Sirach

Overview

Sirach is a book of the Old Testament as received by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. In the Korean Common Translation and in the Korean Catholic Bible (Seonggyeong), it appears in the deuterocanonical section (Old Testament books not found in Protestant Bibles); it is not included in the New Korean Revised Version or the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Korean Protestants also refer to it as Siraksŏ ("Book of Sirach"). It consists of a prologue and 51 chapters.

Contents

Like Proverbs, it is a work of wisdom literature composed of short maxims. Grounded in the conviction that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, it offers instruction on everyday matters such as honoring parents, guarding one's speech, friendship, wealth, raising children, physicians and illness, and table manners. Chapter 24 personifies Wisdom and identifies it with the Law of Moses. Chapters 44–50 praise the ancestors of Israel in turn, including Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, and conclude with a passage honoring the high priest Simon. Chapter 51 contains a prayer of thanksgiving and an invitation to seek wisdom.

Background

Near the end of the text (chapter 50), Jesus ben Sira of Jerusalem is named as the author. He is known as a scribe who taught the law, and the book is believed to have been written in Hebrew in the early second century BC, during the intertestamental period. According to the prologue, his grandson went to Egypt and translated the work into Greek, a translation commonly dated to around 132 BC. This Greek version was transmitted as part of the Septuagint. The Hebrew original was long lost, but portions were discovered in the late nineteenth century in a synagogue storeroom (genizah) in Cairo, and in the twentieth century at Qumran (among the Dead Sea Scrolls) and Masada. The Latin name Ecclesiasticus means "(book) of the church." The name is generally thought to reflect the early church's extensive use of the book in instructing believers. The Korean name Jiphoeseo ("Book of the Assembly") is likewise a rendering of this Latin name.

Relationship to the New Testament

The New Testament does not quote Sirach directly. Scholars have, however, noted similarities in certain expressions. The invitation in chapter 51 to take up the yoke of wisdom is often compared with Matthew 11:29–30, and the teaching in chapter 5 to be quick to hear and careful in answering is often compared with James 1:19. Opinions differ as to whether these parallels reflect direct influence or a shared Jewish wisdom tradition.

Views on Canonicity

• Catholic Church: Includes it in the canon as a deuterocanonical book, a position confirmed by the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. It is also included in the Vulgate.
• Orthodox Church: Reads it as Scripture in accordance with the Septuagint tradition.
• Lutheran churches: In his German Bible, Martin Luther grouped the Apocrypha separately between the Old and New Testaments, presenting them as books that are not equal to Holy Scripture but are profitable to read.
• Presbyterian and Reformed churches: Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith states that the Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are no part of the canon; accordingly, they are given no authority beyond that of other human writings.
• Anglican Communion: The Thirty-nine Articles direct that the Apocrypha be read for example of life and instruction of manners, but not applied to establish any doctrine.

Sirach is also not included in the Hebrew Bible (the Jewish scriptures).

In the Korean Church

Sirach was included in the Common Translation published jointly by Catholics and Protestants in 1977. It is sometimes read at Catholic Mass and in the worship of the Anglican Church of Korea. Because most Protestant churches use the New Korean Revised Version, the book is rarely read in worship or used as a sermon text; it is introduced mainly as a resource for understanding Judaism in the intertestamental period.