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Sirach 30 says that death is preferable to a life of misery or prolonged sickness, a sentiment echoed in Tobit 3:6 when Tobit, overwhelmed by suffering, prays for death rather than continued affliction.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 3:6
Deuterocanon
5 And now your many judgments are true in exacting from me the penalty of my sins, because we did not keep your commandments and did not walk truly before you. 6 And now deal with me according to your pleasure, and command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be released from off the earth and become earth: for it is more profitable for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and there is much sorrow in me. Lord, command that I be released from this distress, let me go to the everlasting place, and do not turn your face, O Lord, away from me. For it is more profitable for me to die, than to see much distress in my life, and not to hear reproaches. 7 On this day it happened to Sarah the daughter of Raguel who was in Ecbatana of Media, that she also heard reproaches by one of her father’s maidservants;
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 30:17
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
15 Health and fitness are better than all gold, and a strong body better than wealth without measure. 16 There is no wealth better than health of body. There is no gladness above the joy of the heart. 17 Death is better than a bitter life, and eternal rest than a continual sickness. 18 Good things poured out upon a mouth that is closed are like food offerings laid upon a grave. 19 What does an offering profit an idol? For it can’t eat or smell. So is he who is punished by the Lord,
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Compare the sentiment of Ben Sirach 30:17 “Death is better than a life of misery, and eternal sleep than chronic sickness.” Today this verse of Ben Sirach’s is often read at Jewish funerals of those who have died after a long illness ..."
Robert J. Littman, Tobit: The Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 74.
* 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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