Texts in Conversation
Sirach 24 echoes Proverbs 8 by using the same language to describe Wisdom’s creation in the beginning, showing that Sirach intentionally positions itself in continuity with this Jewish wisdom tradition.
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Proverbs 8:22
Hebrew Bible
18 Riches and honor are with me, long-lasting wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than the purest gold, and my harvest is better than choice silver. 20 I walk in the path of righteousness, in the pathway of justice, 21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and that I may fill their treasuries. 22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago. 23 From eternity I have been fashioned, from the beginning, from before the world existed.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Sirach 24:9
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
7 Among all these I sought a resting place; in whose territory should I abide? 8 "Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent. He said, "Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.' 9 Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me, and for all the ages I shall not cease to be. 10 In the holy tent I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion. 11 Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my domain.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In both Proverbs 8:22 (LXX) and Sirach 24:9, Wisdom says that the Lord created (ἔκτισε) her. Yet in Wisdom 7:25-26, the sage calls Wisdom “an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty (ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπόρροια τῆς τοῦ Παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής)…” and “the refulgence of eternal light (ἀπαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι φωτὸς ἀϊδίου)….” Brown comments, then, that while Wisdom is not called “God” in Hebrew thought, as it is said in the Prologue that “the Word was God,” “nevertheless Wisdom is divine.” An “interesting” parallel can be seen in the fact that in the Prologue, the λόγος is twice said to be μονογενής, that is, the only Son, (John 1:14, 18), and in Wisdom 7:22, Wisdom is said to possess a spirit that is μονογενές, that is, unique ..."
Latham, Joseph Michael
Word of Life, Word of God: An Examination of the Use of the Term Logos in the Johannine Literature
(p. 374) Loyola University Chicago, 2013
* 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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