Weekday

Wisdom in The Book of Sirach  – from a book by Fr Evode Beaucamp, OFM  [1]

The author of Ecclesiasticus is currently known as Sirach or Ben Sira in Hebrew. He is a scribe who was active in Jerusalem around the beginning of the second century, between 190 and 170 B.C. His work, written in Hebrew, was not known directly in the Christian tradition. Christians read it in the Greek translation made by the author’s grandson. The original text disappeared in the course of the Middle Ages. Someone discovered a manuscript by chance in 1896, which restores two-thirds of the original text.

Until the present, Israel’s Wisdom has never had to set herself in opposition or even compare herself with the wisdom of other nations. She was perfectly original; and there are some who wrongly judged her as being fundamentally and initially universal in her appeal. However Wisdom speaks solely to Israel. Neither Proverbs, Job nor Qoheleth claims to be doing anything else but encouraging the Jew to adhere personally to the Covenant, whose demands they both formulate and help him realize the consequences of non-conformity.

But now a new event, the intrusion of Hellenism, forces Judaism to clarify its position. It is no longer between wisdom and folly, i.e. between accepting or refusing the Covenant, that the Israelite will have to choose, but between fidelity to the traditions of his ancestors and the acceptance of the new gods, as dangerous as the old ones, for they would make Israel forgetful of its vocation. The influence of Greek culture, philosophy, and civilization was such that it attracted the whole Orient and even Israel had a fascination for it.

To triumph over this, Jewish thought will have to declare itself clearly; and it will not do this without making clear distinctions and opposing something very definite. No writer before him had analyzed the secrets of the heart as deeply as did Sirach, e.g. envy and avarice, revenge, pride, human respect. The delicacy of the moralist is shown by the special attention he gives to the most exquisite of human feelings: friendship. This delicacy suggested to him certain insights that always hold true on acquisition of friends. “When you gain a friend, gain him through testing, and do not trust him hastily.”  He is no less exquisite in defining modesty as the exact consciousness of one’s own worth, and which keeps one away from extreme humility and proud presumption: “Who will honor the man that dishonors his own life?” If we keep in mind that the ancient sages, Egyptian or otherwise, were not overly attracted to the virtue of humility, we shall appreciate this man’s discernment, for he seems to speak from actual experience. Does not the ancient morality of the Sages seem to have reached the vigil of the new era when the law of the Gospel will be promulgated? However the time of self-donation and the folly of the Cross has not yet arrived: the time when the disciple will be mature enough to understand the meaning of these strange words: “He who loses his soul will save it.” In fact two long centuries will separate Israel from the conclusion of the New Covenant.

[1]   Man’s Destiny in the Books of Wisdom – Evode Beaucamp, O.F.M. – Alba House – Society of St Paul – Staten Island, NY – 1970 – p 103f