and all his creatures do his will.e
16The sun looks down on everything with its light,
and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
17The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones
to recount all his marvelous works,
which the Lord the Almighty has established
so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
18He searches out the abyss and the human heart;
he understands their innermost secrets.
For the Most High knows all that may be known;
he sees from of old the things that are to come.f
19He discloses what has been and what is to be,
and he reveals the traces of hidden things.
20No thought escapes him,
and nothing is hidden from him.
21He has set in order the splendors of his wisdom;
he is from all eternity one and the same.
Nothing can be added or taken away,
and he needs no one to be his counselor.
22How desirable are all his works,
and how sparkling they are to see!g
23All these things live and remain forever;]
each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.h
24All things come in pairs, one opposite the other,
and he has made nothing incomplete.
25Each supplements the virtues of the other.
Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?
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a Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
b Heb: Gk to shame before the great multitude
c Heb: Gk lacks See…house
d Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
e Syr Compare Heb: most Gk witnesses lack and all…will
f Heb: Gk he sees the sign(s) of the age
g Meaning of Gk uncertain
h Heb: Gk forever for every need, and all are obedient
42.1 To find favor (honor) with everyone by showing proper shame is a succinct definition of the honor/shame system. To save face indicates that social forces may have been running against Ben Sira and his students on the things about which one should not be ashamed.
42.9–14 A reflection on the danger of falling into public disfavor through a daughter’s actions, with advice on protecting her from promiscuity. The harsh measures recommended may indicate that traditional customs were being severely challenged by the social and cultural forces of the time. Although the protection of a daughter’s virtue and the arrangement of a successful marriage for her were essential for Jewish ethnic identity and cultural independence (cf. Ezra 10), the basic concern here is with the manner in which a daughter affects her father’s honor and reputation in the Jewish community.
42.15–43.33 A hymn of praise to the Lord and his creation. It consists of a concise poem on the inscrutable knowledge and power of the creator (42.15–21) followed by a lengthy poem on the wonders of the natural order (42.22–43.26) and concludes with an invitation to join the author in singing the Lord’s praises (43.27–33).
42.15–21 The Lord is praised for his wisdom and power as revealed in his works.
42.15 By the word of the Lord alludes to the account of creation in Gen 1.1–31.
42.17 His holy ones, the members of his heavenly court, his angels. If the Lord’s angels cannot recount all his marvelous works, how much more inscrutable are they to humans? See 43.27–33.
42.18 The Most High knows everything because he sees all. The notion was basic to the thought of the Lord’s wisdom and to Ben Sira’s theodicy of divine rewards and punishments. Cf. note on 15.18. It drew upon the ancient Near Eastern system of governance, in which the king’s men were his “eyes and ears,” as well as upon a fascination with solar mythology, in which the sun represented the eye of the high god. Note the importance and role of the sun in 42.16; 43.1–5.
42.19 Time and future events are part of God’s marvelous works.
42.22–43.33 The works of the Lord are arranged in a list that begins with the sun as the highest visible creature, descends through moon, stars, and geophysical phenomena (rainbow, lightning, clouds, wind, snow, frost, ice, and dew), to end with a notice about the ocean as the deep. This arrangement was typical of onomastica, or lists of natural phenomena. Cf. the similar arrangement in Job 38.1–38. In Job the list of astrophysical phenomena is complemented by a list of living creatures in 38.39–41.34.
SIRACH 43
The Splendor of the Sun
1The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,
as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.
2The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises
what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.
3At noon it parches the land,
and who can withstand its burning heat?
4A man tendinga a furnace works in burning heat,
but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains;
it breathes out fiery vapors,
and its bright rays blind the eyes.
5Great is the Lord who made it;
at his orders it hurries on its course.
The Splendor of the Moon
6It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,b
governing the times, their everlasting sign.
7From the moon comes the sign for festal days,
a light that wanes when it completes its course.
8The new moon, as its name suggests, renews itself;c
how marvelous it is in this change,
a beacon to the hosts on high,
shining in the vault of the heavens!
The Glory of the Stars and the Rainbow
9The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,
a glittering array in the heights of the Lord.
10On the orders of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;
they never relax in their watches.
11Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it;
it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
12It encircles the sky with its glorious arc;
the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.
The Marvels of Nature
13By his command he sends the driving snow
and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.
14Therefore the storehouses are opened,
and the clouds fly out like birds.
15In his majesty he gives the clouds their strength,
and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
17d The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth;
16when he appears, the mountains shake.
At his will the south wind blows;
17e so do the storm from the north and the whirlwind.
He scatters the snow like birds flying down,
and its descent is like locusts alighting.
18The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness,
and the mind is amazed as it falls.
19He pours frost over the earth like salt,
and icicles form like pointed thorns.
20The cold north wind blows,
and ice freezes on the water;
it settles on every pool of water,
and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
21He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness,
and withers the tender grass like fire.
22A mist quickly heals all things;
the falling dew gives refreshment from the heat.
23By his plan he stilled the deep
and planted islands in it.
24Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers,
and we marvel at what we hear.
25In it are strange and marvelous creatures,
all kinds of living things, and huge sea-monsters.
26Because of him each of his messengers succeeds,
and by his word all things hold together.
2
7We could say more but could never say enough;
let the final word be: “He is the all.”
28Where can we find the strength to praise him?
For he is greater than all his works.
29Awesome is the Lord and very great,
and marvelous is his power.
30Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,
for he surpasses even that.
When you exalt him, summon all your strength,
and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.
31Who has seen him and can describe him?
Or who can extol him as he is?
32Many things greater than these lie hidden,
for If have seen but few of his works.
33For the Lord has made all things,
and to the godly he has given wisdom.
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a Other ancient authorities read blowing upon
b Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
c Heb: Gk The month is named after the moon
d Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
e Heb: Gk The month is named after the moon
f Heb: Gk we
g This title is included in the Gk text.
43.6 Ben Sira assumes a lunar calendar. Cf. 33.8.
43.14 It was common in antiquity to imagine storehouses in the heavens, beyond the horizon, where the Lord kept the winds, clouds, and storms until he needed them. He then opened the doors and sent them out to perform their missions.
43.23 That the Lord stilled the deep is derived from an ancient myth of creation according to which God had to slay the monster of the deep, or still the chaotic waters, in order to let the dry land appear and construct upon it his house. Cf. Pss 104.24–26; 107.23–24.
43.26 This verse, which serves as a conclusion to the poem of praise for the natural order (42.22–43.26), brings together two cosmologies, mythical accounts of the ordering of the world. Messengers, all the natural phenomena as servants of the Lord who do his bidding so that the universe may stand firm (42.17). His word by which all things hold together may reflect the Stoic view of the logos (Greek, “word” or “logic”) that permeates the natural world (kosmos) as a principle of cohesion and order. It is probable that Ben Sira had the Genesis account of creation in mind, according to which God spoke the world into being, and that both mythologies were understood as explications of God words, as commands (to his “messengers”) and as expressions of rhyme and reason for the world he had in mind (“logos”). In somewhat later literatures, such as the works of Philo of Alexandria and the Gospel of John (Jn 1.1–18), the Stoic logos became the primary concept for interpreting the Genesis account.
43.27 “He is the all” may reflect Stoic philosophies of the world as an organism generated and held together by a single (divine) principle.
43.30 To praise and glorify the Lord is a demonstration of one’s own wisdom, that one has come to see how marvelous his works are despite the limitations of human capacity to plumb their mysteries. According to 15.9–10, in wisdom must praise be uttered.
43.33 A transitional verse providing a summary for the hymn to creation and pointing ahead to the hymn in praise of famous men to follow. It shows that Ben Sira intended the two poems to be taken together, now to call the works of the Lord to mind (42.15), now to sing the praises of famous men (44.1). The combination follows a recognizable pattern in certain psalms and other poems that begin with a meditation upon creation and come to focus upon the sweep of history. Cf. Pss 135; 136.
SIRACH 44
HYMN IN HONOR OF OUR ANCESTORSg
1Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
our ancestors in their generations.
2The Lord apportioned to thema great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
3There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and made a name for themselves by their valor;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
4those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people’s lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
5those who composed musical tunes,
or put verses in writing;
6rich men endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes—
7all these were honored in their generations,
and were the pride of their times.
8Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
9But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
10But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
11their wealth will remain with their descendants,
and their inheritance with their children’s children.b
12Their descendants stand by the covenants;
their children also, for their sake.
13Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
14Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
15The assembly declaresc their wisdom,
and the congregation proclaims their praise.
Enoch
16Enoch pleased the Lord and was taken up,
an example of repentance to all generations.
Noah
17Noah was found perfect and righteous;
in the time of wrath he kept the race alive;d
therefore a remnant was left on the earth
when the flood came.
18Everlasting covenants were made with him
that all flesh should never again be blotted out by a flood.
Abraham
19Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations,
and no one has been found like him in glory.
20He kept the law of the Most High,
and entered into a covenant with him;
he certified the covenant in his flesh,
and when he was tested he proved faithful.
21Therefore the Lorde assured him with an oath
that the nations would be blessed through his offspring;
that he would make him as numerous as the dust of the earth,
and exalt his offspring like the stars,
and give them an inheritance from sea to sea
and from the Euphratesf to the ends of the earth.
Isaac and Jacob
22To Isaac also he gave the same assurance
for the sake of his father Abraham.
The blessing of all people and the covenant
23he made to rest on the head of Jacob;
he acknowledged him with his blessings,
and gave him his inheritance;
he divided his portions,
and distributed them among twelve tribes.
Moses
From his descendants the Lordg brought forth a godly man,
who found favor in the sight of all
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a Heb: Gk created
b Heb Compare Lat Syr: Meaning of Gk uncertain
c Heb: Gk Peoples declare
d Heb: Gk was taken in exchange
e Gk he
f Syr: Heb Gk River
g Gk he
44.1–51.24 A long poem eulogizing the great leaders of the people throughout the epic history of Israel. It consists of an introductory poem in praise of all the ancestors, even those who left no name (44.1–15), a series of poetic units dedicated to specific figures from Enoch to Nehemiah (44.16–49.16), and a concluding encomium, or work of praise, on the high priest Simon from Ben Sira’s own time (50.1–24). The epi
c is divided into three parts, the period during which the covenants were established, the period of the kings and their kingdoms, and the Second Temple period following the return from exile. The three periods of the epic are joined together by descriptions of the two transitional periods, one under the judges (46.1–12) and one under the leaders of the restoration (49.11–13). The hymn as a whole appears to be patterned on the model of Hellenistic encomia, eulogistic histories in commemoration of local shrines and cities, in this case with an eye toward the temple at Jerusalem. The individual units are patterned on the model of Hellenistic encomia in praise of famous persons and leaders. The encomium opened with an introduction and a mention of the person’s birth and genealogy, then went on to describe the person’s pursuits, virtues, accomplishments, and blessings, and concluded with acknowledgment of his death and memorial. Ben Sira modifies this pattern in keeping with Jewish culture and values. A leader’s election to office is more important than an account of his genealogy and pursuits. Piety counts more than personal virtues. And a leader’s deeds are not noted as heroic achievements. Instead, he is eulogized for correct performance of social and religious offices established by the covenants and consistently evaluated in keeping with the consequences of his performance as it affected the well-being of the people. His reward is the honor he received from both God (by election and favor) and the people (who sang his praises).
44.1–15 The ancestors are glorious because of their recognition by God (v. 2), their honorable achievements (vv. 3–6), their recognition by their own generations (vv. 7–8), their godliness (vv. 9–10), their legacy to their children (vv. 11–12), and their lasting name and memory (vv. 13–14).
44.3–6 The list of social roles includes several offices traditional for ancient Hebrew society, such as king and prophet, that appear in the following verses. The purpose of the list, however, is not to present a full and balanced typology of the offices, but to create a general picture of glory and honor worthy of the ancestors and characteristic for the grand tradition Ben Sira wishes to claim for the Jews. These verses are heavily weighted toward the accomplishments of the wise, the intellectuals, the creative, and the wealthy; not all the leaders praised in the following verses have all these characteristics. The epic sections of the hymn (see note on 44.1–51.24) are more concerned with the covenants underlying the social structure of Israel, the failure of the kingdoms to actualize the ideal order, and the claim that a society organized around the temple and its systems is what God originally intended for Israel. Thus patriarchs, priests, kings, and prophets dominate the history. Scribes, teachers, and sages are hardly in view.
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