Texts in Conversation
Ecclesiastes 12 describes death as the body returning to dust and the breath returning to God, using imagery from Genesis. Sirach echoes this but describes “breath” with the language of “spirit,” highlighting later cultural and philosophical influences.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Hebrew Bible
5 and they are afraid of heights and the dangers in the street; the almond blossoms grow white, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry shrivels up—because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the streets— 6 before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the well, or the water wheel is broken at the cistern— 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God who gave it. 8 “Absolutely futile!” laments the Teacher, “All these things are futile!” 9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught knowledge to the people; he carefully evaluated and arranged many proverbs.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 38:23
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
21 Don’t forget it, for there is no returning again. You do him no good, and you would harm yourself. 22 Remember his end, for so also will yours be: yesterday for him, and today for you. 23 When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest. Be comforted for him when his spirit departs from him. 24 The wisdom of the scribe comes by the opportunity of leisure. He who has little business can become wise. 25 How could he become wise who holds the plow, who glories in the shaft of the goad, who drives oxen and is occupied in their labors, and who mostly talks about bulls?
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jesus' last cry does not justify thinking of judgment, victory, and the coming of a new eon. 'Again' and 'great voice' refer back to verse 46, 'cried' is again a reminder of Psalm 22. Thus Matthew has understood Jesus' last cry clearly as a second - perhaps, but not necessarily, wordless - cry of prayer. While 'to give up the spirit' does not appear often, it is not an uncommon expression for 'to die.' (Compare Genesis 35:18; 1 Esdras 4:21; Sirach 38:23; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Wisdom of Solomon 16:14) Thus Matthew says merely that Jesus cries to God one last time and then dies ..."
Ulrich Luz and Helmut Koester, Matthew 21-28: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2005), 553.
* 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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