Texts in Conversation
Sirach expands a saying from Proverbs with a focus on generosity, teaching that wealth cannot save a person, but good actions can. Sirach adds that giving to the poor is one way to demonstrate that righteousness.
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Proverbs 11:4
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but an accurate weight is his delight. 2 After pride came, disgrace followed; but wisdom came with humility. 3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. 4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless will make their way smooth, but the wicked will fall through their own wickedness.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Sirach 3:30
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
27 A stubborn mind will be burdened by troubles, and the sinner adds sin to sins. 28 When calamity befalls the proud, there is no healing, for an evil plant has taken root in him. 29 The mind of the intelligent appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the desire of the wise. 30 As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sin.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Righteousness in 4Q420-21 may allude to charitable works. 4Q424 3 7-10 gives advice regarding kindness towards the poor: 'a man of generosity performs charity for the poor' (1.9). It is used several times as a term for almsgiving in Ben Sira. Sirach 3:30-4:6 is on this topic and reads in part: 'As water quenches flaming fire, so alms atone for sins. The kindness a person has done crosses his path as he goes' (3:30-31; compare 12:3; 16:14; 40:24). Compassion for the downtrodden is a prominent theme in traditional wisdom (e.g., Proverbs 14:31; 21:13; 22:7). This topic is highlighted also in the covenantal tradition and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Almsgiving is not explicit in 4QWays of Righteousness, but there is nothing in the text that is incompatible with this theme. That 4Q420-21 recommends almsgiving remains a reasonable possibility ..."
Goff, Matthew J.
Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(pp. 164-165) Brill, 2007
* 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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