V. The original Language of the Book. — The translator of this work into Greek most distinctly declares in his preface that it was written in Hebrew, and St. Jerome assures us that he had seen the Hebrew original (vide supra, section 3). That by the term
῾Åâñáúóôß
is meant Hebrew, and not Aramaean, is evident from the numerous quotations made from this book both in the Talmud and the Midrashim. Compare
Ben-Sira.
Talmud and Midrashim.
Chapter 3:20
Chagiga, 13; Bereshith Rab. 10.
Chapter 4
Sanhed. 10:100; Yebamoth, 63, b; Erub. 65, a.
Chapter 7:34
Derek Erets, 19, c. 4.
Chapter 9:8
Sanhed. 100, b; Yebamnoth, 63. Chapter 9:12 (Syriac) Aboth, 1:5. Chapter 11:27
Je. Berach. 29, a; Nazir, 18, a; Beresh. Rab. 78, b.
Chapter 11:27
Sanhed. 100.
Chapter 13:15
Baba Kama, 92, b.
Chapter 13:25
Bereshith Rabba, 82.
Chapter 13:31
Bereshith Rabba, 64, b.
Chapter 14:11
Erubin, 54, a.
Chapter 14:17
Erubin, 71.
Chapter 15:8
Pesachim, 66; Erubin, 55, a.
Chapter 18:23
Tanchuma Vayikra, 41, b.
Chapter 25:3, 4
Pesachim, 113.
Chapter 25:13
Sabbath, 11, a.
Chapter 26:1
Sanhed. 100; Yebamoth, 63, b.
Chapter 26:20
Nida, 70.
Chapter 27:9
Baba Kama, 92, b.
Chapter 28:14
Vayikra Rab. 153, a.
Chapter 30:21
Sanhed. 100, b.
Chapter 30:25
Yebamoth, 63, b.
Chapter 38:1
Sanhed. 41; Taanith, 9, a; Shemoth. R, 106, b.
Chapter 38:4, 8
Beresh. Rab. S, a; Yalkut Job, 148.
Chapter 38:16-23
Moed Katon, 27.
Chapter 40:28
Betza. 32, b; Yalkut Job, 149.
Chapter 42:9, 10
Sanhedrin, 100, b.
By some writers, however, it is thought that the Sentences of Ben-Sirach, cited in the Talmud (Sanhed. Gem. 11:42; Bereschith Rabba, 8, f. 10; Baba Kama f. 92, c. 2), and published in Latin by Paul Fagius (1542), and in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Latin by Drusius (1597), though so similar to those in Ecclesiasticus, are, upon the whole, a different work (Eichhorn's and Bertholdt's Introductions).
Almost all of these quotations are in Hebrew, though the works in which they are found are in Aramaan, thus showing beyond doubt that the book of Ben-Sira was written in genuine Hebrew. Besides, some of the blunders in the Greek can only be accounted for from the fact that the original was Hebrew. Thus, for example, in 24:25 we read, "He maketh knowledge to come forth as light, as Gihon in the days of vintage," where the parallelism
Ãçώí῟
âַéçåֹï
(Gen_2:13), whereby the Nile was designated in later times, which the Sept. also understands by
ùַׁéçåֹø
(Jer_2:18), shows that
ώò öώò
in the first hemistich originated from the translator's mistaking the Hebrew
ëéàåø
like a stream, for
ëàéø
, like light. Compare also 49:9, which is most unintelligible in the Greek through the translator's mistaking the Hebrew
áæéí
for
áæøí
Bishop Lowth, indeed, went so far as to assert that the translator "seems to have numbered the words, and exactly to have preserved their order, so that, were it literally and accurately to be retranslated, I have very little doubt that, for the most part, the original diction would be recovered." The learned prelate has actually retranslated chapter 24 into Hebrew (Hebrew Poet. Lecture 24, Oxford ed. 1821, page 254). This retranslation is also printed by Fritzsche, who has added some corrections of his own, and who also gives a translation of chapter 1.
VI. The Greek and other Translations of this Book. — The Greek translation incorporated in the Sept. was made by the grandson of the author (
ὀ ðÜððïò ìïõ É᾿çóïῦò
), who tells us that he came from Palestine into Egypt in his thirty-eighth year, "in the reign of Euergetes" (
ἐí ôῷ ὀãäüῳ êáὶ ôñéáêïóôῷ ἔôåé ἐðὶ ôïῦ Å
ù
åñãÝôïõ âáóéëåùò
). But there were two kings who have borne this name — Euergetes I, son and successor of Ptolemy II, Philadelphus, B.C. 247-222, and Euergetes II, i.e., Ptolemy VII, known by the nickname Physcon, the brother of Ptolemy VI, B.C. 145-116, and the question is, which of these two is meant? Now, if Ben-Sira wrote B.C. cir. 290-280, when an old man, and if we take
ὀ ðÜððïò ìïõ
to mean great-grandfather, a sense which it frequently has, and that the translator was born after the death of his illustrious ancestor, his arrival in Egypt in his thirty-eighth year would be B.C. cir. 230, i.e., in the reign of Euergetes I. On the other hand, the manner in which the translator speaks of the Alexandrine version of the Old Testament, and the familiarity which he shows with its language (e.g. 44:16,
Å᾿íὼ÷ ìåôåôÝèç
, Gen_5:24; comp. Linde, ap. Eichhorn, pages 41, 42), is scarcely consistent with a date so early as the middle of the third century. Winer (Deutr. Sirac. atate, Erlang. 1832) maintains that Simon the Just is the person referred to, but that it is not necessary to conclude that the author was his contemporary. He thinks that, although the grammatical construction rather requires
ἔôåé ôῷ ἐðὶ ôïῦ Å
ù
åñãÝôïõ
to refer to the age of the monarch's reign, Euergetes the Second was the king in whose reign the translation was made, and that the canon could not have been yet closed under the reign of the first Euergetes, as implied in the preface — "the law, the prophets, and the other books." As there appears to be no special reason for the translator's reference to his own age, the date has been taken to allude to that of the reigning Ptolemy by many critics since Eichhorn, e.g. by Bruch, Palfrey, Davidson, Ewald, Fritzsche, etc. The "thirty-eighth year of his reign," although not applicable to the first Euergetes, may refer to the second, if his regency be included. According to this, which De Wette conceives the most probable hypothesis, the translator would have lived B.C. 130, and the author B.C. 180. But if, with most interpreters, the chronological datum in question refers to the translator's own age, then the grandson of the author was already past middle-age when he came to Egypt; and if his visit took place early in the reign of Ptolemy Physcon, it is quite possible that the book itself was written while the name and person of the last of "the men of the great synagogue" was still familiar to his countrymen. Even if the date of the book be brought somewhat lower than the times of Simon the Just, the importance of the position which that functionary occupied in the history of the Jews would be a sufficient explanation of the distinctness of his portraiture; and the political and social troubles to which the book alludes (2:6, 12; 36, sq.) seem to point to the disorders which marked the transference of Jewish allegiance from Egypt to Syria rather than to the period of prosperous tranquility which was enjoyed during the supremacy of the earlier Ptolemies. On the whole, therefore, we may conclude that the book was probably written B.C. cir. 200, and translated B.C. cir. 140.
The present state of this translation, however, is very deplorable; the text as well as the MSS. are greatly disfigured by numerous interpolations, omissions, and transpositions. The Old Latin version, which Jerome adopted in the Vulgate without correcting it, was made from this Greek translation, and, besides being barbarous in style, is also greatly mutilated, and in many instances cannot be harmonized with its original. Even in the first two chapters the following words occur which are found in no other part, of the Vulgate: defunctio (1:13), religiositas (1:17, 18, 26), compartior (1:24), inhonoratio (1:38), obductio (2:2; 5:1, 10), receptibilis (2:5). The Syriac alone is made direct from the Hebrew, and contains a quotation made by Joseben-Jochanan about 150 B.C. (comp. Aboth, 1:5 with Ben-Sira 9:12), which the secondary versions have not, because it was dropped from the Greek. Notwithstanding the ill treatment and the changes which this version has been subjected to, it is still one of the best auxiliaries for the restoration of the old text. The Arabic seems to have been made from the Syriac; whilst the old English version of Coverdale, as usual, follows the Zurich Bible and the Vulgate, the Bishops' Bible again copies Coverdale; the Geneva version, as is often the case, departs from the other English version for the better. The present A.V. chiefly follows the Complutensian edition of the Greek and the Latin Vulgate. The arrangement, however, of chapters 30:25–36:17 in the Vatican and Complutensian editions is very different. The English version here follows the latter, which is supported by the Latin and Syriac versions against the authority of the Uncial MSS. The extent of the variation may be seen in the following table:
Compl., Lat., Syr, A. V.
Vat., WSS. "A, B, C."
Chapter 30:25
33:13,
ëáìðñὰ êáñäßá
,
ê
.
ô
.
ë
.
Chapter 31, 32
34, 35.
Chapter 33:16, 17,
ἠãñýðíçóá
36:1-16.
Chapter 33:10 sq.
ὡò êáëáìώìåíïò
30:25 sq.
Chapter 34, 35
31, 32.
Chapter 36:1-11,
öõëÜò É᾿áêώâ
33:1-13.
Chapter 36:12 sq
êáὶ êáôåê
-
36:17 sq.
ëçñïíüìçóáìçóá
The most important interpolations are: 1:5, 7; 18b, 21; 3:25; 4:23b; 7:26b; 10:21; 12:6c, 13:25b; 16:15, 16, 22c; 17:5, 9, 16, 17a, 18, 21, 23c, 26b; 18:2b, 3, 27c, 33c; 19:5b, 6a, 13b, 14a, 18, 19, 21, 25c; 20:3, 14b, 17b, 32; 22:9, 10, 23c; 23:3e, 4c, 5b, 28; 24:18, 24; 26:12, 26c; 26:19-27; 1, 29b.
All these passages, which occur in the A.V. and the Compl. texts, are wanting in the best MSS. The edition of the Syro-Hexaplaric MS. at Milan, which is at present reported to be in preparation (since 1858), will probably contribute much to the establishment of a sounder text.
The name of the Greek translator is unknown. He is commonly supposed to have borne the same name as his grandfather, but this tradition rests only on conjecture or misunderstanding (Jerome, Synops. S. Script. printed as a Prologue in the Compl. ed. and in the A.V.).
VII. Canonicity. — Though this book has been quoted in the Jewish Church as early as B.C. 150 and 100, by Jose ben-Jochanan (Aboth, 1:5) and Simon ben-Shetach (Nazis, Gen_5:3), and references to it are dispersed through the Talmud and Midrashim (aide sup. section 5), yet these latter declare most distinctly that it is not canonical. Thus Yadaim, c. 2, says the book of Ben-Sira, and all the books written from its time and afterwards, are not canonical. We also learn from this remark that Ben-Sira is the oldest of all apocryphal books, thus confirming the date assigned to it in section 4. Again, the declaration made by R. Akiba, that he who studies uncanonical books will have no portion in the world to come (Mishna, Sanhed. 10:1), is explained by the Jeremiah Talmud to mean the books of Ben-Sira and Ben-Laanah (comp. the Midrash on Coheleth 12:12). It was never included by the Jews among their Scriptures; for though it is quoted in the Talmud, and at times like the Kethubim, yet the study of it was forbidden, and it was classed among "the outer books"
ñְôָøַéí çַòåֹðַéí
, that is, probably, those which were not admitted into the Canon (Dukes, Rabb. Blumenlese, page 24 sq.).
Allusions to this book have been supposed to be not unfrequently discernible in the New Testament (compare, especially, Sir_33:13; Rom_9:21; Rom_11:19; Luk_12:19-20; Luk_5:11; Jam_1:19, etc.; 24:17, 18; Mat_11:28-29; Joh_4:13-14; Joh_6:35, etc.). The earliest clear coincidence with the contents of the book occurs in the epistle of Barnabas (c. 19 = Sir_4:31; compare Const. Apost. 7:11), but in this case the parallelism consists in the thought and not in the words, and there is no mark of quotation. There is no sign of the use of the book in Justin Martyr, which is the more remarkable, as it offers several thoughts congenial to his style. The first distinct quotations occur in Clement of Alexandria; but from the end of the second century the book was much used and cited with respect, and in the same terms as the canonical Scriptures; and its authorship was often assigned to Solomon, from the similarity which it presented to his writings (August. De Cura pro Mort. 18). Clement speaks of it continually as Scripture (Pad. 1:8, § 62; 2:2, § 34; 5, § 46; 8, § 69, etc.), as the work of Solomon (Strom. 2:5, § 24), and as the voice of the great Master (
ðáéäáãùãüò
, Pad. 2:10, § 98). Origen cites passages with the same formula as the canonical books (
ãÝãñáðôáé
, in Johann. 32, § 14; in Mat_16:1-28, § 8), as Scripture (Comm. in Matthew § 44; in Ep. ad Rom_9:1-33, § 17, etc.), and as the utterance of "the divine word" (c. Cels. 8:50). The other writers of the Alexandrine school follow the same practice. Dionysius calls its words "divine oracles" (Frag. de Nat. 3, page 1258, ed. Migne), and Peter Martyr quotes it as the work of "the Preacher" (Frag. 1, § 5, page 515, ed. Migne). The passage quoted from Tertullian (De exhort. cast. 2, "Sicut scriptum est: Ecce posui ante te bonum et malum; gustati enim de arbore agnitionis," etc.; compare Sir_15:17, Vulg.) is not absolutely conclusive; but Cyprian constantly brings forward passages from the book as Scripture (De bono pat. 17; De mortalitate, 9, § 13), and as the work of Solomon (Ep. 65:2). The testimony of Augustine sums up briefly the result which follows from these isolated authorities. He quotes the book constantly himself as the work of a prophet (Serm. 39:1), the word of God (Sermon 87:11), "Scripture" (Lib. de Nat. 33), and that even in controversy (c. Jul. Pelag. 5:36); but he expressly notices that it was not in the Hebrew Canon (De Cura pro Maort. 18), "though the Church, especially of the West, had received it into authority" (De Civit. 17:20; compare Speculum, 3:1127, ed. Paris). Jerome; in like manner (Praef. in Sap. Sir. § 7), contrasts the book with "the canonical Scriptures" as "doubtful," while they are "sure," and in another place (Prol. Galeat.) he says that it "is not in the Canon," and again (Prol. in Libr. Sol.), that it should be read " for the instruction of the people (plebis), not to support the authority of ecclesiastical doctrines." The book is cited by Hippolytus (Opp. p. 192) and by Eusebius (Opp. 4:21, etc.), but is not quoted by Irenaeus; and it is not contained in the Canon of Melito, Origen, Cyril, Laodicea, Hilary, or Rufinus. SEE CANON.
But while the book is destitute of the highest canonical authority, it is a most important monument of the religious state of the Jews at the period of its composition. As an expression of Palestinian theology it stands alone; for there is no sufficient reason for assuming Alexandrine interpolations, or direct Alexandrine influence (Gfrorer, Philo, 2:18 sq.). The translator may, perhaps, have given an Alexandrine coloring to the doctrine, but its great outlines are unchanged (comp. Dahne, Relig. Philos. 2:129 sq.). The conception of God as Creator, Preserver, and Governor is strictly conformable to the old Mosaic type; but, at the same time, his mercy is extended to all mankind (18:11-13). Little stress is laid upon the spirit world, either good (48:21; 45:2; 39:28?) or evil (21:27?), and the doctrine of a resurrection fades away (14:16; 17:27, 28; 44:14, 15. Yet comp. 48:11). In addition to the general hope of restoration (36:1, etc.), one trait only of a Messianic faith is preserved, in which the writer contemplates the future work of Elias (48:10). The ethical precepts are addressed to the middle class (Eichhorn, Einl. page 44 sq.). The praise of agriculture (7:15) and medicine (38:1 sq.), and the constant exhortations to cheerfulness, seem to speak of a time when men's thoughts were turned inwards with feelings of despondency and perhaps (Dukes, u.s. page 27 sq.) of fatalism. At least the book marks the growth of that anxious legalism which was conspicuous in the sayings of the later doctors. Life is already imprisoned in' rules: religion is degenerating into ritualism: knowledge has taken refuge in schools (compare Ewald, Gesch. d. Volkes Isr. 4:298 sq.). — Kitto, s.v.; Smith, s.v.
VIII. Commentaries, etc. — Special exegetical works which have appeared on the whole of this book are the following, of which the chief are designated by an asterisk prefixed: Rabanus Maurus, In Ecclesiasticuna (in his Opp.); Anon. Beschreib. u. Uebers. (in Lorsbach's Archiv, 2:11 sq.); Alexander, De libro Ecclus. (in his Hist. Ecclesiastes 3:690); Bengel, Muthmassliche Quelle, etc. (in Eichhorn's Bibliothek, 7:852-64); De Sacy, L'Ecclesiastique (in his Sainte Bible, 16); Bossuet, Liber Ecclus. (in his OEuvres, 22:1 sq.); Couz, Bemerkangen (in Henke's Hus. 2:177-243); *Camerarius, Sententiae J.S. (Lips. 1570, 8vo); Sapientia J.S. (Lips. 1570, 8vo); Striegel, in his Libri Sapientiae (Lpz. 15,5, 12mo), page 277 sq.; Drusius, Ecclus. interpretatus (Franecker, 1596, 4to); Hoschel, Sap. Sirachi (Augsb. 1604, 4to; also in the Crit. Sacri, 5); *a Lapide, Commentarius (Antwerp, 1634, 1687, fol.); Stiffer, Homiliae (Lips. 1676, 4to); Calmet, Commentarius (Paris, 1707, fol.; in Latin, ed. Manse, Wirceb. 1792; 8:351 sq.); *Arnald, Crit. Commentary (Lond. 1748, fol., and often since); Koken, Das. B. Sirach (Hildesheim, 1756, 12mo); Teleus, Disquisitiones (Hafn. 1779, 8vo); Bauer, Erlaut. m. Anmerk. (Bamberg, 1781, 1793, 8vo); Onymus, Weisheit J.S. (Wtirtzburg, 1788, 8vo); Sonntag, De Jes. Siracide (Riga, 1792, 4to); *Linde, Sententiae Jes. Sir. (Danz. 1795, 4to); also Glaubens a. Sittenlehre Jes. Sir. (Lpz. 1782, 1795, 8vo); Zange, Denkspruche Jes. Sir. (Amst. 1797, 8vo); Feddersen, Jes. Sir. ubers. (Anst. 1797, 1827, 8vo); BenSeeb,
çָëְîִú éְäåֹùֻׁòִ
,etc. (8vo, Breslau, 1798; Vienna, 1807, 1818, 1828); 5Bretschneider, Lib. Jesu Sirae (Ratisbon, 1806, 8vo); Gaab, Diss. exegetica (Tubing. 1809, 4to); Luther, Das Buch J.S. (Lpz. 1815, 1816, 12mo); Anon. Jes. S. bearbeit. (Lpz. 1826, 8vo); Howard, Ecclus. tr. from the Vulg. (Lond. 1827, 8vo); Anon. Sirach, ein Spiegel (Kreuznach, 1829, 8vo); Van Gilse, Commentatio (Gran. 1832, 4to); Grimm, Commentar (Lpz. 1837, 8vo); Gutmann, Weisheits-Spruch J.S. (Altona, 1841, 8vo); Dulk,
ñֵôֶø áֶּïàּñַéøָà
(Warsaw, 1843, 8vo); Stern, Weisheitsspruche J.S. ('Wien, 1844, 8vo); Hill, Translation (in the Monthly Religious Mag. Bost. 185253); *Fritzsche, Weish. J.S. erklaut u. ubers. (as part of the Kurtzg. Exag. Handb. z.d. Apokr. Lpz. 1860, 8vo); Cassel, Uebers. (Berl. 1866, 8vo). See also Rabiger, Ethice Apoc. V.T. (Vratislaw, 1838); Bruch, Weisheits- Lehre der Hebraer (Strasb. 1851); Geiger, in the Zeitschr. d. Morgenl. Gesellsch. 1858, page 536 sq.; Horowitz, Das Buch Sirach (Bresl. 1865). SEE APOCRYPHA.