if he is to develop a strong character and temper his spirit.
The main enemy which people encounter--an enemy
which is an ally of Hellenism--does not come from outside. This
enemy is to be found in easygoingness and a lack of moral vigilance,
in indolence and neglect of the duties the Law imposes. Ben Sirach,
therefore, argues energetically in favor of pursuit of righteousness
and consideration for others. He asks people to aim at consistency
between their faith and their everyday actions and to give special
attention to things to do with the worship of God.
Chapter 24 marks a high point in the book's teaching.
It presents wisdom in the form of an actual person who is ever alongside
God, man's Creator and supreme lawgiver. Now, in his infinite goodness
and mercy, wisdom speaks directly to the people of Israel; he speaks
like a person, as befits the personification of a divine attribute:
"I came forth from the mouth of the Most High and covered the
earth like a mist. . . . Then the Creator of all things gave me a
commandment, and the one who created me assigned a place for my tent.
And he said, `Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your
inheritance.' From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and
for eternity I shall not cease to exist."
This text clearly represent a development of the revelation
given in earlier books: Wisdom is shown as intimately united to God,
though distinct from him, and has characteristics which will later
be attributed to the Person of the Word. Once the eternal Word of
God becomes man it will be much easier to understand what this book
as yet only hints at. It was this text which led the liturgy to describe
our Lady--in an allegorical, spiritual sense--as "the
seat of wisdom," a wisdom which God communicates to all men,
but to Mary in a very special way.
Finally, Sirach prepared the way, a short while before
the schism between the Saduccees and the Pharisees, for a devout and
faithful people to accept the revelation which Jesus Christ would
bring. Although the book is doctrinally a considerable distance from
the Sermon on the Mount, it does contain features which are later
to be found fully formed in the New Testament--as, for example,
when Ben Sirach, for the first time in Old Testament tradition, addresses
his prayer to God, calling him Father: "O Lord, Father and Ruler
of my life, do not abandon me to their counsel, and let me not fall
because of them! .. . O Lord, Father and God of my life, do not
give me haughty eyes, and remove from me evil desire" (Sir.
23:14). He even says that this Father will not pardon
our sins unless we first pardon those who offend us: "Forgive
your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned
when you pray. Does a man harbor anger against another and yet seek
for healing from the Lord? Does he have no mercy toward a man like
himself and yet pray for his own sins?" (Sir. 28:24).
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