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The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria treats Sirach as an authoritative source on courage and trust, repeating its teaching that those who live with reverence find strength in hope. By drawing on Sirach’s reflection on danger and endurance, he connects moral confidence with faithfulness.
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Sirach 34:14
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
12 I have seen many things in my travels, and I understand more than I can express. 13 I have often been in danger of death, but have escaped because of these experiences. 14 The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, 15 for their hope is in him who saves them. 16 Those who fear the Lord will not be timid, or play the coward, for he is their hope.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Clement of Alexandria The Instructor 1.8
Paedagogus
Early Christian
And Plato, who had learned from this source, says beautifully: For all who suffer punishment are in reality treated well, for they are benefited; since the spirit of those who are justly punished is improved. And if those who are corrected receive good at the hands of justice, and, according to Plato, what is just is acknowledged to be good, fear itself does good, and has been found to be for men's good. For the soul that fears the Lord shall live, for their hope is in Him who saves them. And this same Word who inflicts punishment is judge; regarding whom Esaias also says, The Lord has assigned Him to our sins, plainly as a corrector and reformer of sins. Wherefore He alone is able to forgive our iniquities, who has been appointed by the Father, Instructor of us all; He alone it is who is able to distinguish between disobedience and obedience. And while He threatens, He manifestly is unwilling to inflict evil to execute His threatenings; but by inspiring men with fear, He cuts off the approach to sin, and shows His love to man, still delaying, and declaring what they shall suffer if they continue sinners, and is not as a serpent, which the moment it fastens on its prey devours it.
Date: 198 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... Within early Christianity, the Letter of Barnabas echoes Sirach 5:12–14 about the danger of a double tongue, as well as the warning in Sirach 4:31 against an ungenerous attitude (Barnabas 19:7–9). Origen (d. 254 ce) quotes Ben Sira as scriptural when commenting on several Old Testament passages (Genesis 12:5; Joshua 15:6; Jeremiah 16:6). Clement of Alexandria (d. 215 CE) quotes about eighty Sirach verses, while John Chrysostom (d. 407 CE) includes about three hundred citations from the book. Augustine (d. 430 CE) not only cites Sirach about 300x, but also preached sermons on Sirach passages. Rabanus Maurus (d. 856 CE), abbot of Fulda in Germany, composed the earliest surviving Latin commentary on Sirach ..."
Corley, Jeremy
"Sirach" in Oegema, Gerbern S. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha
(pp. 284-305) Oxford University Press, 2021
* 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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