Texts in Conversation
The Christian theologian Alexander of Alexandria uses Sirach as an authoritative source to teach about wisdom and how it represents the foundation of all of creation, quoting Sirach along with other texts from the Hebrew Bible.
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Sirach 1:2
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 All wisdom is from the Lord, and with him it remains forever. 2 The sand of the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity—who can count them? 3 The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the abyss, and wisdom —who can search them out? 4 Wisdom was created before all other things, and prudent understanding from eternity.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Alexander Epistles on Arianism 1:1
Early Christian
Wherefore I do not think that he is to be reckoned among the pious who presumes to inquire into anything beyond these things, not listening to this saying: Seek not out the things that are too hard for you, neither search the things that are above your strength. For if the knowledge of many other things that are incomparably inferior to this, are hidden from human comprehension, such as in the apostle Paul, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. As also God said to Abraham, that he could not number the stars; and that passage, Who can number the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain. How shall any one be able to investigate too curiously the subsistence of the divine Word, unless he be smitten with frenzy? Concerning which the Spirit of prophecy says, Who shall declare his generation? And our Saviour Himself, who blesses the pillars of all things in the world, sought to unburden them of the knowledge of these things, saying that to comprehend this was quite beyond their nature, and that to the Father alone belonged the knowledge of this most divine mystery. For no man, says He, knows the Son, but the Father: neither knows any man the Father, save the Son. Of this thing also I think that the Father spoke, in the words, My secret is to Me and Mine.
Date: 320-328 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The principal method of Nalean’s interpretation is homiletic or kerygmatic. For him it is important that the truths expressed in his works penetrate into the readers’ hearts and change their insight ... His primary aim is to combine Christian spiritual teachings with philosophy and more scientific explanations of life. In many cases he refers to the prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos), the apostles (e.g. Peter, Paul, James etc.) as well as the holy fathers of the Church (e.g. Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Alexander of Alexandria, Augustine, etc.) incorporating along with them references from the most famous Greco-Roman thinkers, e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Homer, Sophocles, Porphyrios, Seneca, etc ... Throughout his commentary on Sirach, Nalean implicitly shows his concern about the religious decline and social injustice that the Armenian community in Constantinople was facing ..."
Hambardzumyan, Garegin
The Book of Sirach in the Armenian Biblical Tradition: Yakob Nalean and His Commentary on Sirach
(p. 147) De Gruyter, 2016
* 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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