Texts in Conversation
Sirach 24 echoes Proverbs 8 by using the same language to describe Wisdom’s creation in the beginning, showing that Sirach intentionally positions itself in continuity with this Jewish wisdom tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 8:22
Hebrew Bible
18 Riches and honor are with me, long-lasting wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than the purest gold, and my harvest is better than choice silver. 20 I walk in the path of righteousness, in the pathway of justice, 21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and that I may fill their treasuries. 22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago. 23 From eternity I have been fashioned, from the beginning, from before the world existed.
Sirach 24:9
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
7 With all these I sought rest. In whose inheritance shall I lodge? 8 Then the Creator of all things gave me a command. He who created me made my tent to rest, and said, ‘Let your dwelling be in Jacob, and your inheritance in Israel.’ 9 He created me from the beginning, before the ages. For all ages, I will not cease to exist. 10 In the holy tabernacle, I ministered before him. So I was established in Zion. 11 In the beloved city, likewise he gave me rest. In Jerusalem was my domain.
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Notes and References
"... In both Proverbs 8:22 (LXX) and Sirach 24:9, Wisdom says that the Lord created (ἔκτισε) her. Yet in Wisdom 7:25-26, the sage calls Wisdom “an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty (ἀτμὶς γάρ ἐστι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπόρροια τῆς τοῦ Παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής)…” and “the refulgence of eternal light (ἀπαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι φωτὸς ἀϊδίου)….” Brown comments, then, that while Wisdom is not called “God” in Hebrew thought, as it is said in the Prologue that “the Word was God,” “nevertheless Wisdom is divine.” An “interesting” parallel can be seen in the fact that in the Prologue, the λόγος is twice said to be μονογενής, that is, the only Son, (John 1:14, 18), and in Wisdom 7:22, Wisdom is said to possess a spirit that is μονογενές, that is, unique ..."
Latham, Joseph Michael
Word of Life, Word of God: An Examination of the Use of the Term Logos in the Johannine Literature
(p. 374) Loyola University Chicago, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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