"... The starting point for a study of Syriac usage of yaṣrā is the small collection of biblical passages in the Peshitta that use the word, namely Genesis 6:5, 8:21b, and Deuteronomy 31:21a. In each of these passages the Syriac yaṣrā renders the Hebrew yetzer. It is also found in three passages in Sirach, which was included in the Peshitta biblical canon, and was translated into Syriac from Hebrew (rather than Greek). In the first of these, Sirach 15:14, the Hebrew text is preserved, and includes the term yetzer. In the other two passages, Sirach 17:31 and 21:11, the Hebrew is now lost. However, the presence of yaṣrā in these passages is strong evidence that the lost Hebrew verses also contained yetzer. This is significant, not just because it adds a few more references to our list of citations, but also because these verses provided early readers with further information about the yaṣrā. While the Genesis passages emphasize the habitual and protracted wickedness of the human yaṣrā, Sirach 17:31 introduces the possibility that the yaṣrā can be subdued (kbaš) - and this I presume is also the origin of the rabbinic tradition that the yetzer can be subdued (כבשׁ) - and Sirach 21:11 states that the one who keeps the law restrains (ā leṣ) his yetzer ..."