22.27–23.6 A prayer of petition that the Lord be a guardian or teacher to help one control one’s speech, thoughts, and desires.
SIRACH 23
1O Lord, Father and Master of my life,
do not abandon me to their designs,
and do not let me fall because of them!
2Who will set whips over my thoughts,
and the discipline of wisdom over my mind,
so as not to spare me in my errors,
and not overlook mya sins?
3Otherwise my mistakes may be multiplied,
and my sins may abound,
and I may fall before my adversaries,
and my enemy may rejoice over me.b
4O Lord, Father and God of my life,
do not give me haughty eyes,
5and remove evil desire from me.
6Let neither gluttony nor lust overcome me,
and do not give me over to shameless passion.
DISCIPLINE OF THE TONGUEc
7Listen, my children, to instruction concerning the mouth;
the one who observes it will never be caught.
8Sinners are overtaken through their lips;
by them the reviler and the arrogant are tripped up.
9Do not accustom your mouth to oaths,
nor habitually utter the name of the Holy One;
10for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny
will not lack bruises,
10for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny
will not lack bruises,
so also the person who always swears and utters the Name
will never be cleansedd from sin.
11The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity,
and the scourge will not leave his house.
If he swears in error, his sin remains on him,
and if he disregards it, he sins doubly;
if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified,
for his house will be filled with calamities.
Foul Language
12There is a manner of speaking comparable to death;e
may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob!
Such conduct will be far from the godly,
and they will not wallow in sins.
13Do not accustom your mouth to coarse, foul language,
for it involves sinful speech.
14Remember your father and mother
when you sit among the great,
or you may forget yourself in their presence,
and behave like a fool through bad habit;
then you will wish that you had never been born,
and you will curse the day of your birth.
15Those who are accustomed to using abusive language
will never become disciplined as long as they live.
Concerning Sexual Sins
16Two kinds of individuals multiply sins,
and a third incurs wrath.
Hot passion that blazes like a fire
will not be quenched until it burns itself out;
one who commits fornication with his near of kin
will never cease until the fire burns him up.
17To a fornicator all bread is sweet;
he will never weary until he dies.
18The one who sins against his marriage bed
says to himself, “Who can see me?
Darkness surrounds me, the walls hide me,
and no one sees me. Why should I worry?
The Most High will not remember sins.”
19His fear is confined to human eyes
and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord
are ten thousand times brighter than the sun;
they look upon every aspect of human behavior
and see into hidden corners.
20Before the universe was created, it was known to him,
and so it is since its completion.
21This man will be punished in the streets of the city,
and where he least suspects it, he will be seized.
22So it is with a woman who leaves her husband
and presents him with an heir by another man.
23For first of all, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High;
second, she has committed an offense against her husband;
and third, through her fornication she has committed adultery
and brought forth children by another man.
24She herself will be brought before the assembly,
and her punishment will extend to her children.
25Her children will not take root,
and her branches will not bear fruit.
26She will leave behind an accursed memory
and her disgrace will never be blotted out.
27Those who survive her will recognize
that nothing is better than the fear of the Lord,
and nothing sweeter than to heed the commandments of the Lord.f
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a Gk their
b Other ancient authorities add From them the hope of your mercy is remote
c This heading is included in the Gk text.
d Syr be free
e Other ancient authorities read clothed about with death
f Other ancient authorities add as verse 28, It is a great honor to follow God, and to be received by him is long life.
23.7–11 Advice against swearing oaths.
23.9 The Holy One, an epithet, not a proper name, occurring frequently in Isaiah, e.g., Isa 1.4.
23.10 It is unclear whether the problem is the habitual practice of swearing, a misuse of taking an oath, or the breaking of a taboo against uttering the divine name. On taking God’s name “in vain,” see Ex 20.7; Lev 19.12; Deut 5.11.
23.11 Sins doubly may refer to Lev 5.4.
23.12–15 Advice against the use of course speech.
23.12 Comparable to death, unclear. It may mean “rivaling death” or “meriting death” and so intend a reference to blasphemy, the punishment for which was death. See Lev 24.11–16.
23.16–27 A narrative poem on the sexual license of a man (vv. 16–21) and a woman (vv. 22–27), introduced by a numerical proverb (Two kinds…and a third). For other numerical proverbs in Sirach, see 25.1–2, 7; 26.5, 28.
23.21 Punished in the streets means that his sin will become public knowledge. In the streets may refer to the marketplace or the city gates, where trials took place. According to Lev 20.10; Deut 22.22–24, the penalty for adultery was death. Ben Sira does not allude to that, so the penalty referred to is probably dishonor.
23.24 Brought before the assembly, a court hearing. As with the case of the man (v. 21), it is not clear what the woman’s punishment would have been. That her punishment will extend to her children seems to imply disgrace, the point made in the following lines. For a similar picture, see Wis 4.3–6.
23.26 On memory, immortality, and children, see note on 16.1–4.
SIRACH 24
THE PRAISE OF WISDOMa
1Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
2In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
3“I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and covered the earth like a mist.
4I dwelt in the highest heavens,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
and traversed the depths of the abyss.
6Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
and over every people and nation I have held sway.b
7Among all these I sought a resting place;
in whose territory should I abide?
8“Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance.’
9Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.
10In the holy tent I ministered before him,
and so I was established in Zion.
11Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place,
and in Jerusalem was my domain.
12I took root in an honored people,
in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.
13“I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon,
and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.
14I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi,c
and like rosebushes in Jericho;
like a fair olive tree in the field,
and like a plane tree beside waterd I grew tall.
15Like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth perfume,
and like choice myrrh I spread my fragrance,
like galbanum, onycha, and stacte,
and like the odor of incense in the tent.
16Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
and my branches are glorious and graceful.
17Like the vine I bud forth delights,
and my blossoms become glorious and abundant fruit.e
19“Come to me, you who desire me,
and eat your fill of my fruits.
20For the memory of me is sweeter than honey,
and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb.
21Those who eat of me will hunger for more,
and those who drink of me will thirst for more.
22Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame,
and those who work with me will not sin.”
Wisdom and the Law
23All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God,
the law that Moses commanded us
as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.f
25It overflows, like the Pishon, with wisdom,
and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits.
26It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding,
and like the Jordan at harvest time.
27It pours forth instruction
like the Nile,g like the Gihon at the time of vintage.
28The first man did not know wisdomh fully,
nor will the last one fathom her.
29For her thoughts are more abundant than the sea,
and her counsel deeper than the great abyss.
30As for me, I was like a canal from a river,
like a water channel into a garden.
31I said, “I will water my garden
and drench my flower-beds.”
And lo, my canal became a river,
and my river a sea.
32I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn,
and I will make it clear from far away.
33I will again pour out teaching like prophecy,
and leave it to all future generations.
34Observe that I have not labored for myself alone,
but for all who seek wisdom.i
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a This heading is included in the Gk text.
b Other ancient authorities read I have acquired a possession
c Other ancient authorities read on the beaches
d Other ancient authorities omit beside water
e Other ancient authorities add as verse 18, I am the mother of beautiful love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope; being eternal, I am given to all my children, to those who are named by him.
f Other ancient authorities add as verse 24, “Do not cease to be strong in the Lord, cling to him so that he may strengthen you; the Lord Almighty alone is God, and besides him there is no savior.”
g Syr: Gk It makes instruction shine forth like light
h Gk her
i Gk her
24.1–22 A poem of twenty-two lines in praise of personified wisdom, with three stanzas (vv. 3–7, 8–12, 13–17) plus introduction (vv. 1–2) and conclusion (vv. 19–22). The three stanzas tell the story of wisdom from creation, through Israel’s epic history, to her flourishing in Jerusalem. The poem is tightly constructed, and the narrative logic is controlled and complete. The last line of each stanza introduces an image that prepares for the next stanza. The poem stands in the tradition of Job 28; Prov 8.22–31 (cf. Bar 3.9–37) and brings to a climax the wisdom poems in Sirach: 1.1–20; 4.11–19; 6.18–37; 14.20–15.10. These poems respond to problem of hidden wisdom by imagining God’s wisdom in creation to be present and available in Israel’s tradition with its covenants and Mosaic law. Ch. 24 expands upon this claim by locating wisdom in the temple society of Ben Sira’s time. This distinguishes the poem and prepares for the express identification of wisdom with the books of Moses in 24.23 as well as her location in the vocation of the scribe in 39.1–11, the history of Israel’s leaders in chs. 44–49, and the office of the high priest in ch. 50.
24.1–2 An introduction of the speaker.
24.1 Praises herself, Ben Sira’s acknowledgment of the distinctive characteristic of the poem, called an aretalogy (a recital of one’s virtues or achievements), a genre associated primarily with the Egyptian goddess Isis.
24.2 The assembly of the Most High, a curious formulation, suggesting that both her people (v. 1) and his (heavenly) hosts (v. 2) are present as she speaks. His hosts are the heavenly bodies and court of the Most High; see 17.32; cf. Pss 82; 103.19–22.
24.3–7 The first stanza (see note on 24.1–22) tells of Wisdom’s origin (v. 3), her part in the creation of the world (vv. 4–6), and her quest for rest and residence (v. 7).
24.3 From the mouth, an image common in Egyptian poems of creation; here it perhaps alludes to Gen 1 (“And God said”). Cf. Pss 29.2; 33.6. Like a mist, an image common to Egyptian mythologies of creation, here perhaps alluding to the spirit of God in Gen 1.2.
24.4 Throne…in a pillar of cloud, an allusive interpretation of Ex 13.21–22.
24.5 That wisdom traversed the great circle and so “described” (created) the world is an image common in Egyptian mythology. Cf. Prov 8.27–29.
24.6 Held sway, ruled as queen. The Egyptian goddess Isis makes a similar claim in one of her aretalogies: “I am the queen of every land.” Cf. Wis 8.1.
24.7 That Wisdom sought a resting place is reminiscent of Isis mythologies. Wisdom’s quest for recognition and habitation among humans complements the human quest for wisdom, thus making the theme of seeking and finding capable of inversion. In contrast, see 1 Enoch 42, where Wisdom finds no place to dwell among humans and so returns to heaven.
24.8–12 The second stanza (see note on 24.1–22) tells of Wisdom finding a resting place in Jerusalem.
24.8 My Creator domesticates the preceding mythological imagery by using the preferred language of creation. Cf. 1.4; Prov 8.22. My tent, the tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex 25.8–9); cf. v. 10.
24.9 Cf. Prov 8.22.
24.10 Ministered before him as priest is a rare attribution and shows Ben Sira’s support of the Judean temple state. The traditional social location of wisdom was the palace or the school; but see 4.13. Zion, a designation for Jerusalem as the location for God’s house and presence in Israel; see 36.18–19.
24.13–17 The third stanza (see note on 24.1–22) tells of Wisdom “taking root” in Jerusalem, flourishing like a tree. Most of the trees mentioned were prized for their beauty, utility, and fragrance, and some were symbolic of the grandeur of their districts from Lebanon in the north (cedar) to Judea in the south (olive). Several were used in the preparation of perfumes and incense, suggesting a connection to the temple ritual mentioned in v. 15. The addition of the vine and its fruit in v. 17 enables a shift to the metaphor of cultivation and prepares for the concluding invitation that follows in vv. 19–22.
24.18 In some ancient manuscripts this verse describes Wisdom as a mother (see text note d); cf. Prov 8.32; Wis 7.12; Lk 13.34; it also occurs in Philo’s
writings and in Gnostic texts.
24.19–22 Wisdom’s invitation to her feast. On Wisdom’s fruit, see 1.16–17; 6.19; 15.3; Prov 8.19; 9.2, 5.
24.22 Will not be put to shame. This verse is the culmination of the preceding honor/shame discourses.
24.23–34 Ben Sira acknowledges that personified wisdom is a metaphor for the wisdom available in both the Mosaic law (vv. 23–29) and his own instruction (vv. 30–34).
24.23–29 The wisdom of the Torah is unfathomable.
24.23 The express identification of Wisdom with the Torah is given in prose, not poetry, an extremely odd feature of this transition between the poem and its interpretation. It is the earliest statement of this kind in Jewish literature; but cf. Deut 4.5–8. In later rabbinic tradition the identification of wisdom and Torah was common and even the mythology of personified wisdom was transferred to the Torah. The reference to the book of the covenant is uncertain, but cf. Ex 24.7. For the law that Moses commanded, see Deut 33.4.
24.25–27 The rivers are those flowing from the garden of Eden (Gen 2.10–14), plus the Jordan and the Nile.
24.27 Pours forth like the Nile, a simile derived from Egyptian lore about the first cataract (Elephantine, modern Aswan) as the “source” of the Nile and its periodic inundations. The principal temple of Isis was located at Philae, an island at the first cataract. See 24.30–31 and the image of pour out in 24.33. The metaphor is used of wisdom (1.9), the scribe (39.6), the Lord’s blessing (39.22), Solomon’s wisdom (47.14–15), and Ben Sira’s own instruction (50.27).
24.28–29 On the limits of human understanding, a theme related to that of hidden wisdom, see 1.6.
24.28 The first man, a continuation of the image of Eden from vv. 25–26.
24.30–34 Ben Sira assumes the voice of personified wisdom.
24.30–31 The fluvial metaphor used also of Wisdom above connects Ben Sira’s teaching with Wisdom’s.
24.32 Make instruction shine forth, an expression of Ben Sira’s desire, perhaps in the awareness that his program was new. It counters the skepticism expressed in works like Ecclesiastes. On the Torah as light, cf. Ps 119.105; Prov 4.18; 6.23. On wisdom as light, see Wis 7.26, 29.
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