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Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book
Chapter 15

1 He who fears the Lord will do this. He who has possession of the law will obtain her.⁠ 2 She will meet him like a mother, and receive him like a wife married in her virginity.⁠ 3 She will feed him with bread of understanding and give him water of wisdom to drink. 4 He will be stayed upon her, and will not be moved. He will rely upon her, and will not be confounded. 5 She will exalt him above his neighbors. She will open his mouth in the midst of the congregation. 6 He will inherit joy, a crown of gladness, and an everlasting name. 7 Foolish men will not obtain her. Sinners will not see her. 8 She is far from pride. Liars will not remember her. 9 Praise is not attractive in the mouth of a sinner; for it was not sent to him from the Lord.⁠ 10 For praise will be spoken in wisdom; The Lord will prosper it.

Human Freedom and Responsibility

11 Don’t say, “It is through the Lord that I fell away;” for you shall not do the things that he hates.⁠ 12 Don’t say, “It is he that caused me to err;” for he has no need of a sinful man. 13 The Lord hates every abomination; and those who fear him don’t love them.⁠ 14 He himself made man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his own counsel.⁠ 15 If you choose, you can keep the commandments. To be faithful is a matter of your choice. 16 He has set fire and water before you. You will stretch forth your hand to whichever you desire. 17 Before man is life and death. Whichever he likes, it will be given to him.⁠ 18 For the wisdom of the Lord is great. He is mighty in power, and sees all things. 19 His eyes are upon those who fear him. He knows every act of man. 20 He has not commanded any man to be ungodly. He has not given any man license to sin.

Texts in conversation

Compare Sirach 15:9 and John Chrysostom, Homily 35 on Acts

Deuterocanon · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian John Chrysostom uses Sirach as an authoritative source for teaching when he repeats its claim that praise loses value when it comes from those who act unjustly, showing how it influenced early Christian tradition.

Passages

Sirach 15:9

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
7 Foolish men will not obtain her. Sinners will not see her. 8 She is far from pride. Liars will not remember her. 9 Praise is not attractive in the mouth of a sinner; for it was not sent to him from the Lord. 10 For praise will be spoken in wisdom; The Lord will prosper it. 11 Don’t say, “It is through the Lord that I fell away;” for you shall not do the things that he hates.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

John Chrysostom, Homily 35 on Acts

Early Christian
And (the demon) wanted to lead them into temptation. (therefore) To provoke them, she followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God, who show us the way of salvation. (v. 17.) You cursed, detestable creature! If you know that what they show is His way of salvation, why do you not come out of your own accord? The demon wanted just what Simon wanted when he said, Give me this power, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. (ch. viii. 19.) Seeing them become famous, he too plays the hypocrite. He thought this would let him remain in the body if he preached the same things. But if Christ does not accept testimony from a human being (John v. 34), meaning John, much less from a demon. Praise is not fitting in the mouth of a sinner (Ecclus. xv. 9), much less from a demon. For preaching comes not from human beings, but from the Holy Spirit.
387–400 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John Chrysostom, Homily 35 on Acts

References

"... The golden age of Greek patristic literature, that is, the fourth and fifth centuries, are no exception as far as the popularity of Sirach. Besides John Chrysostom, nearly all of the most prominent authors of this period cite from Sirach, including, inter alia, Clement of Alexandria, Ambrose, and Augustine. Clement of Alexandria even believed that Sirach had influenced the Greek philosopher Heraclitus (Stromata 2:5). Sirach was also popular with authors such as Tertullian, Origen and Cyprian. Jerome, however, rejected the canonical status of Sirach. The first full commentary on Sirach was only completed in the ninth century by Rabanus Maurus. The citations in John’s homilies are often sporadic proof-texts. But what is interesting is the constant repetition of certain citations, citations that seem to have remained in John’s memory. The homilies on the books of the New Testament come in the guise of a sermonic commentary, with verse-by-verse expositions. But inside these expositions one finds many other citations which were probably quoted from memory and not necessarily from a text. It is therefore problematic to speculate from which text or version a citation originates, since John probably memorized many Sirachic proverbs during his monastic retreat or ministerial period. This obviously does not rule out the possibility that John probably had a written text at his disposal (which he may have read for study and devotion). Some proverbs are cited or alluded to more often than others. The more popular citations, which occur frequently in the homilies, are Sirach 1:22; 5:6; and 18:16-17. Other citations occurring more than once include Sirach 2:4; 3:30; 4:8; 9:9, 13, 15; 10:9, 12-13; 11:3; 13:15; 15:9; 16:3, 12; 18:30; 19:10-11; 21:2; 23:10, 17; 28:3; and 34:23. There are a total of 65 individual verses cited from Sirach in John’s New Testament homilies, only slightly fewer than the 77 verses cited from Proverbs ..."
Chris de Wet, “John Chrysostom's Use of the Book of Sirach in His Homilies on the New Testament,” (2010): 1–6.

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 15:9 and John Chrysostom, Homily 35 on Acts

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