he gave him a covenant of kingship
and a glorious throne in Israel.
Solomon
12After him a wise son rose up
who because of him lived in security:g
13Solomon reigned in an age of peace,
because God made all his borders tranquil,
so that he might build a house in his name
and provide a sanctuary to stand forever.
14How wise you were when you were young!
You overflowed like the Nileh with understanding.
15Your influence spread throughout the earth,
and you filled it with proverbs having deep meaning.
16Your fame reached to far-off islands,
and you were loved for your peaceful reign.
17Your songs, proverbs, and parables,
and the answers you gave astounded the nations.
18In the name of the Lord God,
who is called the God of Israel,
you gathered gold like tin
and amassed silver like lead.
19But you brought in women to lie at your side,
and through your body you were brought into subjection.
20You stained your honor,
and defiled your family line,
so that you brought wrath upon your children,
and they were grievedi at your folly,
21because the sovereignty was divided
and a rebel kingdom arose out of Ephraim.
22But the Lord will never give up his mercy,
or cause any of his works to perish;
he will never blot out the descendants of his chosen one,
or destroy the family line of him who loved him.
So he gave a remnant to Jacob,
and to David a root from his own family.
Rehoboam and Jeroboam
23Solomon rested with his ancestors,
and left behind him one of his sons,
broad inj folly and lacking in sense,
Rehoboam, whose policy drove the people to revolt.
Then Jeroboam son of Nebat led Israel into sin
and started Ephraim on its sinful ways.
24Their sins increased more and more,
until they were exiled from their land.
25For they sought out every kind of wickedness,
until vengeance came upon them.
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a Gk horn
b Gk horn
c Other ancient authorities add and daily they sing his praises
d Gk to completion
e Gk his
f Gk horn
g Heb: Gk in a broad place
h Heb: Gk a river
i Other ancient authorities read I was grieved
j Heb (with a play on the name Rehoboam) Syr: Gk the people’s
47.1 Nathan is mentioned as the prophet associated with David. See 2 Sam 7.2–17; 12.1; 1 Chr 17.1.
47.2–11 David is given a covenant of kingship.
47.2 Set apart, chosen by God to be king (1 Sam 16.1–12).
47.3 Played with lions…and with bears, a euphemism for the easy kill; see 1 Sam 17.34–36.
47.4 Kill a giant,…Goliath. See 1 Sam 17.48–51.
47.6 Tens of thousands alludes to 1 Sam 18.7.
47.8–10 That David sang praise, installed singers in the temple, and arranged the festivals is an anachronism taken from Chronicles, which recasts the image of David to include care for the institution of the temple systems. See 1 Chr 16.4; 23.5, 31–32. It is this tradition that resulted in the attribution of the Psalms to David.
47.11 On David’s sins, see 2 Sam 12.1–15. For the covenant of kingship, see 2 Sam 7.12–16; cf. Ps 89.28–29; Sir 45.25.
47.12–22 Solomon is praised for his wisdom and remembered for the consequences of his sin. See 1 Kings 1–11.
47.13 Solomon’s reign was an age of peace in contrast to the wars of David. Cf. 1 Kings 4.20–21; 5.3–4. He was therefore privileged to build a house (for God), the famous temple of Solomon. See 1 Kings 5–8.
47.16 Fame reached to far-off islands (Hebrew, “distant coasts”) may be an allusion to the queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10.1–12).
47.17 Solomon’s wisdom was proverbial. See 1 Kings 3.3–14; 4.29–34; 10.1–10, 23–25. Attributed to him were the book of Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, the Wisdom of Solomon, a first-century BCE collection of prayers and meditations called the Psalms of Solomon, and a late first-century CE book of esoteric Christian devotions called the Odes of Solomon as well as other poems, prayers, riddles, and lore scattered through Jewish and early Christian literature of the Greco-Roman period. See Prov 1.1; Song 1.1; Wis 7–9; Lk 11.31.
47.18 On Solomon’s gold and silver, see 1 Kings 10.21, 27.
47.20 Stained your honor. Solomon took foreign wives and built shrines to foreign gods, practices against which the Lord had warned him. See 1 Kings 11.1–11.
47.21 The Divided Kingdom was thought to be the result of Solomon’s sin. Cf. 47.23–25; 1 Kings 11.9–11; 12.12–20. After Solomon there were two kingdoms: the Southern Kingdom (Judah), centered in Jerusalem; and the Northern Kingdom (Israel), centered at Shechem. Ephraim, another name for the Northern Kingdom, was used by writers loyal to Jerusalem to claim the name and traditions of Israel as their own heritage.
47.22 Despite Solomon’s sin and the division of the kingdom, the promise to David remained in force. See 2 Sam 7.12–16; 1 Kings 11.12–13, 34–39. Remnant refers to a Jewish theology of survival: despite oppression, wars, and exile, some would remain true to the Lord and survive. Root, a metaphor for Davidic genealogy. Cf. 2 Kings 19.30; Isa 11.10; 37.31; 53.2. The combination of remnant and root is Ben Sira’s own interpretation and hope.
47.23–25 The kingdom of David and Solomon was divided between Rehoboam, Solomon’s son at Jerusalem, and Jeroboam, who established himself as king at Shechem. There is manuscript evidence that wordplays instead of proper names were originally used to refer to each of them in v. 23. That would agree with Ben Sira’s care in the use of proper names throughout the poem, a concern related to the importance of memory and memorial and governed by his intention to praise only those worthy of honor.
47.23 Rehoboam’s folly was an increase in forced labor (1 Kings 12.1–24). The sin of Jeroboam was to set up shrines at Dan and Bethel as rivals of the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12.25–33).
47.24 The kingdom divided in 922 BCE; the exile occurred in 722 BCE when the Assyrians conquered Shechem/Samaria and deported the Israelites (2 Kings 17.6, 18–23).
SIRACH 48
Elijah
1Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire,
and his word burned like a torch.
2He brought a famine upon them,
and by his zeal he made them few in number.
3By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens,
and also three times brought down fire.
4How glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
5You raised a corpse from death
and from Hades, by the word of the Most High.
6You sent kings down to destruction,
and famous men, from their sickbeds.
7You heard rebuke at Sinai
and judgments of vengeance at Horeb.
8You anointed kings to inflict retribution,
and prophets to succeed you.a
9You were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with horses of fire.
10At the appointed time, it is written, you are destinedb
to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,
to turn the hearts of parents to their children,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
11Happy are those who saw you
and were adornedc with your love!
For we also shall surely live.d
Elisha
12When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwin
d,
Elisha was filled with his spirit.
He performed twice as many signs,
and marvels with every utterance of his mouth.e
Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler,
nor could anyone intimidate him at all.
13Nothing was too hard for him,
and when he was dead, his body prophesied.
14In his life he did wonders,
and in death his deeds were marvelous.
15Despite all this the people did not repent,
nor did they forsake their sins,
until they were carried off as plunder from their land,
and were scattered over all the earth.
The people were left very few in number,
but with a ruler from the house of David.
16Some of them did what was right,
but others sinned more and more.
Hezekiah
17Hezekiah fortified his city,
and brought water into its midst;
he tunneled the rock with iron tools,
and built cisterns for the water.
18In his days Sennacherib invaded the country;
he sent his commanderf and departed;
he shook his fist against Zion,
and made great boasts in his arrogance.
19Then their hearts were shaken and their hands trembled,
and they were in anguish, like women in labor.
20But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,
spreading out their hands toward him.
The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven,
and delivered them through Isaiah.
21The Lordg struck down the camp of the Assyrians,
and his angel wiped them out.
22For Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord,
and he kept firmly to the ways of his ancestor David,
as he was commanded by the prophet Isaiah,
who was great and trustworthy in his visions.
Isaiah
23In Isaiah’sh days the sun went backward,
and he prolonged the life of the king.
24By his dauntless spirit he saw the future,
and comforted the mourners in Zion.
25He revealed what was to occur to the end of time,
and the hidden things before they happened.
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a Heb: Gk him
b Heb: Gk are for reproofs
c Other ancient authorities read and have died
d Text and meaning of Gk uncertain
e Heb: Gk lacks He performed…mouth
f Other ancient authorities add from Lachish
g Gk He
h Gk his
48.1–11 Elijah is praised as the prophet of the Northern Kingdom who prophesied in the name of the Lord against King Ahab of the house of Omri (ca. 869 BCE) and countered the worship of Baal. For the many exploits of Elijah mentioned by Ben Sira, see 1 Kings 17–19; 2 Kings 1–2.
48.10 It is written. The text that prophesies Elijah’s return is Mal 4.5–6. Cf. Mt 11.14; 16.14; 17.10–12; Mk 6.15; 8.28; 9.11–13; Lk 9.8, 19.
48.11 The meaning of this verse is unclear because of divergent manuscript traditions. According to 2 Kings 2.10, Elisha was the fortunate (or happy) one who saw Elijah taken up, but the Hebrew text seems to refer to seeing Elijah upon his return. Later scribes, likely interpreting Mal 4.5–6, apparently understood Elijah’s ascension to be a transformation and thus a sign of translation to immortal status. Cf. Mt 17.3–4; Mk 9.4–5; Lk 9.30–33.
48.12–16 The prophet Elisha is praised for continuing the work in the spirit of Elijah. See 2 Kings 2–13.
48.12 Filled with his spirit alludes to 2 Kings 2.9–15.
48.13 His body prophesied. See 2 Kings 13.20–21.
48.15 That the people were carried off because they did not repent is stated in 2 Kings 18.11–12. That the people were left very few in number is a translation from the Greek. The Hebrew reads: “But Judah was left, a small people.” The original point was that, despite the sorry end for the people of the Northern Kingdom, continuity with the earlier kingdom of David and Solomon was assured because Judah remained and had a ruler from the house of David, a reference to Hezekiah, whose praise immediately follows.
48.16 The reference is to the kings of Judah. In 1 and 2 Kings they are assessed according to Deuteronomic values with the result that only six receive commendation: Asa (1 Kings 15.11); Jehosaphat (22.43); Joash (2 Kings 12.2); Azariah (15.3); Hezekiah (18.3); and Josiah (22.2). Of these six, Ben Sira mentions only two, Hezekiah and Josiah, as worthy of praise along with David. Cf. 49.4.
48.17–22 Hezekiah is praised for his defense of Jerusalem and obedience to the Lord. His reign (715–687 BCE) is recorded in 2 Kings 18–20; 2 Chr 29–32.
48.17 On Hezekiah’s defense of the city, see 2 Kings 20.20; 2 Chr 32.5, 30.
48.18 The failure of Sennacherib to conquer Jerusalem is related in 2 Kings 18.13–37; 2 Chr 32.1–20. Cf. Isa 36.1–22.
48.20 That they called upon the Lord and were delivered…through Isaiah is related in 2 Kings 19.15–35. Cf. Isa 37.21–38.
48.23–25 Isaiah is praised for his prophetic role during Hezekiah’s reign and for his trustworthy visions of the future (v. 22). Ben Sira may have had in mind not only the stories about Isaiah in 2 Kings 19–20, but the prophecies of restoration in the book of Isaiah (chs. 40–66).
48.23 That the sun went backward is related in 2 Kings 20.6–11. Cf. Isa 38.5–8.
48.24 Comforted…Zion may be an allusion to Isa 40.1.
SIRACH 49
Josiah and Other Worthies
1The namea of Josiah is like blended incense
prepared by the skill of the perfumer;
his memoryb is as sweet as honey to every mouth,
and like music at a banquet of wine.
2He did what was right by reforming the people,
and removing the wicked abominations.
3He kept his heart fixed on the Lord;
in lawless times he made godliness prevail.
4Except for David and Hezekiah and Josiah,
all of them were great sinners,
for they abandoned the law of the Most High;
the kings of Judah came to an end.
5Theyc gave their power to others,
and their glory to a foreign nation,
6who set fire to the chosen city of the sanctuary,
and made its streets desolate,
as Jeremiah had foretold.d
7For they had mistreated him,
who even in the womb had been consecrated a prophet,
to pluck up and ruin and destroy,
and likewise to build and to plant.
8It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory,
which Gode showed him above the chariot of the cherubim.
9For Godf also mentioned Job
who held fast to all the ways of justice.g
10May the bones of the Twelve Prophets
send forth new life from where they lie,
for they comforted the people of Jacob
and delivered them with confident hope.
11How shall we magnify Zerubbabel?
He was like a signet ring on the right hand,
12and so was Jeshua son of Jozadak;
in their days they built the house
and raised a templeh holy to the Lord,
destined for everlasting glory.
13The memory of Nehemiah also is lasting;
he raised our fallen walls,
and set up gates and bars,
and rebuilt our ruined houses.
Retrospect
14Few havei ever been created on earth like Enoch,
for he was taken up from the earth.
15Nor was anyone ever born like Joseph;j
even his bones were cared for.
16Shem and Seth and Enosh were honored,k
but above every oth
er created living being was Adam.
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a Heb: Gk memory
b Heb: Gk it
c Heb He
d Gk by the hand of Jeremiah
e Gk He
f Gk he
g Heb Compare Syr: Meaning of Gk uncertain
h Other ancient authorities read people
i Heb Syr: Gk No one has
j Heb Syr: Gk adds the leader of his brothers, the support of the people
k Heb: Gk Shem and Seth were honored by people
49.1–3 Josiah is praised for reforming the people in lawless times. See 2 Kings 22.2–23.25; 2 Chr 34–35. Ben Sira does not mention the most remarkable feature of Josiah’s reign, namely, that the reform was a covenant to obey the book of the law, which was discovered during repair of the temple.
49.4–7 The end of the kings of Judah is attributed to a failure to keep the law, and the desolation of Jerusalem is said to have been foretold by Jeremiah. This reflects Ben Sira’s ambivalent evaluation of the monarchy in favor of a priestly ruler over Israel; see his description of Simon in ch. 50.
49.5 The foreign nation that destroyed Jerusalem (586 BCE) was Babylon. See 2 Kings 25.1–15; 2 Chr 36.17–19.
49.6 For Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the fall of Jerusalem, see Jer 36–38.
49.7 For Jeremiah’s call and mistreatment, see Jer 1.5, 10; 20; 37.13–15; 38.4–6.
49.8–10 Ezekiel and the twelve prophets are honored for their visions of restoration.
49.8 Ezekiel’s vision of glory is a reference to Ezek 1.4–28 and is the earliest reference to what Ezekiel saw as the merkebah, or chariot. Later Jewish mystical speculation focused on ascents to God’s chariot-throne.
49.9 God…mentioned Job to Ezekiel in an oracle (Ezek 14.14, 20).
49.10 The Twelve Prophets are the books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Their mention by Ben Sira is evidence that these books were classed together in his time and were regarded as a single corpus. That they comforted the people indicates that they were not being read for their prophecies of doom but for their promising predictions of restoration, a characteristic of the oracles with which most of the prophetic books end.
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