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The Book of Sirach (/ˈsaɪræk/)[a], also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach[1] or Ecclesiasticus (/ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəs/),[2] is a Jewish literary work, originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiquity,[1][3] it consists of ethical teachings, written approximately between 196 and 175 BCE by Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira (Ben Sira), a Hellenistic Jewish scribe of the Second Temple period.[1][4]
Ben Sira's grandson translated the text into Koine Greek and added a prologue sometime around 117 BCE.[3] This prologue is generally considered to be the earliest witness to a tripartite canon of the books of the Old Testament[5] and thus the date of the text is the subject of intense scrutiny by biblical scholars. The ability to precisely date the composition of Sirach within a few years provides great insight into the historical development and evolution of the Jewish canon. Although the Book of Sirach is not included in the Hebrew Bible, it is included in the Septuagint.
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- ^ a b c Singer, Isidore, ed. (1905). "Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. pp. 388–397.
- ^ Gigot, Francis Ernest Charles (1913). "Ecclesiasticus". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. V (2 ed.). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, Inc. pp. 263–269.
- ^ a b Coogan, Michael D., ed. (2010). "Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach". The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version (4 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1457–1528. ISBN 978-0195289602.
- ^ Williams, David Salter (1994). "The Date of Ecclesiasticus". Vetus Testamentum. 44 (4): 563–566. doi:10.1163/156853394X00565. JSTOR 1535116.
- ^ Gallagher, Edmon L.; Meade, John D. (2017). The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 9–17. ISBN 978-0198792499.