Texts in Conversation
Sirach describes a wise man traveling abroad and serving rulers. In 4Q213 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, wisdom gives a traveler honor in every land, so that he is welcomed instead of being treated as a stranger.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 39:1-5
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 He seeks out the wisdom of all the ancients, and is concerned with prophecies; 2 he preserves the sayings of the famous and penetrates the subtleties of parables; 3 he seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs and is at home with the obscurities of parables. 4 He serves among the great and appears before rulers; he travels in foreign lands and learns what is good and evil in the human lot. 5 He sets his heart to rise early to seek the Lord who made him, and to petition the Most High; he opens his mouth in prayer and asks pardon for his sins.
4Q213 1:13-19
Aramaic Levi a
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings
13 […] do not be slack in learning wisdom. 14 […] … a man who learns wisdom, all 15 [… to] him; every land and province to which he goes, 16 [a brother …] … in it, and he is not like a stranger in it, and not 17 [like a scoundrel in it … for all of them] give him honor in it, since all wish 18 [to learn his wisdom. His friends] are many, and those who wish him well are great ones. 19 [And on a seat of honor they seat him,] to hear the words of his wisdom.
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Notes and References
“... Wisdom brings honour, many friends and social position to those
who have it. This idea is already found in biblical wisdom litera-
ture, e.g., Proverbs 3:35, “the wise shall obtain honor, but dullards
get disgrace as their portion” and cf. ben Sira 10:30, 11:1 and 39:4:
compare also Proverbs 8:11, Wisdom 8:10, etc.354 Very striking is
the parallel in ben Sira 39:4, referring to the wise man:
He serves among the great
and appears before rulers;
he travels in foreign lands
and learns what is good and evil in the human lot. ...”
Greenfield, Jonas C.
The Aramaic Levi Document: Edition, Translation, Commentary
(p. 209) Brill, 2004
* 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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