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Sirach warns that those who abandon the Torah bring disgrace to themselves and their children, reversing the pattern of children honoring their parents. Wisdom of Solomon builds on this, portraying the fall of sinners and their children as a consequence.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 41:8
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
6 The inheritance of sinners’ children will perish and with their posterity will be a perpetual disgrace. 7 Children will complain of an ungodly father, because they suffer disgrace because of him. 8 Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the Most High God! 9 If you are born, you will be born to a curse. If you die, a curse will be your portion. 10 All things that are of the earth will go back to the earth; so the ungodly will go from a curse to perdition.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 3:13
Deuterocanon
11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked. 13 Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls. 14 So is the eunuch who has done no lawless deed with his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. 15 For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Ben Sira now reflects on the unhappy earthly fate of the wicked (41:5-10), whose descendants are unsuccessful and whose name is a disgrace (Job 18:1721; Psalm 21:11). According to the sage, sinners’ children lose their power and gain dishonor (Wisdom of Solomon 3:17-19; 4:19). Against the usual biblical pattern for family life (Deuteronomy 27:16; Proverbs 31:28), these children will curse a father whose wickedness has caused them disgrace (Wisdom of Solomon 12:10-11). Sirach 41:8 laments those who forsake the Torah (49:4), a great temptation to Ben Sira’s students because of the strong influence of pagan Greek culture around that time (2 Maccabees 4:12-17). Whereas the human body decays (41:11), a good reputation is permanent, more precious than treasures (Proverbs 10:7; 22:1) ..."
Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: In One Volume (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017), 1275.
* 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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