Go to Related Reading
About this book

Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book
Chapter 35

1 He who keeps the law multiplies offerings. 2 He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering. 3 He who returns a kindness offers fine flour. 4 He who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering. 5 To depart from wickedness pleases the Lord. To depart from unrighteousness is an atoning sacrifice. 6 See that you don’t appear in the presence of the Lord empty. 7 For all these things are done because of the commandment. 8 The offering of the righteous enriches the altar. The sweet fragrance of it is before the Most High. 9 The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable. It won’t be forgotten. 10 Glorify the Lord with generosity. Don’t reduce the first fruits of your hands. 11 In every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness.⁠ 12 Give to the Most High according as he has given. As your hand has found, give generously. 13 For the Lord repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. 14 Don’t plan to bribe him with gifts, for he will not receive them. 15 Don’t set your mind on an unrighteous sacrifice, For the Lord is the judge, and with him is no respect of persons.⁠ 16 He won’t accept any person against a poor man. He will listen to the prayer of him who is wronged. 17 He will in no way despise the supplication of the fatherless or the widow, when she pours out her tale.⁠ 18 Don’t the tears of the widow run down her cheek? 19 Isn’t her cry against him who has caused them to fall? 20 He who serves God according to his good pleasure will be accepted. His supplication will reach to the clouds. 21 The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds. until it comes near, he will not be comforted. He won’t depart until the Most High visits and he judges righteously and executes judgment.⁠ 22 And the Lord will not be slack, neither will he be patient toward them, until he has crushed the loins of the unmerciful.⁠ 23 He will repay vengeance to the nations until he has taken away the multitude of the arrogant and broken in pieces the sceptres of the unrighteous, 24 until he has rendered to every man according to his deeds, and repaid the works of men according to their plans, 25 until he has judged the cause of his people, and he will make them rejoice in his mercy. 26 Mercy is as welcome in the time of his affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought.

Texts in conversation

Compare Sirach 35:17 and Luke 18:3

Deuterocanon · New Testament

Share:

Summary

Sirach says the cries of widows and orphans reach heaven and cannot be ignored. Luke echoes this when Jesus tells of a widow whose repeated pleas move an unjust judge. The story shows that God, who is a just judge, will hear and help those who suffer.

Passages

Sirach 35:17

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
14 Don’t plan to bribe him with gifts, for he will not receive them. 15 Don’t set your mind on an unrighteous sacrifice, For the Lord is the judge, and with him is no respect of persons. 16 He won’t accept any person against a poor man. He will listen to the prayer of him who is wronged. 17 He will in no way despise the supplication of the fatherless or the widow, when she pours out her tale. 18 Don’t the tears of the widow run down her cheek? 19 Isn’t her cry against him who has caused them to fall? 20 He who serves God according to his good pleasure will be accepted. His supplication will reach to the clouds.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

Luke 18:3

New Testament
1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 7 Won’t God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... This parable is deeply embedded in traditional Middle Eastern public chivalry toward women, and needs to be compared to a similar account composed more than two hundred years earlier in a book titled the Wisdom of Ben Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus). This book is often referred to as deutero-canonical and is read as Scripture by Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christians ... Clearly, there are similarities and differences between the words of Sirach and Jesus ... the Jewish tradition expected that the masal (the parable) should be accompanied by its nimsal (that extra bit of information that the listener/reader needed to understand the parable) ..."
Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2008), 261–268.

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

Your feedback

Sirach 35:17 and Luke 18:3

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library