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Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book
Chapter 43

1 The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear sky, the appearance of heaven, in the spectacle of its glory. 2 The sun, when it appears, bringing tidings as it rises, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High.⁠ 3 At noon, it dries up the land. Who can stand against its burning heat? 4 A man tending a furnace is in burning heat, but the sun three times more, burning up the mountains, breathing out fiery vapors, and sending out bright beams, it blinds the eyes. 5 Great is the Lord who made it. At his word, he hastens on its course. 6 The moon marks the changing seasons, declares times, and is a sign for the world. 7 From the moon is the sign of feast days, a light that wanes when it completes its course. 8 The month is called after its name, increasing wonderfully in its changing— an instrument of the army on high, shining in the structure of heaven, 9 the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord. 10 At the word of the Holy One, they will stand in due order. They won’t faint in their watches. 11 Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it. It is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness. 12 It encircles the sky with its glorious circle. The hands of the Most High have stretched it out. 13 By his commandment, he makes the snow fall and swiftly sends the lightnings of his judgment.⁠ 14 Therefore the storehouses are opened, and clouds fly out like birds. 15 By his mighty power, he makes the clouds strong and the hailstones are broken in pieces. 17 The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth. At his appearing, the mountains will be shaken.⁠ At his will, the south wind will blow. So does the northern storm and the whirlwind. Like birds flying down, he sprinkles the snow. It falls down like the alighting of locusts. 18 The eye is dazzled at the beauty of its whiteness. The heart is amazed as it falls. 19 He also pours out frost on the earth like salt.⁠ When it is freezes, it has points like thorns. 20 The cold north wind blows and ice freezes on the water. It settles on every pool of water. The water puts it on like it was a breastplate. 21 It will devour the mountains, burn up the wilderness, and consume the green grass like fire. 22 A mist coming speedily heals all things. A dew coming after heat brings cheerfulness. 23 By his counsel, he has calmed the deep and planted islands in it. 24 Those who sail on the sea tell of its dangers. We marvel when we hear it with our ears. 25 There are also those strange and wondrous works in it— variety of all that has life and the huge creatures of the sea. 26 Because of him, his messengers succeed. By his word, all things hold together.⁠ 27 We may say many things, but couldn’t say enough. The summary of our words is, “He is everything!”⁠ 28 How could we have strength to glorify him? For he is himself the greater than all his works. 29 The Lord is awesome and exceedingly great! His power is marvelous! 30 Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can! For even yet, he will surpass that. When you exalt him, summon your full strength. Don’t be weary, because you can’t praise him enough. 31 Who has seen him, that he may describe him? Who can magnify him as he is? 32 Many things greater than these are hidden, for we have seen just a few of his works. 33 For the Lord made all things. He gave wisdom to the godly.

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezekiel 1:22 and Sirach 43:13

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

Ezekiel and Sirach both reflect an ancient Near Eastern cosmology with the sky as a solid dome that shines like crystal and is connected to the weather. In Ezekiel, it forms an icy platform for the divine throne, and in Sirach it releases snow.

Passages

Ezekiel 1:22

Hebrew Bible
20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. 21 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel. 22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like a dome41, glittering awesomely like ice, stretched out over their heads. 23 Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body. 24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings—it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Sovereign One, or the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

Sirach 43:13

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
11 Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it. It is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness. 12 It encircles the sky with its glorious circle. The hands of the Most High have stretched it out. 13 By his commandment, he makes the snow fall and swiftly sends the lightnings of his judgment. 14 Therefore the storehouses are opened, and clouds fly out like birds. 15 By his mighty power, he makes the clouds strong and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

References

"... If we discuss “throne” and “temple” within a cosmological context in ancient Judaism, another important text from the Tanak comes into focus: Ezekiel 1–3 (and chapters 8–11). In these visions, the prophet faces a heavenly scene that provides further important testimony to a heavenward-like, cosmological concept, by referring to the Cherubim (compare Ezekiel 10:1–9) and the “firmament” in connection with precious stones: crystal (Ezekiel 1:22) and sapphire or lapis lazuli (Ezekiel 1:26). The term, an embossed metal sheet or firm plate, denotes in Ezekiel 1 (compare verses 22–24, 26) the division between the earthly sky below and the upper heavens. The precious stones function as a symbolic realization of a divided heaven. This is already the case in a Neo-Assyrian religious explanatory text from the first millennium BCE, whose origin may be traced back to the Kassite period (second half of the second millennium BCE) ... As attested in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (Natural History 37.37), jasper (Greek: ἴασπις) is a translucent stone, and also in Ezekiel 1:22 the firm plate is like the “splendor of ice” or “crystal”. What is more, just as Bel or Marduk sat on the “high podium inside,” in the lapis lazuli sanctuary, so Ezekiel 1:26 and 10:1 refer to the throne of YHWH, made of lapis lazuli (see also Exodus 24:9–10) ..."
Stefan Beyerle, “Heaven: Use, Function and Content of a Cosmic Concept,” in Cosmos and Creation: Second Temple Perspectives, ed. Michael W. Duggan et al. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2020), 13–33.

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Ezekiel 1:22 and Sirach 43:13

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