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Foreword

Inasmuch as many and great truths have been given to us through the Law, the prophets, and the authors who followed them,[a] for which the instruction and wisdom of Israel merit praise, it is the duty of those who read the scriptures not only to become knowledgeable themselves but also to use their love of learning in speech and in writing to help others less familiar. So my grandfather Jesus, who had long devoted himself to the study of the law, the prophets, and the rest of the books of our ancestors, and had acquired great familiarity with them, was moved to write something himself regarding instruction and wisdom. He did this so that those who love learning might, by accepting what he had written, make even greater progress in living according to the Law.

You are invited therefore to read it with good will and attention, with indulgence for any failure on our part, despite earnest efforts, in the interpretation of particular passages. For words spoken originally in Hebrew do not have the same effect when they are translated into another language. That is true not only of this book but of the Law itself, the prophecies, and the rest of the books, which differ no little when they are read in the original.

I arrived in Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Euergetes, and while there, I had access to no little learning. I therefore considered it my duty to devote some diligence and industry to the translation of this book. During this time I applied my skill for many sleepless hours to complete the book and publish it for those living abroad who wish to acquire learning and are disposed to live their lives according to the Law.

The Wisdom of Ben Sira

Chapter 1

God’s Gift of Wisdom[b]

All wisdom[c] is from the Lord
    and remains with him forever.(A)
The sands of the sea, the drops of rain,
    the days of eternity—who can count them?
Heaven’s height, earth’s extent,
    the abyss and wisdom—who can explore them?
Before all other things wisdom was created;
    and prudent understanding, from eternity.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Foreword The Law, the prophets, and the authors who followed them: an indication of the eventual tripartite division of the Hebrew Scriptures: Law (torah), Prophets (nebi’im), and Writings (ketubim), shortened in the acronym Tanak. Thirty-eighth…Euergetes: 132 B.C. The reference is to Ptolemy VII, Physkon Euergetes II (170–163; 145–117 B.C.).
  2. 1:1–10 This brief poem serves as an introduction to the book. The Lord is the source and preserver of all wisdom, which he pours out upon all. See Jb 28:20–28; Prv 2:6; 8:22–31; Wis 7:25–27.
  3. 1:1 Wisdom: throughout the book Ben Sira describes in great detail just what wisdom is: sometimes divine (1:6, 8), sometimes a synonym for God’s law (24:22–23). Ben Sira makes clear that all wisdom comes from God.
  4. 1:4

    Other ancient texts read as v. 5:

    The wellspring of wisdom is the word of God in the heights,

    and its runlets are the ageless commandments.

For the Lord gives wisdom,
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;(A)

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22 [a]“The Lord begot me, the beginning of his works,
    the forerunner of his deeds of long ago;(A)
23 From of old I was formed,[b]
    at the first, before the earth.(B)
24 [c]When there were no deeps I was brought forth,
    when there were no fountains or springs of water;
25 Before the mountains were settled into place,
    before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 When the earth and the fields were not yet made,
    nor the first clods of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, there was I,(C)
    when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
28 When he made firm the skies above,
    when he fixed fast the springs of the deep;
29 When he set for the sea its limit,
    so that the waters should not transgress his command;
When he fixed the foundations of earth,
30     then was I beside him as artisan;[d](D)
I was his delight day by day,
    playing before him all the while,
31 Playing over the whole of his earth,
    having my delight with human beings.
32 [e]Now, children, listen to me;
    happy are they who keep my ways.
33 Listen to instruction and grow wise,
    do not reject it!
34 Happy the one who listens to me,
    attending daily at my gates,
    keeping watch at my doorposts;
35 For whoever finds me finds life,(E)
    and wins favor from the Lord;
36 But those who pass me by do violence to themselves;
    all who hate me love death.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8:22–31 Wisdom is of divine origin. She is represented as existing before all things (vv. 22–26), when God planned and created the universe, adorning it with beauty and variety, and establishing its wonderful order (vv. 27–30). The purpose of the two cosmogonies (vv. 22–26 and 27–31) is to ground Wisdom’s claims. The first cosmogony emphasizes that she was born before all else (and so deserving of honor) and the second underscores that she was with the Lord during the creation of the universe. The pre-existence of Woman Wisdom with God is developed in Sir 24 and in New Testament hymns to Christ, especially in Jn 1 and Col 1:15–20.
  2. 8:23 Formed: since the other verbs of the origin of Wisdom in these verses describe birth, it is likely that the somewhat uncertain verb is to be understood of birth as in Ps 139:13.
  3. 8:24–26 Perhaps the formless mass from which God created the heavens and the earth; cf. Gn 1:1–2; 2:4–6.
  4. 8:30 Artisan: the translation of the Hebrew word ’āmôn has been controverted since antiquity. There have been three main opinions: (1) artisan; (2) trustworthy (friend); (3) ward, nursling. The most likely explanation is that ’āmôn is artisan, related to Akkadian ummānu, legendary sages and heroes who brought divine gifts and culture to the human race. I was his delight: the chiastic or ABBA structure of vv. 30–31 unifies the four lines and underscores the analogy between Woman Wisdom’s intimate relation to the Lord and her intimate relation to human beings, i.e., “delight” + “playing” parallels “playing” + “delight.” She is God’s friend and intimate and invites human beings to a similar relationship to God through her.
  5. 8:32–36 The final appeal of Woman Wisdom to her disciples is similar to the appeal of the father in 7:24–27.

24 For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion,
    and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity.(A)
25 [a]For she is a breath of the might of God
    and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
    therefore nothing defiled can enter into her.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:25–26 Five strong metaphors underline the origins and closeness of Wisdom with God. See the use of this language in Hb 1:3; Col 1:15.