Texts in Conversation
Sirach 19 and the Septuagint of Proverbs explore the meaning of cleverness in different ways. Sirach warns that shrewdness can excuse sin, yet Proverbs uses the same Greek word for insight given to the innocent and shows how it can guide toward good.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 19:23
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
22 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom. The prudence of sinners is not counsel. 23 There is a wickedness, and it is an abomination. There is a fool lacking in wisdom. 24 Better is one who has little understanding, and fears God, than one who has much intelligence and transgresses the law.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Proverbs 1:4
Septuagint
3 to receive also twistings of words, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgment; 4 that he might give shrewdness to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding. 5 For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and a man of understanding will gain direction;
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... LXX Proverbs 1:4 ... ἵνα δῷ ἀκάκοις πανουργίαν, “in order that he may impart shrewdness to the guileless.” In general Greek usage the word πανουργία, as well as the related adjective πανοῦργος, has a negative connotation, suggesting dishonest slyness and cunning. This is also true of biblical Greek outside of the book of Proverbs (see for example Numbers 24:22; Sirach 19:23; Luke 20:23; Ephesians 4:14). It is a peculiarity of the Greek of Proverbs, however, that it uses these words in a positive sense, suggesting godly wisdom. This positive connotation is clearly illustrated for πανουργία in the present verse (see also 8:5), and for πανοῦργος in the thirteen places where it occurs elsewhere in Proverbs ..."
Albert M. Wolters, Septuagint Commentary Series: Proverbs (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 127–128.
* 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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