Texts in Conversation
Sirach 13 and Job 29 both describe figures who are met with silence and deference, using similar idiomatic language. While Job recalls the honor he received for his just actions, Sirach presents a rich man whose wealth alone commands such silence.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Job 29:9
Hebrew Bible
7 When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square, 8 the young men would see me and step aside, and the old men would get up and remain standing; 9 the chief men refrained from talking and covered their mouths with their hands; 10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Date: 500–401 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 13:23
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
22 When a rich man falls, there are many helpers. He speaks things not to be spoken, and men justify him. A humble man falls, and men rebuke him. He utters wisdom, and is not listened to. 23 A rich man speaks, and all keep silence. They extol what he says to the clouds. A poor man speaks, and they say, “Who is this?” If he stumbles, they will help to overthrow him. 24 Riches are good if they have no sin. Poverty is evil only in the opinion of the ungodly.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Sirach 13:23 declares that when the rich person speaks, “all have been silenced”. Here the sage uses a rare root (“be silent”), occurring in MT as a hapax legomenon; in Deuteronomy 27:9 Moses and the Levitical priests preface their instructions to the people with a call to attention: (“Be silent and hear, O Israel”). In Sirach 13:23, however, the people give their reverent attention, not to Moses’ teaching but to the utterances of an arrogant rich person. Whereas in Job 29:9 the formerly wealthy patriarch had earned a respectful silence from people by his care of the poor (Job 29:12–17), Ben Sira speaks of the awe commanded by the rich person simply by virtue of his powerful economic position ..."
Jeremy Corley, Ben Sira's Teaching on Friendship (Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2020), 150–151.
* 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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