Sirach vs. Ben Sira

The Book of Ben Sira was written in Hebrew by a Jewish scribe around 180 BCE.  Jews (well, the Jews who could read) read and ascribed authority to it until the early Middle Ages.  The Cairo Geniza contains several manuscript copies.  And then it kind of disappears from the Jewish bookshelf.  In a Greek translation, though, made by Ben Sira’s grandson, the book made its way into the Christian biblical (to some) collection known as the Apocrypha.  It is commonly used by the Catholic Church in particular.

Several years ago, I was asked to prepare a commentary on Ben Sira from a Jewish perspective, one that took seriously the connections between the book and later rabbinic writings.  There was already a commentary that went in this direction, but it was only in Hebrew.  As I was working on this commentary I published a short (and accessible) article called, “The Wisdom of Ben Sira: How Jewish?“

That commentary is finally out, as part of The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, edited by Jonathan Klawans and Lawrence Wills (Oxford University Press, 2020, pp. 427-498).  I am now using the volume for an adult education course, and for those considering doing such a thing, it teaches very well.  I am very grateful to the editors for their work on this volume, and helping me to improve my own contribution.

I spent several good years getting to know Ben Sira.  He’s definitely worth a look!