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About this book

Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book

The Origin of Wisdom

Chapter 1

1 All wisdom comes from the Lord, and is with him forever.⁠ 2 Who can count the sand of the seas, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity?⁠ 3 Who will search out the height of the sky, the breadth of the earth, the deep, and wisdom? 4 Wisdom has been created before all things,⁠ and the understanding of prudence from everlasting. 6 To whom has the root of wisdom been revealed? Who has known her shrewd counsels? 8 There is one wise, greatly to be feared, sitting upon his throne: the Lord. 9 He created her. He saw and measured her. He poured her out upon all his works.⁠ 10 She is with all flesh according to his gift. He gave her freely to those who love him.

Reverence for God and Wisdom

11 The fear of the Lord is glory, exultation, gladness, and a crown of rejoicing. 12 The fear of the Lord will delight the heart, and will give gladness, joy, and length of days. 13 Whoever fears the Lord, it will go well with him at the last. He will be blessed in the day of his death. 14 To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It was created together with the faithful in the womb. 15 She laid an eternal foundation with men. She will be trusted among their offspring. 16 To fear the Lord is the fullness of wisdom. She inebriates men with her fruits. 17 She will fill all her house with desirable things, and her storehouses with her produce. 18 The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom,⁠ making peace and perfect health to flourish. 19 He both saw and measured her. He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding, and exalted the honor of those who hold her fast. 20 To fear the Lord is the root of wisdom. Her branches are length of days. 21 [The fear of the Lord drives away sins.⁠ Where it resides, it will turn away all anger.] 22 Unjust wrath can never be justified, for his wrath tips the scale to his downfall.⁠ 23 A man that is patient will resist for a season, and afterward gladness will spring up to him. 24 He will hide his words until the right moment, and the lips of many will tell of his understanding. 25 A wise saying is in the treasures of wisdom; but godliness is an abomination to a sinner. 26 If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments and the Lord will give her to you freely; 27 for the fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction. Faith and humility are his good pleasure.⁠ 28 Don’t disobey the fear of the Lord. Don’t come to him with a double heart. 29 Don’t be a hypocrite in men’s sight. Keep watch over your lips. 30 Don’t exalt yourself, lest you fall and bring dishonor upon your soul. The Lord will reveal your secrets and will cast you down in the midst of the congregation, because you didn’t come to the fear of the Lord and your heart was full of deceit.

Texts in conversation

Compare Sirach 1:2 and Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on Arianism 1:4

Deuterocanon · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian Alexander of Alexandria uses Sirach as an authoritative source to teach about wisdom and how it represents the foundation of all of creation, quoting Sirach along with other texts from the Hebrew Bible.

Passages

Sirach 1:2

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
1 All wisdom comes from the Lord, and is with him forever. 2 Who can count the sand of the seas, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity? 3 Who will search out the height of the sky, the breadth of the earth, the deep, and wisdom? 4 Wisdom has been created before all things, and the understanding of prudence from everlasting.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on Arianism 1:4

Early Christian
comprehension lies the indescribable hypostasis of the only-begotten God. I do not think those who dare to inquire into these things should be counted among the pious, because of their disobedience to the saying: “Do not seek what is too hard for you, and do not examine what is too high for you.” For if the knowledge of many other things, incomparably less significant than these, is hidden from human understanding (as in Paul: “What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him”; and God also says to Abraham that he cannot count the stars; and again, “Who will number the sand of the seas and the drops of rain?”), how could anyone inquire curiously into the hypostasis of the Word of God, unless he were overcome by madness? Concerning it the prophetic Spirit says: “Who will declare his generation?” And our Savior himself, doing good to the pillars of all things in the world, I mean the apostles who speak of God, was eager to relieve them of the burden of knowledge about these things, saying that understanding it lies beyond the nature of any of them, and that the knowledge of this most divine mystery is reserved to the Father alone: “For no one knows who the Son is,” he says, “except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.” Concerning this I think the Father too says: “My mystery is for me.” That it is madness to think that the Son came into being from things that do not exist, having a beginning in time, is shown at once by the phrase “from things that do not exist,” even if the fools do not recognize the madness of their own expression. For the “was not” must be placed either in times or in some interval of an age. If, then, it is true that all things came into being through him, it is clear that every age and time and interval and the “when,” in which the “was not” is found, came into being through him. And how is it not incredible to say that he who made times and ages and seasons, in which the “was not” is mixed up, himself at some time did not exist? For it is senseless and full of all ignorance to say that the cause of something is himself later than its coming into being. For according to them that interval, in which they say the Son had not been begotten by the Father, precedes the Wisdom of God that fashions the universe; and according to them the Scripture that proclaims him “firstborn of all creation” also lies. In agreement with this the Paul too proclaims most forcefully, saying of him:
320–328 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on Arianism

References

"... The principal method of Nalean’s interpretation is homiletic or kerygmatic. For him it is important that the truths expressed in his works penetrate into the readers’ hearts and change their insight ... His primary aim is to combine Christian spiritual teachings with philosophy and more scientific explanations of life. In many cases he refers to the prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos), the apostles (e.g. Peter, Paul, James etc.) as well as the holy fathers of the Church (e.g. Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Alexander of Alexandria, Augustine, etc.) incorporating along with them references from the most famous Greco-Roman thinkers, e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Homer, Sophocles, Porphyrios, Seneca, etc ... Throughout his commentary on Sirach, Nalean implicitly shows his concern about the religious decline and social injustice that the Armenian community in Constantinople was facing ..."
Garegin Hambardzumyan, The Book of Sirach in the Armenian Biblical Tradition: Yakob Nalean and His Commentary on Sirach (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2016), 147.

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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Sirach 1:2 and Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on Arianism 1:4

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