Sirach 11:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high, and seats them among the great. 2 Do not praise individuals for their good looks, or loathe anyone because of appearance alone. 3 The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things. 4 Do not boast about wearing fine clothes, and do not exalt yourself when you are honored; for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works are concealed from humankind.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Jerusalem Nazir 5.3
Jerusalem Talmud
Rabbinic
He said to him, why did you trick me? He said, I did not trick you; you with your money and I with my learning, as it is written (Eccl. 7:12) “In the shadow of wisdom, in the shadow of money.” He said to him, why did you disappear? He said to him, I heard that my lord was angry with me and I wanted to fulfill the verse (Is. 26:20) “Hide a little bit until the rage passes;” he used about himself (Eccl. 7:12): “Knowledge is an advantage, wisdom lets its possessor live.” He said to him, why did you sit between king and queen? He said to him, it is written in the book of Ben Sirach: “Esteem it and it will raise you and seat you among princes.” He said, bring him a cup that he may recite Grace. They brought him a cup and he said: “Let us give praise for the food that Yannai and his company ate.”
Date: 375-425 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... Source (2) is from the second half of Sirach 11:1. It is unique in that the first half of the rabbinic citation is from the first half of Proverbs 4:8, but the second half is from the Ben Sira verse. In the five rabbinic versions of this tradition (four from Palestine and one from the Babylonian version of that Palestinian tradition), the citation is easily identifiable in comparison to Ben Sira MS A. The two differences are that the rabbinic citation changes the Ben Sira verse from third person to second person in order to match it to the Proverbs quotation that precedes it, and the word״נדיבים״ (princes, munificent ones) is replaced with״נגידים״ (rulers, princes), which is both orthographically and semantically similar ..."
* 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.
Your Feedback:
User Comments
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.