Wisdom, Perseverance and Humility Christian Reflections on Sirach 1–3 Jeremy Corley

Abstract. — Ben Sira inculcates three virtues that are still relevant for Christians today: openness to wisdom (Sir 1:1-10), acceptance of testing (2:1-18), and humility of heart (3:17-24). Whereas human beings may search for wisdom, it is God who reveals it, though we can grasp only a small part of it. Those who seek God will face the hardship of testing, but all who persevere will be rewarded. Just as students need a receptive attitude to benefit from lessons, so those wanting to learn divine wisdom will need humility.

Introduction

The Wisdom of Ben Sira, also known by its Greek name of Sirach or its Latin title of Ecclesiasticus, gathers the teaching of a Jewish scribe two centuries before Jesus.1 It is likely that its author dedicated his life to education. In 51:23 he invites the unlearned to gain wisdom from him: “Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in the house of instruction.” From the centrality of Jerusalem in his work (24:10-11; 36:18-19; 50:1-24) and from his detailed knowledge of earlier biblical books (especially in 44:1–50:24), we may deduce the pos- sibility that he was one of the “scribes of the temple” mentioned by Josephus (A.J. 12.3.3 §142).2 Ben Sira offers his fullest portrayal of the scribal profession in 39:1-11. This poem is preceded in 38:24-34 by a passage describing the hardships involved in several sorts of manual work. Sirach 38:24–39:11 is a rework- ing of a very ancient Egyptian tradition known as the Satire of the Trades.3

1. On the book see P. W. Skehan and A. A. Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, Anchor Bible, 39 (New York: Doubleday, 1987); D. J. Harrington, Jesus Ben Sira of Jerusalem, Interfaces (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005). The biblical quotations in this article are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). 2. Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, 2 vols. (London: SCM, 1974) 1: 133. 3. For a translation of the Egyptian text see J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950) 432-434.

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In the Egyptian text the teacher wishes to encourage his students to persevere in studying the difficult hieroglyphic system of writing, so he reminds them of the difficulties faced by blacksmiths, brick-makers, gardeners, and other manual workers. The teacher concludes: “Behold, there is no profession free of a boss – except for the scribe … Behold, there is no scribe who lacks food.”4 While Ben Sira echoes this text by mentioning the hardships experienced by four kinds of manual worker (farmer, seal engraver, black- smith and potter), he recognizes that such occupations are necessary for society (38:32). Nevertheless, he praises the scribe in a passage that is often regarded as a self-portrait (39:1-11).5 Ben Sira pictures the scribe praying for understanding and having his prayer answered: “He sets his heart to rise early to seek the Lord who made him … If the great Lord is willing, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding” (39:5-6). Thereafter the scribe will pass on his knowledge to others: “He will show the wisdom of what he has learned” (39:8). Ben Sira’s portrait of the scribe may fittingly describe a scripture teacher today, particularly for one who has taught for forty years. Forty years is a significant length of time for an individual nowadays, just as it was for the people of Israel. The Book of Deuteronomy recalls Israel’s forty-year journey through the desert: “Remember the long way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart” (Deut 8:2). The purpose of this arduous process was “in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut 8:3). Obedience to this word will show forth the “wisdom” given to God’s people (Deut 4:6). These great Deuteronomic themes of wisdom, testing and humility also appear in the first three chapters of Ben Sira. Hence this fortieth anniversary tribute will consider three Ben Sira passages: Sir 1:1-10 on wisdom, 2:1-18 on perseverance during testing, and 3:17- 24 on humility.6 These passages illustrate major aspects of Ben Sira’s message which I believe have value for Christians today.

4. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 434. 5. Skehan and Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, 11-12. On Sir 38:24–39:11 see D. J. Harrington, “The Wisdom of the Scribe according to Ben Sira,” Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism, ed. J. J. Collins and G. W. E. Nickelsburg (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980) 181-188; J. Marböck, “Sir. 38,24–39,11: Der schriftgelehrte Weise: Ein Beitrag zu Gestalt und Werk Ben Siras,” La Sagesse de l’Ancien Testament, ed. M. Gilbert, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 51 (Louvain: Leuven University Press, 1979) 293-316; M. W. Duggan, “Ezra, Scribe and Priest, and the Concerns of Ben Sira,” Inter- textual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit, ed. J. Corley and V. Skemp, CBQ Monograph Series, 38 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005) 201-210. 6. On the spirituality of Ben Sira see K. M. O’Connor, The Wisdom Literature, Message of Biblical Spirituality, 5 (Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1988) 134-159.

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1. Wisdom (Sirach 1:1-10)

Ben Sira’s students in Jerusalem lived in a culture where Greek ways of thinking were overtaking the traditional Jewish outlook. In this society the search for wisdom undertaken by Greek philosophical thinkers was becoming increasingly popular. Hellenic civilization prided itself on its abundance of philosophers, including Socrates (469-399 B.C.), Plato (ca. 427-348 B.C.), and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). In Ben Sira’s own day, the closest major centre of Greek learning was Alexandria, with its vast library of literary, philosophical and scientific manuscripts, while other cities were centres of Stoic philosophy. Great scientific advances had recently been made by scientists like Archimedes (ca. 287-212 B.C.), Euclid (ca. 325-265 B.C.) and Eratosthenes (ca. 275-194 B.C.). In such a context, it was easy for Ben Sira’s students to be overawed by non-Israelite learning. To be sure, Ben Sira is no xenophobe, and he admits the value of some Hellenistic practices.7 Like Greek sages, he does not discount the value of travelling abroad to gain a wider understanding (Sir 34:9-13), since he acknowledges that all wisdom comes from God (1:1). Nevertheless, he asserts that the highest wisdom resides in Israelite tradition and is embodied in the Torah (1:9-10; 19:20; 24:23). Hence, at the opening of his book (1:1-10), he places a poem stressing the divine origin of wisdom.8 The sage begins by acknowledging that all wisdom comes from the one God worshipped by the Israelites (1:1). Following the Shema (Deut 6:4), Ben Sira states very clearly that Yahweh is one (Sir 1:8), in contrast to the multiplicity of Greek gods and goddesses (such as Apollo, Athena, Poseidon, and Aphrodite). The sage wants his students to remain faithful to the one true God, amid the competing claims of other religious systems. In today’s world, where many are proposing New Age religion, Christians are called to remain faithful to the one Creator God. Ben Sira then asserts the limits of human knowledge (1:2-3). Whereas Greek scientific enquiry sought to uncover the mysteries of the universe, Ben Sira claims that human knowledge inevitably has its limits. In Jewish tradition, the grains of sand on the seashore were proverbially beyond counting (Gen 32:12). Likewise, no human being can work out

7. For instance, echoes of Hellenistic culture appear in his treatment of banquets and symposia (Sir 31:12–32:13); cf. J. J. Collins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1997) 32-33. There are also parallels to Greek discussions of friendship (Sir 6:5-17; 37:1-6); cf. J. Corley, Ben Sira’s Teaching on Friendship, Brown Judaic Studies, 316 (Providence, RI: Brown University, 2002) 7-10.

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the number of raindrops (Job 38:37). Whereas Greeks had developed better methods of calculating time, no one on earth can measure the days of eternity. Similarly, while Greek scientists were attempting to calculate the moon’s distance from the earth (Aristarchus of Samos) or the size of the earth (Archimedes and Eratosthenes), Ben Sira was content for these things to remain mysteries known only to God. He was happy for Isa 40:12 to remain a rhetorical question: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” For the sage, there was enough to ponder in the revealed word of God (Sir 3:23). In our present age, while humanity has walked on the moon and sent the Hubble space telescope to photograph Mars, there are still many mysteries remaining: What happened before the Big Bang? What is beyond the universe? How exactly did human life come about? What is the nature of wisdom? According to Ben Sira, it is neither merely a human attribute nor a divine figure like the ancient goddesses Isis or Maat. Rather, Ben Sira draws on the Book of Proverbs in his picture of wisdom as being present when God made the world (Prov 3:19- 20; 8:22-31). While other cultures often spoke of wisdom as a goddess, Ben Sira personifies wisdom as a female figure, whether as a mother or as a bride (Sir 15:2).9 Indeed, he speaks of the need to love wisdom and seek her earnestly and long for her (6:18-37). Just as earlier biblical books identified wisdom with God’s word (Prov 2:6) or the Torah (Deut 4:5-6), Ben Sira develops this identification when he says, “In all wisdom there is the fulfilment of the Law” (Sir 19:20). Nowadays, when wisdom is often considered something vague and ethereal, we can learn from Ben Sira’s concrete understanding of the source and practice of wisdom. Our wisdom will be of no benefit if it is not visible in our action. The sage asks about the recipient of this divine wisdom (1:6). Has it been revealed to the great Greek scientists and philosophers? Or is it perhaps the select possession of a few initiated persons, just as certain

8. On this passage see J. Corley, “Wisdom versus Apocalyptic and Science in Sirach 1,1-10,” Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Biblical Tradition, ed. F. García Martínez, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovanien- sium, 168 (Leuven: Leuven University Press/Peeters, 2003) 269-285; P. C. Beentjes, “‘Full Wisdom is from the Lord’: Sir 1,1-10 and its Place in Israel’s Wisdom Literature,” in his collected essays, “Happy the One who Meditates on Wisdom” (Sir 14,20), Contribu- tions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology, 43 (Leuven: Peeters, 2006) 19-34. 9. A. M. Sinnott, The Personification of Wisdom, Society for Old Testament Study Monographs (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005) 110-141.

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apocalyptic circles thought (1 Enoch 82:1-3)? Ben Sira insists that the source of all wisdom is the one Creator God, but that he has poured it out on all creatures. Here the sage has the universalistic outlook charac- teristic of the international wisdom tradition of the ancient Near East. In this perspective, wisdom is available to everybody, even if not everybody acquires it. According to ancient Egyptian advice from the Instruc- tion of Ptahhotep: “Be not confident because thou art a wise man…. Good speech is more hidden than the emerald, but it may be found with maidservants at the grindstones.”10 To be sure, wisdom can be acquired through experience (Sir 34:9-11; Prov 24:30-34; Ps 37:35-36). In addition, it can be gained by observing nature; for instance, the lazy student is told to learn from the busy ant (Prov 6:6). Thus, in principle at least, wisdom is available to all humanity through experience of life and obser- vation of nature. Indeed, we may compare the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas (echoing St. Ambrose): “Every truth, by whomsoever spoken, is from the Holy Spirit.”11 However, in 1:10 the sage claims that God has specially provided wisdom for “those who love him.” This phrase echoes the Shema, in which the Israelites are told to love God with all their hearts (Deut 6:5). Thus, Sir 1:10 seems to assert that the Israelites are the special recipients of God’s wisdom. Presumably, the Torah is the particular wisdom that Israel has (Sir 19:20; Deut 4:5-6). Hence Sir 24:8 depicts God’s wisdom as making a home in Israel. Thus, while Ben Sira admits that wisdom is in principle available to everyone, he also teaches that wisdom has been revealed in a special way to those who love him with all their heart and soul and strength, namely, the faithful people of Israel. In Christian dialogue with adherents of other faiths, a similar ten- sion arises between universalism and particularism. On the one hand, the Christian will acknowledge that God can reveal himself to anyone as he wills, and that other belief systems can contain many true values (including spiritual awareness, ways of meditation, concern for the poor, and consciousness of the environment). On the other hand, the Chris- tian will believe that Jesus has a unique contribution to make to human life and salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Though there are many prophets offering incomplete messages from God, the complete divine revelation has come to us, not in the Torah, but in Jesus of Nazareth

10. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 412; cf. R. E. Murphy, The Tree of Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990) 4. 11. F. R. Larcher and D. Keating, Commentary by Saint Thomas Aquinas on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 137 [online edition, available at www.aquinas.avemarie. edu/Aquinas-Corinthians.pdf].

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(Heb 1:1-4). If Jesus is God’s true wisdom (1 Cor 1:30), then he is the one to whom we should pay attention. Thus, a Christian reading of Sir 1:1-10 builds on Ben Sira’s insights by seeing God’s revelation in Jesus exceeding the message of the Law of Moses (John 1:17).

2. Perseverance in Trials (Sirach 2:1-18)

Ben Sira’s second chapter begins with the uncompromising warn- ing: “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing [or trials]” (2:1).12 The Christian reader will be reminded of Jesus’ even tougher message to his disciples in Mark 8:34: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Similarly, according to Acts 14:22, Paul acknowledges to his new converts in Asia Minor: “It is through many persecu- tions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” Thus, the believer is called to persevere during trials. Already in Israel’s early tradition there was the idea that God tests those who believe in him. Perhaps the hardest test was faced by Abra- ham, who was told by God for some unstated reason to offer up his son as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah (Gen 22:1-2).13 Sirach 44:20 alludes to this incident when it says of Abraham: “When he was tested he proved faithful.” Later, Moses told the Israelites that their forty years of wandering in the wilderness was God’s way of testing them, to know what was in their heart (Deut 8:2). Moreover, in Jdt 8:25-26 Judith reminds Bethulia’s elders of the divine testing experienced by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their other ancestors. Hence when Ben Sira speaks of the testing of those serving God, he echoes a common Israelite tradition. If we read Sir 2:1 from an educational viewpoint, we may see another aspect in the sage’s message. He may be reminding his students that they will undergo the testing of examinations. It is not enough for them simply to learn passively. Rather, through academic tests they must

12. On Sir 2:1-18 see N. Calduch-Benages, Un gioiello di sapienza: Leggende Siracide 2, Cammini nello Spirito: Biblica 45 (Milan: Paoline, 2001); A. A. Di Lella, “Fear of the Lord and Belief and Hope in the Lord amid Trials: Sirach 2:1-18,” Wisdom, You Are My Sister (FS R. E. Murphy), ed. M. L. Barré, CBQ Monograph Series, 29 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1997) 188-204; cf. W. H. Irwin, “Fear of God, the Analogy of Friendship and Ben Sira’s Theodicy,” Biblica 76 (1995) 551-559. 13. On the theology of Gen 22:1-19 see R. W. L. Moberly, The Bible, Theology, and Faith: A Study of Abraham and Jesus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) 71-183.

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show that they have understood the teaching. These examinations will foreshadow the divine testing that the students will soon undergo as God’s servants. In the face of divine testing, the students will certainly need cour- age, as was shown by the three young men thrown into the fiery furnace (Dan 3:16-18; 1 Macc 2:59). The students will also need perseverance, as the early Christians in Smyrna were advised to have: “Be faithful until death” (Rev 2:10). And they will need an attitude of detached acceptance, as was shown by Job, who said in his affliction: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). The image of the tested person being like precious metal in the furnace occurs frequently in the Bible (Zech 13:9; Ps 66:10; Prov 17:3; Isa 48:10). The idea is that the fire of adversity burns away the dross of impurity and leaves the pure valuable gold. The First Letter of Peter also uses this image to strengthen the early Christians to face trials: “Now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet 1:6-7). In recent history, this image of gold tested in the fire could be applied to Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for a quarter of a century because of his campaign for free universal elections in South Africa, and finally chosen as President of South Africa in the country’s first democratic election in 1994. The admonition to trustful belief in God recurs throughout the Old Testament. Although Moses promised divine help to the Israelites as they were fleeing from Pharaoh’s army (Exod 14:13-14), it was only after their safe passage through the Red Sea that they “believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses” (Exod 14:31). According to 2 Chr 20:20, when the people of Judah were faced with hostile forces, King Jehoshaphat said: “Believe in the LORD your God and you will be estab- lished,” after which the enemies started attacking each other instead of Judah (2 Chr 20:22-24). In addition, the prophet Isaiah repeatedly urged the people of Jerusalem to believe, first during the Syro- Ephraimite conflict (Isa 7:9), and later during the war with Assyria (Isa 28:16). In the first case, the enemy coalition failed, and in the second case, Jerusa- lem was delivered when the besieging Assyrian army perished in a plague sent by God (Isa 37:36; Sir 48:21). In the New Testament also, faith-filled trust in God is vitally important. Faith in Jesus brings healing to the sick, not only during his ministry (Mark 5:34) but also after his death and resurrection (Acts 3:16).

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The apostle Paul emphasizes that faith in Jesus leads to our salvation from sin and death (Rom 10:9; Gal 2:16), while the Letter to the Hebrews devotes its eleventh chapter to listing Old Testament examples of persons whose faith in God was vindicated. Already two centuries before Christ, Ben Sira could teach his students that God will help those who trust in him. Accordingly, Sir 2:7 urges the devout students to await God’s mercy (Ps 37:7), and to trust him amid their hardships. Indeed, their recompense for fidelity will be great, just as Abraham’s reward for his faithfulness was to become the ancestor of a great posterity who would bring blessing to the earth (Gen 22:16-18). Although Ben Sira himself seems to have had no belief in the afterlife (Sir 17:27-28; 41:4),14 and hence was not thinking of a heavenly recompense, the Christian reader may be mindful of the great reward laid up in heaven for those who persevere in faith and hope and charity (Matt 5:11-12; 2 Tim 4:7-8). In the later twentieth century, some heroes of faith were set free after years of impris- onment: besides the South African leader Nelson Mandela, we may think of the British humanitarian envoy Terry Waite, imprisoned in Lebanon from 1987 to 1991. However, other heroes of faith did not see an earthly reward but await a heavenly recompense: we can think of the Ugandan Anglican Archbishop Janani Luwum, martyred in 1977, or Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated in El Salvador in 1980, or the Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko, murdered in 1984. Ben Sira goes on to refer to the people’s past experience: “Consider the generations of old and see: has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?” (2:10). Likewise Ps 37:25 says: “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread.” In a similar vein, the prose framework around the poetic story of Job allows the model of righteousness to be sorely tested (Job 1–2) but eventually rewarded lavishly (Job 42:10-17). By contrast, the apparently successful wicked person may suffer the agonies of a pain- ful death, according to Sir 11:26-27. While God has indeed often vindicated his servants by delivering them from suffering, this has not always happened. The poignancy of Job’s poetry lies in its voicing of the widespread problem of innocent suffering. Indeed, in the generation after Ben Sira’s death, the Israelites came to a belief in the resurrection precisely because they recognized that many who suffered devoutly in the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes

14. Skehan and Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, 83-87; Collins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age, 92-94.

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would die without seeing earthly deliverance (2 Macc 7:9, 14; Dan 12:1- 3). Without belief in an afterlife, it is hard to make any sense of the many innocent victims of cruelty and persecution, such as in Nazi Ger- many or Stalin’s Russia. The Church’s faith is that though Jesus on the cross appeared to be forsaken and to be calling on God in vain (Mark 15:34), in fact God did hear his prayer (Heb 5:7) and delivered him from death through the resurrection (Acts 2:31-32). The central proclamation of the chapter occurs in Sir 2:11: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.” Here Ben Sira echoes God’s revelation of himself to Moses: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6). We may compare the Christian affirmation that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and the Islamic description of God as “the compassionate” and “the merciful” (Quran, Sura 55). Thus, the three major monotheistic faiths agree in the belief that God is merciful. Ben Sira goes on to issue a triple woe against the Israelites who have yielded to fear and compromised their faith by accepting pagan ways (2:12-14). The “double path” in 2:12 refers to an attempt to be a Jew while following the idolatrous practices of the Greek-speaking world. For instance, a few years after Ben Sira’s writing, a son of Simeon the Just obtained the high priesthood by bribery (2 Macc 4:7-20) and pro- moted pagan customs. By contrast, the Books of Chronicles praise the monarchs who served God whole-heartedly (e.g., 2 Chr 31:20-21). Hence the Letter of James says: “Purify your hearts, you double-minded” (Jas 4:8).15 Ben Sira urges his students not to fear the judgment of human beings, but rather the Lord’s day of reckoning (compare Matt 10:28). For Ben Sira, a reverential fear of the Lord is an aspect of love of God, just as Deut 10:12 says: “What does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him.” Reverence for God involves keeping his commandments (Deut 10:13), since a religion that does not guide our behaviour is incomplete. If we fear God, we will not only seek to please him, but also humbly prepare our hearts for the testing that is bound to come. In conclusion (2:18), Ben Sira states that he would prefer to fall into the hands of God rather than human beings, since God can be merciful (2:11). Here the sage alludes to David’s words when confronted

15. N. Calduch-Benages, “Amid Trials: Ben Sira 2:1 and James 1:2,” Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit, 255-263, esp. 259-260.

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with a choice of punishments, whether famine, military defeats or divinely-sent plague (2 Sam 24:12-14; 1 Chr 21:11-13). On that occa- sion, God mercifully intervened to protect Jerusalem from the plague (2 Sam 24:25; 1 Chr 21:15). Ben Sira notes that God is merciful as well as powerful (Sir 18:11-14), and that his name “the Merciful One” (Exod 34:6; Ps 145:8) is verified by his merciful deeds (Ps 145:14-19). For Christians, the great parable of God’s compassion is the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), a story that figures prominently in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Dives in Misericordia (“Rich in Mercy,” 1980). Ben Sira encourages us to approach boldly to receive the divine mercy. We may be tested, but in the end God’s mercy will triumph.

3. Humility (Sirach 3:17-24)

Christians familiar with Jesus’ teaching on humility are often sur- prised to find this theme in the Old Testament, and perhaps the greatest similarities occur in the writing of Ben Sira. Already the Book of Deu- teronomy speaks of Israel’s forty-year wandering in the wilderness as a time for learning humility (Deut 8:2). The Hebrew text of Psalm 131 records the prayer of a mother whose soul is as humble as the weaned child she is holding (Ps 131:2).16 Using echoes of Psalm 131, Sir 3:17- 24 speaks forcefully of the call to be humble. Indeed, these words of Ben Sira were remembered in Jewish tradition, and Sir 3:21-22 was often quoted by the rabbis (e.g., b. Hagigah 13a).17 The sage begins by counselling a humble attitude to the ordinary tasks of life. For his students the daily tasks included studying, and without openness to learning from others, study has little value. The wise person has the humility to learn: “Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning” (Prov 9:9). Hence Prov 15:33 declares: “The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honour.” To gain

16. M. D. Knowles, “A Woman at Prayer: A Critical Note on Psalm 131:2b,” Journal of Biblical Literature 125 (2006) 385-389. 17. On Sir 3:17-24 see R. A. Argall, 1 Enoch and Sirach, SBL Early Judaism and Its Literature, 8 (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1995) 73-76; B. G. Wright, “‘Fear the Lord and Honor the Priest’: Ben Sira as Defender of the Jerusalem Priesthood,” The Book of Ben Sira in Modern Research, ed. P. C. Beentjes (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alt- testamentliche Wissenschaft, 255 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1997) 189-222 esp. 208-212. Although the Hebrew and Greek texts exhibit differences in this passage, we will use the NRSV, which mainly follows the Greek.

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respect from others, the student must begin by having the docility to receive the gift of wisdom through the arduous learning process. The greater the person’s status, the greater the need for humility, according to Sir 3:18. Jesus’ teaching is similar: “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). Moreover, John 13 tells of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, as a model of service. But Jesus’ greatest act of humble service, according to Christian belief, was to offer up his life for us on the cross. This act underlies Mark 10:45: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (cf. Phil 2:7-8). Ben Sira perceived how God deploys his great power, not to destroy weak human beings but to raise them up: “He sees and recognizes that their end is miserable; therefore he grants them forgiveness all the more” (18:12). The Book of Wisdom makes the point even more clearly: “Your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all… Although you are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us” (Wis 12:16, 18). According to Sir 3:19 (as found in some Greek manuscripts – see NRSV footnote), God reveals himself not so much to highly honoured persons, as to the lowly. An Old Testament example is provided by the story of Gideon. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon with the commission to deliver Israel from foreign domination, he replied: “How can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weak- est in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Judg 6:15). The prime New Testament example is the mother of Jesus. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary with the commission to be the mother of the Redeemer, she responded: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38), and later sang: “My spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant” (Luke 1:47-48). In the Middle Ages, God revealed himself to St Francis of Assisi, who lived a life of poverty and cared for lepers. In the early twentieth century, a great example of humility was provided by St Therese of Lisieux, whose simple yet profound writings have had such a great impact.18 Whereas those with earthly power can easily forget God, it is the humble who so often acknowledge the All-Powerful God, because they have no other hope. For instance, Psalm 34 offers thanksgiving for divine deliverance: “My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad … This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and

18. See J. Udris, “Scented Tracks: Thérèse’s Reading of Scripture,” Scripture Bul- letin 31/1 (2001) 29-35.

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was saved from every trouble” (Ps 34:2, 6). While still awaiting God’s help, Judith prays: “Your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, sav- iour of those without hope” (Jdt 9:11). Recent liberation theology has taught us how directly many of the poor trust in God, because they have no other helper. Having commended a humble attitude, Ben Sira goes on to warn against enticements in the surrounding culture (3:21-24). At the time he was writing (the early second century B.C.) the traditional Israelite faith faced two sorts of enticing distraction. The first kind of distraction came from the impressive cosmological speculations of Greek philosophers. The Egyptian city of Alexandria, centre of the Ptolemaic empire that ruled Palestine in the first part of Ben Sira’s life, was noted for its huge library that collected the works of Greek writers and poets, scientists and philosophers. Ben Sira’s students could easily have been tempted to go to Alexandria to study such famous writings. The second kind of distraction came from the secret revelations of Jewish apocalyptic groups. Those who believed that God had secretly revealed the mysteries of the cosmos to certain patriarchs (such as Enoch) might have sought to attract Ben Sira’s students by their esoteric secrets. Hence the sage advises: “Neither seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power” (3:21). For Ben Sira, the speculations of Greek philosophy and the sup- posed revelations of apocalyptic groups were distractions from the Isra- elite’s true occupation of obeying the Torah. Consequently, the sage counsels: “Reflect on what you have been commanded, for what is hidden is not your concern” (3:22). The phrase “what you have been commanded” (Greek text) or “what you have been permitted” (Hebrew text) refers to the Law of Moses entrusted to the people of Israel. According to Deut 29:29, “the secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children for ever, to observe all the words of this law” (cf. Deut 30:11-14). Like Moses, Ben Sira wishes the Israelites to pay attention to the revealed law rather than to hidden secrets. Psalm 131 also urges a similar attitude of trustful humility: “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother” (Ps 131:1-2). Accordingly, the sage advises: “Do not meddle in matters that are beyond you, for more than you can understand has been shown you”

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(3:23). Elsewhere Ben Sira insists that the mystery of God’s work exceeds human understanding: “Who can measure his majestic power? And who can fully recount his mercies? It is not possible to diminish or increase them, nor is it possible to fathom the wonders of the Lord” (18:5-6; cf. 43:27-33). Instead of seeking to plumb the mysteries of the cosmos, Ben Sira suggests that it is more worthwhile to attend to God’s revealed word, since the inflated theories of human thought have led many astray (3:24). For the modern Christian reading such words in a scientific age, Ben Sira seems to disparage the human desire to learn about the work- ings of the universe. Elsewhere, however, the beautiful orderliness of the cosmos speaks to the sage of God’s almighty power (42:21-25). Never- theless, ultimately the right attitude is to bow down humbly before the mystery of God. For one of the first astronauts to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, the lunar landing was a religious experience, and that scientific advance once more brought him face to face with the mystery of God, whose works are beyond human fathoming.

Conclusion

This article has reflected on three of Ben Sira’s fundamental approaches to life: openness to wisdom, acceptance of testing, and humility of heart. Not surprisingly, these basic attitudes are inculcated in the early chapters of his book. Sirach 1:1-10 asserts that while human beings may search for wisdom, it is God who reveals it. Since God is so far beyond human fathoming, we can grasp only a small part of the divine wisdom. Nevertheless, this wisdom, which pervades creation, is revealed to those who love and serve God. Then Sir 2:1-18 acknowledges frankly that the student seeking God will face the hardship of testing. Just as a student in a class will face tests and examinations, so too those searching for divine wisdom will face testing and trials, in order to see if they really grasp the divine wisdom. Hence Ben Sira calls for a persevering attitude on the part of those being tested, since God will not ultimately forsake his own people. Finally, Sir 3:17-24 advocates a humble attitude. Just as any student needs a receptive attitude in order to benefit from lessons, so anyone wanting to learn divine wisdom will need humility. Such humility, based on the revealed religion of the Jew- ish Law, contrasts with the secret speculations of Jewish apocalyptic circles and the overweening pride of those who believed that Greek science and philosophy could explain everything.

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In my view, Ben Sira’s insights are still relevant for Christians today. Openness to God’s gift of wisdom is needed in a technological age where new discoveries are frantically being sought. Perseverance during divine testing is salutary in our western culture that tends to shirk any hardship or discomfort. And humility of heart towards the revealed truths of faith is necessary in an age when esoteric teachings are purveyed even as the universal competence of science is proclaimed. I offer this article as a tribute to Father Kenneth Collins. In his long service as a priest and scripture teacher,19 he has sought divine wisdom, persevered in hardships, and shown a humble attitude. Ben Sira’s words are appropriate for him: “Many will praise his understanding” (39:9). Indeed, it is fitting to dedicate to him this article on a Jerusalem sage. “If he lives long, he will leave a name greater than a thousand, and if he goes to rest, it is enough for him” (39:11).

Jeremy Corley was ordained priest in 1987 for Portsmouth diocese (UK) after seminary training at Oscott College in Birmingham. In 1996 he gained a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and his doctoral dissertation was published as Ben Sira’s Teaching on Friendship (Brown University, 2002). Author of more than twenty articles on Second Temple Jewish texts and the New Testament, he now teaches Biblical Studies at Ushaw College in Durham, UK. Address: Ushaw College, Durham, DH7 9RH. E-mail: [email protected].

19. See, for instance, his essay on the prayer of Jesus in The Unsealed Fountain: Essays on the Christian Spiritual Tradition, ed. M. Couve de Murville, Oscott Series (Dublin: Veritas, 1987). My thanks are due to Gillian Chestney for typographical assistance, and to Patricia McDonald and Patrick Welsh for proofreading.

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