Texts in Conversation
Sirach teaches that you should care for and have compassion on yourself. The Christian theologian Augustine quotes this and attributes it to “the Lord,” showing how he regarded Sirach as an authoritative source.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 30:23
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
22 Gladness of heart is the life of a man. Cheerfulness of a man lengthens his days. 23 Love your own soul, and comfort your heart. Remove sorrow far from you, for sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it. 24 Envy and wrath shorten life. Anxiety brings old age before its time. 25 Those who are cheerful and merry will benefit from their food.
Augustine, City of God 21.27
On the City of God Against the Pagans
Early Christian
And if they for one crime have distributed all their goods to Christ's needy members, that could profit them nothing unless they desisted from all similar actions, and attained charity which works no evil He therefore who does almsdeeds proportioned to his sins must first begin with himself. For it is not reasonable that a man who exercises charity towards his neighbor should not do so towards himself, since he hears the Lord saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” Matthew 22:39 and again, “Have compassion on your soul, and please God.” Sirach 30:24 He then who has not compassion on his own soul that he may please God, how can he be said to do almsdeeds proportioned to his sins? To the same purpose is that written, “He who is bad to himself, to whom can he be good?”
Search:
Notes and References
"... As to Augustine’s use of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, it is striking that more than once he quotes a text that is somewhat different from the Vetus Latina, which for the Book of Ben Sira, serves as the traditional Latin text. Since Augustine’s quotations from the Book of Ben Sira have more than once been brought in line with the Greek translation, a thorough investigation into this phenomenon is needed in order to find out whether he had (some) knowledge of the Greek text of the Book of Ecclesiasticus. Apart from Speculum in which Augustine for his quotations from the Book of Ben Sira usually follows the Latin, in his other works he rather frequently appears to correct the Latin Ben Sira quotations according to the Greek. An investigation into this intriguing question would be very useful. Such an in depth inquiry should also take into full consideration whether, and to what extent, St. Augustine has been influenced by a text type of Ecclesiasticus that was already used by St. Cyprian and has even been given its own siglum (K) by Thiele ..."
Beentjes, Pancratius C.
"Saint Augustine's Sermons 38-41 on the Book of Ben Sira" in Menken, M.J.J. (ed.) The Scriptures of Israel in Jewish and Christian Tradition: Essays in Honour of Maarten J.J. Menken
(pp. 81-94) Brill, 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,