SIRACH 138 138 SIRACH (Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach) Introduction The names by which this book is known reflect something of its origin and history. Sirach is the name of the author, Jesus son of Eleazar son of Sirach (50.27), in Hebrew, Yeshua be El-azar ben Sira. Although the book was highly regarded in rabbinic literature and even cited in the Talmud, it did not achieve canonical status. The early Christian church, however, did consider it canonical. Although originally it was titled "The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach" in Greek and Old Latin manuscripts, many manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate referred to it as "Ecclesiasticus," that is, "the Church's book." The Protestant reformers, in keeping with their practice of conforming the Christian Old Testament to the book deemed canonical in the Hebrew scriptures, relegated it to the Apocrypha. Because the book was not canonical in Judaism, the original Hebrew text was lost to the western world from about 400 to 1900 CE; the book survived in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and other translations. Since about 1900 CE fragmentary copies of the Hebrew, dating from antiquity to the Middle Ages, have been discovered in various places: Qumran, Masada, and the Geniza (i.e., storage room) of a medieval Cairo synagogue. In this way two-thirds of the Hebrew text has been recovered. The translation here is one of a critically established text, using both Hebrew and other witnesses to the original. The reader will occasionally find a slightly different verse numbering from that in traditional renderings, since the NRSV follows the numbering of the critical text edited by J. Ziegler. Ben Sira composed his work in Jerusalem sometime before 180 BCE (see his description in 50.1-24 of Simon II, high priest from 219-196). Thus he wrote before the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes
SIRACH (Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach)
Introduction The names by which this book is known reflect
something of its origin and history. Sirach is the name of the
author, Jesus son of Eleazar son of Sirach (50.27), in Hebrew,
Yeshua be El-azar ben Sira. Although the book was highly regarded
in rabbinic literature and even cited in the Talmud, it did not
achieve canonical status. The early Christian church, however, did
consider it canonical. Although originally it was titled "The
Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach" in Greek and Old Latin manuscripts,
many manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate referred to it as
"Ecclesiasticus," that is, "the Church's book." The Protestant
reformers, in keeping with their practice of conforming the
Christian Old Testament to the book deemed canonical in the Hebrew
scriptures, relegated it to the Apocrypha. Because the book was not
canonical in Judaism, the original Hebrew text was lost to the
western world from about 400 to 1900 CE; the book survived in
Greek, Latin, Syriac, and other translations. Since about 1900 CE
fragmentary copies of the Hebrew, dating from antiquity to the
Middle Ages, have been discovered in various places: Qumran,
Masada, and the Geniza (i.e., storage room) of a medieval Cairo
synagogue. In this way two-thirds of the Hebrew text has been
recovered. The translation here is one of a critically established
text, using both Hebrew and other witnesses to the original. The
reader will occasionally find a slightly different verse numbering
from that in traditional renderings, since the NRSV follows the
numbering of the critical text edited by J. Ziegler. Ben Sira
composed his work in Jerusalem sometime before 180 BCE (see his
description in 50.1-24 of Simon II, high priest from 219-196). Thus
he wrote before the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV
Epiphanes
