"... Ben Sira begins his treatment of human moral responsibility with an examination of the disposition of the foolish person, i.e., the one who rejects the way toward wisdom embodied above all in God’s commandments and seeks another goal (compare 15:11–20). Ben Sira asserts that such a person is still responsible because, like all persons, he has the power to follow God’s commandments, but instead chooses to follow a way of life marked by self-reliance and pride, and this so distorts the fool’s thinking that he actually attributes his sinful behavior to God. Ben Sira then turns his attention to God’s relationship with such fools and how God consistently deals with them by requiting their deeds as they deserve (compare 16:1–16). This description includes both concrete historical examples of God’s punishment of the wicked (verses 7–10 and verses 15–16) and clear dogmatic formulations of the principle that everyone is judged according to their deeds (verses 12–14). Thus, Ben Sira comes quite close to a theology of retribution that is found elsewhere in the Old Testament, intertwining general formulations of retribution found in sapiential thought (compare Psalm 7:15; 9:15; 57:6; Proverbs 1–8) with historical examples of retribution found in the traditions of Israel in which God is described as directly punishing those who are stubborn and rebellious (Numbers 11:3 [compare Sirach 16:6]) ..."