Search Results

The date and origin of Proverbs 1-9 are difficult to pin down, but its influence can be identified clearly in some subsequent Jewish literature (most notably Ben Sira and certain texts from Qumran). The imagery of the work is never reproduced in full, but elements of it are developed on the basis of an understanding close to that presented in this study. Proverbs 1-9 provides a link between these later texts and the other biblical wisdom texts; it also raises interesting questions about the way in which wisdom literature's focus upon the individual corresponds to the more corporate Deuteronomic literature in the post-exilic period. Proverbs 1-9 is an instruction, but that is not the key factor for determining its nature and meaning.

This chapter asks how we might conceptualize texts that do not appear to be the originary intellectual property of a single author but undergo development over time. The book of Ben Sira seems unique among other early Jewish texts, which are either anonymous or pseudepigraphic, because the author has used his own name. But Ben Sira is neither an author nor a book: both the text’s dynamic compositional history and its own literary self-presentation show that the tradition is not understood to either originate or end with the work of its tradent. The images and metaphors the ancient writer has used to describe his work—water, rays of light, and gleanings of a harvest—suggest that the scribal task is conceptualized as neither original nor complete. The chapter describes the textual production of ancient scribes as “projects”—open-ended and multigenerational—rather than “books”: the literary metaphors ancient writers themselves used to imagine their own work point to, even enable, the complex bibliographic histories of their texts.

This chapter provides an introduction to the social, cultural, and historical context of Ben Sira's work as a trainer of the youth of the Jewish elite in Jerusalem, as well as to the essential contours and content of Ben Sira's curriculum. As a respected voice who left his teaching to posterity in writing, and who was clearly read among Essenes and Pharisees (and oft quoted in rabbinic literature), Ben Sira was in a prime position to enter the streams of Jewish tradition that would influence Judean and Galilean youths brought up in the synagogues. The evidence for the impact of Ben Sira's teaching on the sayings of Jesus, particularly in regard to forgiveness, almsgiving, and other facets of piety, and upon the teaching of James, particularly in regard to proper care in speech and the question of human responsibility, is explored in detail. Points of disagreement are also examined.

Chapter three addresses the texts of the Apocrypha related to Jewish wisdom. In ancient Israel wisdom was associated with Proverbs and the education of elite males, especially scribes. But there were important developments in wisdom, each phase expanding on the previous one without rendering it obsolete. The wisdom texts of the Apocrypha are analyzed both in terms of how they fit within the earlier history of wisdom genres, and how they reflect the changes of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Theological themes such as revelation are expanded within these texts, and social issues such as gender, class, and Jewish identity come into sharper focus. Wisdom is more present as a female figure and is at times a cosmic savior figure or involved in creation (similar to Isis). Wisdom is also identified with law (Ben Sira and Baruch), and is seen as a force in Israelite history (Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon). In these texts Wisdom is also personified as Woman Wisdom. Texts treated here are Ben Sira (or Sirach), Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, Letter (or Epistle) of Jeremiah, Fourth Maccabees, and Fourth Baruch (or Paralipomena of Jeremiah).

This chapter presents an essay on the covenant and law in Ben Sira. It explores the wisdom of Ben Sira in the context of biblical covenant theology, the wisdom and Torah in Ben Sira, the covenants of the Fathers from Noah to Jacob/Israel, and the role of Moses as transmitter and teacher of God's instruction. It also examines the priestly covenant with Aaron and Phinehas, David's covenant in the shadow of the priestly covenant, and the Law of Creation and the Law of Sinai.

Configurations of friendship in the second century BCE wisdom book Ben Sira are considered and compared to the representation of friendship in earlier biblical texts. In addition, the possibility of Greek influence on Ben Sira’s ideas about friendship is explored.

While much scholarship has been concerned with the role of the scribal hand in the formation of texts, this chapter takes a new approach by assessing the scribal body of Ben Sira. The embodied actions of the scribal figure involve daily prayer which is understood to activate the spirit of wisdom and the ability to teach. Contemporary neurocognitive theory that understands the Self as a process helps to situate the scribe in relation to these practices of “lived religion.” Cultural values, especially honor and shame, also shape the scribal self in his larger communal engagement. The sage teaches his students to emulate his pious practices, to learn and augment wisdom, resulting in the expanding corpus of Sirach. The book of Sirach can thus be understood as the ongoing enactment of scribal teaching and training rather than the synchronic textual product of a single author.

Surveys the limited evidence that is available for the political situation in Judah during the Ptolemaic period. The sources examined are the Yehud coins, an excerpt from Hecataeus of Abdera that is preserved in Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, 40. 3. 1–8, Rainer papyrus 24552, Josephus, Antiquities xii, the Letter of Aristeas, and the Wisdom of Ben Sira 50. Although the evidence is only indirect, it suggests that the power of the high priesthood would have been limited by the Ptolemaic administrative structures and by the emergence of a powerful, unofficial lay group of aristocracy.

This chapter considers the time and place of the rise of repentance. Moving from Greek sources to late Second Temple, early Christian, and rabbinic literatures, it argues that there is, in fact, a genetic relationship between the representations of repentance found therein, locating its origins in Hellenistic moral philosophy. The argument focuses on how, in these various formulations, repentance functions as a technology of the self. It brings into being a shared notion of the human based on concerns for interiority, autonomy, moral transformation, and pedagogy. The formative place of repentance in early Judaism and Christianity corresponds to a period of governmentality in which these emerging religions must enable conversion and, at the same time, ensure compliance, a solidity of identity. The discourse around repentance develops the notion that a transformation in identity can be effectively enacted—that “repentance” exists—and puts it forward as a tool for self-monitoring.

The Torah in the Second Temple period included narratives as well as laws. Several compositions Aramaic compositions of the early Hellenistic period retell the stories to convey ethical messages. Some psalms, and also Ben Sira, treat the Torah as a source of wisdom

The late-modern objection to a dominating subject can be re-cast as the problem of presence, any forcing of the presence of the human self and an omnipresent God on the world. Nevertheless, the late-modern mood shows a quest for a ‘place’ — especially in the chora of Heidegger, Derrida, and Julia Kristeva — which is not a literal place but which keeps us alert to the other and to promise of the new. In Job 28, Baruch 3-4, and Ben Sira 1:1-10 wisdom is portrayed as hidden due to its expanse and complexity, not as a phase of a supposed ‘wisdom myth’ in which Wisdom is hidden in some literal place. Thus, participation in God can be expressed as entering an open space, or a non-literal ‘place’ which God opens up in the perichoresis of divine relations. To have a place in the world is to live, through wisdom and in God, as present to others without imposing our presence on them.

This conclusion discusses the implications of the previous chapters that address Samuel's diverse characteristics in earlier biblical sources, and how later writers read, interpreted, and applied the collective presentation of Samuel both within and beyond the Hebrew Bible. Citing the Persian period texts such as Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles, it shows that the picture of Samuel set a precedent for how subsequent writers could draw from this earlier tradition and apply it to their own purposes. It suggests that this trend persists with Hellenistic texts such as Ben Sira and in the Roman period sources. Finally, it shows how the emergence of new traditions recast Samuel in the image that best suited the needs of the writers and their audiences.

In order to identify the origins of the modern scholarly Wisdom tradition, this chapter evaluates the purported early “vestiges” of the category. These are (1) early views on the structure and order of the canonical books; (2) the association of a group of books with Solomon; (3) the ancient recognition of shared traits between books; and (4) the title Wisdom applied to several texts. This evidence does not, however, justify the common assertion that the Wisdom category has an ancient pedigree. To the degree that a category approaching the modern one existed at all, its contents and definition differed significantly, making it both quantitatively and qualitatively different from the current category. This indicates that Wisdom as we know it is instead a modern invention, and the accuracy of its depiction of ancient phenomena therefore merits more careful scrutiny than it has yet received.

This chapter provides information on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament (OT) by focusing on several biblical persons including Job, Ben Sira, and Solomon. Wisdom literature reflects a general orientation to human life, and pictures individual persons in their everyday existence in a world created by God. The Book of Job tells the story of a saintly person who was tested by God through unexpected and unmerited suffering. He loses his weight, posterity, health, and social life. This book also relates his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, and finally a response from God. Moreover, Sirach is considered as the most extensive example of Jewish wisdom literature. Wisdom appears at the beginning of Sirach (1: 1–30), at the halfway mark (24: 1–34), and at the end (51: 1–27). Lastly, the Wisdom of Solomon deals with retribution for good and evil, and the effects of immortality of Sophia as well.

This article traces the developments in the memory of the Judahite king Hezekiah. In the Annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Hezekiah is remembered as a king who was ready to act pragmatically in order to save his royal city of Jerusalem. The memory of Hezekiah in the Book of Kings has three dimensions: a clever, pious and yet heroic king. In the Book of Chronicles, the memory of Hezekiah is focussed on his cultic measures. The Book of Ben Sira – Ecclesiasticus – presents him as a hero of a faithful community. In modern cultural memory, Hezekiah is primarily connected with the symbol of the sundial.

The conclusion provides a summary of the key findings of the book, including major points at which the extra-biblical literature explored here has exercised a positive, formative influence upon the sayings and self-understanding of Jesus and the teachings of James and Jude.