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About this book

Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book

Elijah

Chapter 48

1 Then Elijah arose, the prophet like fire. His word burned like a torch. 2 He brought a famine on them, and by his zeal made them few in number. 3 By the word of the Lord he closed the heavens. He brought down fire three times. 4 How you were glorified, Elijah, in your wonderful deeds!⁠ Whose glory is like yours? 5 You raised a dead man from death, from Hades, by the word of the Most High. 6 You brought down kings to destruction, and honorable men from their sickbeds. 7 You heard rebuke in Sinai, and judgments of vengeance in Horeb. 8 You anointed kings for retribution, and prophets to succeed you. 9 You were taken up in a storm of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses. 10 You were recorded for rebukes in their seasons, to calm anger, before it broke out into fury, to turn the heart of the father to the son,⁠ and to restore the tribes of Jacob. 11 Blessed are those who saw you, and those who have been made beautiful with love, for we too will surely live.

Elisha and Israel’s Failure to Repent

12 Elijah was wrapped in a whirlwind. Elisha was filled with his spirit. In his days he was not moved by the fear of any ruler, and no one brought him under control. 13 Nothing was too hard for him. When he was buried, his body prophesied. 14 He did wonders in his life, and his works were also marvelous in death. 15 Despite all this the people didn’t repent. They didn’t turn from their sins, until they were carried away as captured property from their land, and were scattered through all the earth. The people were left very few in number, but with a ruler from the house of David. 16 Some of them did what was right, but some multiplied sins.

Hezekiah and Isaiah

17 Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought water into its middle. He tunneled through rock with iron, and built cisterns for water. 18 In his days Sennacherib invaded, and sent Rabshakeh, and departed. He lifted up his hand against Zion, and boasted great things in his arrogance. 19 Then their hearts and their hands were shaken, and they were in pain, like women in labor. 20 But they called on the Lord who is merciful, spreading out their hands to him. The Holy One quickly heard them out of Heaven, and delivered them by the hand of Isaiah. 21 He struck the camp of the Assyrians, and his angel utterly destroyed them. 22 For Hezekiah did what pleased the Lord, and was strong in the ways of his ancestor David, which Isaiah the prophet commanded, who was great and faithful in his vision.⁠ 23 In his days the sun went backward. He prolonged the life of the king. 24 He saw by an excellent spirit what would happen in the future, and he comforted those who mourned in Zion.⁠ 25 He showed the things that would happen through the end of time, and the hidden things before they happened.

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Texts in conversation

Compare Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 48:10 and Matthew 11:11

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew 11 presents John the Baptist as the expected return of Elijah, traditionally connected with the beginning of the Kingdom of God. This correlates with the description of Elijah in Sirach 48, which describes him restoring Israel.

Passages

Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 48:10

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
3 By the word of the Lord he closed the heavens.
He brought down fire three times.
4 How you were glorified, Elijah, in your wonderful deeds!
Whose glory is like yours?
5 You raised a dead man from death,
from Hades, by the word of the Most High.
6 You brought down kings to destruction,
and honorable men from their sickbeds.
7 You heard rebuke in Sinai,
and judgments of vengeance in Horeb.
8 You anointed kings for retribution,
and prophets to succeed you.
9 You were taken up in a storm of fire,
in a chariot of fiery horses.
10 You were recorded for rebukes in their seasons,
to calm anger,
before it broke out into fury,
to turn the heart of the father to the son,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
195–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach

Matthew 11:11

New Testament
11 “I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is! 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come. 15 The one who has ears had better listen!
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... There are some intriguing features about Matthew’s use of Sirach: Most of these parallels are unique to Matthew among the gospels. Included here are the structuring of the beatitudes (5:3–12), the makarism concerning those who mourn (5:4), the antithesis against adultery (5:27–28), the warning against prayers that use empty phrases (6:7), warnings against laying up treasure on earth (6:19–24), advice about judging good from bad fruit (7:16), the allusions to Elijah (11:14) and (17:11), Jesus’ teaching concerning the heavy yoke (11:28–30), the parable of the treasure hidden in the field (13:44), the warning that the son of man will repay grievances (16:27), and the separation of the sheep and goats (25:34–40). In other words, these texts and themes are singular to the Matthean mindset and thus are not typical of the remaining evangelists. (2) The vast majority of these usages are related to the topic of wisdom and instruction, a theme naturally derived from Sirach that clearly adds to Matthew’s standing as a gospel focused on teachings and contemplative sayings. But these lessons are not simply sapiential in orientation. In many cases they are associated with eschatological concerns, as with those parallels that appear (6:14), (6:20), (11:14), (16:27), #18 (17:11), and (25:34–40). Thus, regardless of whether Jesus of Nazareth was actually concerned for a futuristic eschatology, Matthew finds within the materials of Sirach a working source by which to portray his teachings as such ..."
Clayton N. Jefford, “The Wisdom of Sirach and the Glue of the Matthew–Didache Tradition,” in Intertextuality in the Second Century, ed. D. Jeffrey Bingham and Clayton N. Jefford, BAC 11 (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 8–23.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 48:10 and Matthew 11:11

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