HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 381
44.9 Despite the connection Ben Sira makes between a good memory and immortality, he recognizes that the memory of many pious people has not persisted, and thus they have become as though they had never been born.
44.12 The covenants, contracts or agreements between God and the patriarchs or leaders of Israel who initiated institutions and offices constitutive for the social and religious structure of Israel. Most covenants were associated with ritual occasions and their stories therefore served as charters for contemporary ritual practices. In the poem to follow, covenants are mentioned for Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-Israel, Moses, Aaron, and Phinehas from the archaic period before the entrance into the land, when the plans for Israel were being formulated, and for David from the period of the kings after Israel is located in the land.
44.16 A single bicola, alluding to Gen 4.24, is dedicated to Enoch. His significance for the poem as a whole is unclear, since he does not represent a covenant (as do the next seven figures) and is set forth as an example (something not true of the other twenty-nine figures in the poem). V. 16 is missing in the earliest Hebrew fragments from Masada as well as in the Syriac text, but it may have dropped out by a copyist’s error. Scholarly opinion is divided. Some think that the poem began with Enoch as an inclusio with 49.14. Others view him as disrupting the logic of the first part of the poem and argue that the original poem opened with Noah.
44.17–18 Noah survived the flood, and God made a covenant with him never again to destroy humankind. See Gen 6–9. That Noah was deemed righteous derives from Gen 6.9; 7.1. For the covenants and the rainbow as sign, see Gen 9.8–17.
44.19–21 Abraham is praised as the blessed father of a multitude of nations. See Gen 17.4–8.
44.20 Covenant in his flesh, circumcision. See Gen 17.9–14. When he was tested alludes to the binding of Isaac (Gen 22.1–14).
44.21 For oath and blessed, see Gen 22.15–18. A blessing established legitimacy and involved a promise of divine fulfillment.
44.22–23 The blessing passed through Isaac to Jacob, the father of the children of Israel. See Gen 17.19; 28.1–4. Jacob’s inheritance was the land (Gen 28.4).
44.23–45.5 Moses was chosen to receive the commandments and teach them to Israel.
SIRACH 45
1and was beloved by God and people,
Moses, whose memory is blessed.
2He made him equal in glory to the holy ones,
and made him great, to the terror of his enemies.
3By his words he performed swift miracles;a
the Lordb glorified him in the presence of kings.
He gave him commandments for his people,
and revealed to him his glory.
4For his faithfulness and meekness he consecrated him,
choosing him out of all humankind.
5He allowed him to hear his voice,
and led him into the dark cloud,
and gave him the commandments face to face,
the law of life and knowledge,
so that he might teach Jacob the covenant,
and Israel his decrees.
Aaron
6He exalted Aaron, a holy man like Mosesc
who was his brother, of the tribe of Levi.
7He made an everlasting covenant with him,
and gave him the priesthood of the people.
He blessed him with stateliness,
and put a glorious robe on him.
8He clothed him in perfect splendor,
and strengthened him with the symbols of authority,
the linen undergarments, the long robe, and the ephod.
9And he encircled him with pomegranates,
with many golden bells all around,
to send forth a sound as he walked,
to make their ringing heard in the temple
as a reminder to his people;
10with the sacred vestment, of gold and violet
and purple, the work of an embroiderer;
with the oracle of judgment, Urim and Thummim;
11with twisted crimson, the work of an artisan;
with precious stones engraved like seals,
in a setting of gold, the work of a jeweler,
to commemorate in engraved letters
each of the tribes of Israel;
12with a gold crown upon his turban,
inscribed like a seal with “Holiness,”
a distinction to be prized, the work of an expert,
a delight to the eyes, richly adorned.
13Before him such beautiful things did not exist.
No outsider ever put them on,
but only his sons
and his descendants in perpetuity.
14His sacrifices shall be wholly burned
twice every day continually.
15Moses ordained him,
and anointed him with holy oil;
it was an everlasting covenant for him
and for his descendants as long as the heavens endure,
to minister to the Lordd
and serve as priest and bless his people in his name.
16He chose him out of all the living
to offer sacrifice to the Lord,
incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial portion,
to make atonement for thee people.
17In his commandments he gave him
authority and statutes andf judgments,
to teach Jacob the testimonies,
and to enlighten Israel with his law.
18Outsiders conspired against him,
and envied him in the wilderness,
Dathan and Abiram and their followers
and the company of Korah, in wrath and anger.
19The Lord saw it and was not pleased,
and in the heat of his anger they were destroyed;
he performed wonders against them
to consume them in flaming fire.
20He added glory to Aaron
and gave him a heritage;
he allotted to him the best of the first fruits,
and prepared bread of first fruits in abundance;
21for they eat the sacrifices of the Lord,
which he gave to him and his descendants.
22But in the land of the people he has no inheritance,
and he has no portion among the people;
for the Lordg himself is hish portion and inheritance.
Phinehas
23Phinehas son of Eleazar ranks third in glory
for being zealous in the fear of the Lord,
and standing firm, when the people turned away,
in the noble courage of his soul;
and he made atonement for Israel.
24Therefore a covenant of friendship was established with him,
that he should be leader of the sanctuary and of his people,
that he and his descendants should have
the dignity of the priesthood forever.
25Just as a covenant was established with David
son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah,
that the king’s heritage passes only from son to son,
so the heritage of Aaron is for his descendants alone.
26And now bless the Lord
who has crowned you with glory.i
May the Lordj grant you wisdom of mind
to judge his people with justice,
so that their prosperity may not vanish,
and that their glory may endure through all their generations.
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a Heb: Gk caused signs to cease
b Gk he
c Gk him
d Gk him
e Other ancient authorities read his or your
f Heb: Gk authority in covenants of
g Gk he
h Other ancient authorities read your
i Heb: Gk lacks And…glory
j Gk he
45.2 Holy Ones are God’s angels; see 42.17.
45.3 Miracles…in the presence
of kings, the exodus. Cf. Ex 7.1–11.10. Gave him commandments, the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses. Cf. Ex 20.1–17; Deut 5.1–33.
45.4 Faithfulness and meekness. Cf. Num 12.3, 7.
45.5 Meeting God face to face in the cloud alludes to the stories of Moses on the mountain; cf. Ex 19–20; 24; 34. That he might teach alludes to Deut 4.1–5.
45.6–22 With Aaron the priesthood is established.
45.7 Everlasting covenant, the “perpetual priesthood” promised in Ex 29.9; 40.15. Cf. Sir 45.13, 15.
45.8 Clothed him in perfect splendor, elaborated in vv. 8–13, derives from Ex 28. Cf. the description of Simon in Sir 50.5–11.
45.10 Urim and Thummim. See note on 33.3.
45.14 Twice daily burnt offerings were the practice in Ben Sira’s time. Cf. Lev 6.8–15.
45.15 Ordained by Moses alludes to Lev 8.1–13; cf. Ex 28.41. To bless…in his name, possibly the blessing in Num 6.22–27; cf. Deut 10.8.
45.17 On the priest’s authority…to teach, cf. Lev 10.11; Deut 33.10; Mal 2.7.
45.18 The company of Korah alludes to the story in Num 16.1–17.15.
45.20–21 For the prescription that priests may eat the sacrifices, see Num 18.8–19.
45.22 On the Lord as Aaron’s portion, see Num 18.20.
45.23–26 Phinehas is glorified as a priest in the line of Aaron with whom the covenant of friendship (Hebrew, “peace”) was confirmed. Cf. Num 25.7–13.
45.23 Third in glory may refer to Phinehas’s being third in the sequence of the poem after Moses and Aaron or his being third in the priestly line from Aaron; cf. Num 25.10.
45.25 Mention of the covenant…with David is out of place here. Cf. 47.11. The point, however, is to link the two covenants, of kingship and priesthood, as fundamental for the ideal structure of Israel’s society. For his descendants alone restricts priestly prerogatives to Aaron’s progeny and may indicate an ideological battle for the priesthood in Ben Sira’s time between the Oniads and the Tobiads, two leading families who fought for political control of Jerusalem during the shift from Ptolemaic to Seleucid hegemony.
45.26 The sudden shift to the plural you likely indicates Ben Sira’s prayer for the contemporary high priest, Simon II (see ch. 50), and his successors.
SIRACH 46
Joshua and Caleb
1Joshua son of Nun was mighty in war,
and was the successor of Moses in the prophetic office.
He became, as his name implies,
a great savior of God’sa elect,
to take vengeance on the enemies that rose against them,
so that he might give Israel its inheritance.
2How glorious he was when he lifted his hands
and brandished his sword against the cities!
3Who before him ever stood so firm?
For he waged the wars of the Lord.
4Was it not through him that the sun stood still
and one day became as long as two?
5He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One,
when enemies pressed him on every side,
and the great Lord answered him
with hailstones of mighty power.
6He overwhelmed that nation in battle,
and on the slope he destroyed his opponents,
so that the nations might know his armament,
that he was fighting in the sight of the Lord;
for he was a devoted follower of the Mighty One.
7And in the days of Moses he proved his loyalty,
he and Caleb son of Jephunneh:
they opposed the congregation,b
restrained the people from sin,
and stilled their wicked grumbling.
8And these two alone were spared
out of six hundred thousand infantry,
to lead the peoplec into their inheritance,
the land flowing with milk and honey.
9The Lord gave Caleb strength,
which remained with him in his old age,
so that he went up to the hill country,
and his children obtained it for an inheritance,
10so that all the Israelites might see
how good it is to follow the Lord.
The Judges
11The judges also, with their respective names,
whose hearts did not fall into idolatry
and who did not turn away from the Lord—
may their memory be blessed!
12May their bones send forth new life from where they lie,
and may the names of those who have been honored
live again in their children!
13Samuel was beloved by his Lord;
a prophet of the Lord, he established the kingdom
and anointed rulers over his people.
14By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation,
and the Lord watched over Jacob.
15By his faithfulness he was proved to be a prophet,
and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer.
16He called upon the Lord, the Mighty One,
when his enemies pressed him on every side,
and he offered in sacrifice a suckling lamb.
17Then the Lord thundered from heaven,
and made his voice heard with a mighty sound;
18he subdued the leaders of the enemyd
and all the rulers of the Philistines.
19Before the time of his eternal sleep,
Samuele bore witness before the Lord and his anointed:
“No property, not so much as a pair of shoes,
have I taken from anyone!”
And no one accused him.
20Even after he had fallen asleep, he prophesied
and made known to the king his death,
and lifted up his voice from the ground
in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people.
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a Gk his
b Other ancient authorities read the enemy
c Gk them
d Heb: Gk leaders of the people of Tyre
e Gk he
46.1–10 Joshua and Caleb are praised for leading Israel into the land.
46.1 On the successor of Moses, see Deut 34.9; Josh 1.1, 5; 3.7. The prophetic office is Ben Sira’s designation for the social role of teachers, scribes, counselors, and prophets who instruct kings and priests as well as the people in the law. As his name implies refers to the meaning of Joshua in Hebrew, “The Lord is salvation.”
46.2 He lifted his hands…against, an idiom for going to war, a reference to Joshua taking the land (Josh 6–11).
46.4 The sun stood still. See Josh 10.12–14.
46.5 Hailstones. See Josh 10.11.
46.7 Proved his loyalty, by the “good report” that Joshua and Caleb brought when spying out the land (Num 14.6–10; cf. 1 Macc 2.55–56).
46.8 Of the six hundred thousand who were led out of Egypt, all perished in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb, who alone were spared and entered the land. See Num 11.21; 14.38; 26.65.
46.9 On Caleb’s inheritance, see Josh 14.6–14.
46.11–12 Some of the judges deserve to be honored, those who did not fall into idolatry. See Judg 8.27; 16.20. New life from their bones means drawing strength from their spiritual legacy through memory and memorial. Cf. 49.10.
46.13–20 Samuel is honored as the prophet who established kingship in Israel. See 1 Sam 1.1–16.13.
46.13 Anointed rulers (plural), both Saul and David (1 Sam 10.1; 16.13), though Saul is not mentioned in the poem by name.
46.16 Offered in sacrifice. See 1 Sam 7.9–11.
46.19 Bore witness. See 1 Sam 12.3.
46.20 His voice from the ground. See 1 Sam 28.8–19.
SIRACH 47
Nathan
1After him Nathan rose up
to prophesy in the days of David.
David
2As the fat is set apart from the offering of well-being,
so David was set apart from the Israelites.
3He played with lions as though they were young goats,
and with bears as though they were lambs of the flock.
4In his youth did he not kill a giant,
and take away the people’s disgrace,
when he whirled the stone in the sling
and struck down the boasting Goliath?
5For he called on the Lord, the Most High,
and he gave strength to his right arm
to strike down a mighty warrior,
and to exalt the powera of his people.
6So they glorified him for the tens of thousands he conquered,
and praised him for the blessings bestowed by the Lord,
when the glorious diadem was given to him.
7For he wiped out his enemies on every side,
and annihilated his adversaries the Philistines;
he crushed their powerb to our own day.
8In all that he did he gave thanks
to the Holy One, the Most High, proclaiming his glory;
he sang praise with all his heart,
and he loved his Maker.
9He placed singers before the altar,
to make sweet melody with their voices.c
10He gave beauty to the festivals,
and arranged their times throughout the year,d
while they praised God’se holy name,
and the sanctuary resounded from early morning.
11The Lord took away his sins,
and exalted his powerf forever;