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Sirach reflects on death in a way that echoes Ecclesiastes 4, where those who have died are viewed as more fortunate than the living, and those never born are spared entirely from witnessing injustice and experiencing anxiety.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ecclesiastes 4:2
Hebrew Bible
1 So I again considered all the oppression that continually occurs on earth. This is what I saw: The oppressed were in tears, but no one was comforting them; no one delivers them from the power of their oppressors. 2 So I considered those who are dead and gone more fortunate than those who are still alive. 3 But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 41:3
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 O death, how bitter is the memory of you to a man who is at peace in his possessions, to the man who has nothing to distract him and has prosperity in all things, and who still has strength to enjoy food! 2 O death, your sentence is acceptable to a man who is needy and who fails in strength, who is in extreme old age, is distracted about all things, is perverse, and has lost patience! 3 Don’t be afraid of the sentence of death. Remember those who have been before you and who come after. This is the sentence from the Lord over all flesh. 4 And why do you refuse when it is the good pleasure of the Most High? Whether life lasts ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years, there is no inquiry about life in Hades.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Chapter 41:3-4 expresses Sirach's view of death in a nutshell ... This is Sirach's most definitive statement on the finality of death, and leaves no room for resurrection or a blessed afterlife. Sirach's views on this subject are no different than those of Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes), except that he holds them with resignation, whereas Qoheleth chafes against them. Sirach recognizes that death can be bitter for one who is at peace among his possessions (40:1). But he also recognizes that death can be welcome "to one who is needy and failing in strength, worn down by age and anxious about everything" (41:2). The attractiveness of death in certain circumstances received classic expression in the Egyptian Dispute of a Man with His Ba (Soul) about 2000 B.C.E. Such sentiments are not common in the Hebrew Bible but occur more than once in Ben Sira. According to Sirach 30:17, 'Death is better than a futile life, and eternal sleep than chronic sickness.' (The repose of the dead is commonly called sleep in Jewish epitaphs of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.) The same sentiment is found in Tobit 3:6, 10, 13 in the prayers of Tobit and Sarah. (Compare also 1 Kings 19:4 (Elijah); Jonah 4:3; Job 3:11, 13, 17; Ecclesiastes 4:2) ..."
John J. Collins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age, OTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997), 92–93.
* 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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