Texts in Conversation
Sirach portrays the wise ruler as one who teaches, presenting instruction as the foundation of stable rule. Wisdom of Solomon uses similar language and a shared view that a good ruler supports the people and creates stability.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 10:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 A wise judge will instruct his people. The government of a man of understanding will be well ordered. 2 As is the judge of his people, so are his officials. As the city’s ruler is, so are all those who dwell in it. 3 An undisciplined king will destroy his people. A city will be established through the understanding of the powerful. 4 The government of the earth is in the Lord’s hand. In due time, he will raise up over it the right person at the right time. 5 A man’s prosperity is in the Lord’s hand. He will lay his honor upon the person of the scribe.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 6:24
Deuterocanon
22 But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will declare. I won’t hide mysteries from you; but I will explore from her first beginning, bring the knowledge of her into clear light, and I will not pass by the truth. 23 Indeed, I won’t travel with consuming envy, because envy will have no fellowship with wisdom. 24 But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world, and an understanding king is stability for his people. 25 Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will profit.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Sirach, since governance of the world and of humanity is ascribed to God, it is thought that this is a direct substitution for the rulership by Hellenistic kings. However, the first thing to note in these verses is the attention to the universal nature of divine rule. Solomon himself is said to have surpassed all other kings on the earth (1 Kings 10:23–24; compare 5:14), and we see in other texts attention to rulers over the earth. This reflects a theme that is to be found in Psalm 2 as a criticism of earthly monarchs as rulers of the earth. It is a phrase that is picked up in 1 Maccabees as a portrayal of the Hellenistic kingdoms: “He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth. He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations” (1 Maccabees 1:2–3). Later, in the Wisdom of Solomon (1:1; 6) it is a neutral and broadly applied term to all rulers, although it may have its basis in the language of Psalm 2:2. It is God who has rulership of the world according to Sirach, but it is explicitly stated that he appoints individuals to govern under him (10:4) ..."
James K. Aitken, “Sirach and Imperial History: A Reassessment,” in Sirach and Its Contexts: The Pursuit of Wisdom and Human Flourishing, ed. Samuel L. Adams, Greg Schmidt Goering, and Matthew J. Goff, JSJSup 196 (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 184–210.
* 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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