Texts in Conversation
Sirach describes wisdom finding a permanent home in Jerusalem, connected to Israel’s life and traditions. 1 Enoch presents the opposite view, describing wisdom returning to heaven after failing to find a home on earth.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 42:1
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Wisdom found no place where she might dwell; then a dwelling-place was assigned to her in the heavens. 2 Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men, and found no dwelling-place: Wisdom returned to her place, and took her seat among the angels. 3 And unrighteousness went forth from her chambers: whom she did not seek, she found, and dwelt with them, like rain in a desert and dew on a thirsty land.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 24:11
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 Wisdom will praise her own soul, and will proclaim her glory in the midst of her people. 2 She will open her mouth in the congregation of the Most High, and proclaim her glory in the presence of his power. 3 “I came out of the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth as a mist. 4 I lived in high places, and my throne is in the pillar of the cloud. 5 Alone I surrounded the circuit of heaven, and walked in the depth of the abyss. 6 In the waves of the sea, and in all the earth, and in every people and nation, I obtained a possession. 7 With all these I sought rest. In whose inheritance shall I lodge? 8 Then the Creator of all things gave me a command. He who created me made my tent to rest, and said, ‘Let your dwelling be in Jacob, and your inheritance in Israel.’ 9 He created me from the beginning, before the ages. For all ages, I will not cease to exist. 10 In the holy tabernacle, I ministered before him. So I was established in Zion. 11 In the beloved city, likewise he gave me rest. In Jerusalem was my domain.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A further interesting point made in this section [of 1 Enoch] is that wisdom can only be found in heaven and not on earth (42:1-2). Since the very opposite view is expressed in Sirach (Sirach 24:7-11, 23), this may be a direct challenge to some contemporary wisdom schools, and perhaps above all to the belief that wisdom is to be solely and completely identified with the Torah, which would have allowed no place for the additional Enochic revelatory traditions ..."
Susan E. Docherty, The Jewish Pseudepigrapha: An Introduction to the Literature of the Second Temple Period (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2014), 134–135.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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