The All Virtuous Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The Book of Sirach has an interesting history. While it is an accepted book of the canon for Catholics, it is not part of the Jewish Scriptures and is, therefore, not a part of the Protestant Bible. It was not accepted as part of the Jewish canon because the manuscript was written in Greek rather than Hebrew. It was thought, therefore, that it was not authentically Jewish. However, earlier manuscripts have been recovered which are written in Hebrew and point to the fact that it was probably written in Jerusalem.

The book has been known by several names. Its full title is The Book of the All Virtuous Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira, commonly known as the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach. At one time, because only Roman Catholics regarded it as inspired, it was also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus. Formerly, it was thought to have been written in Egypt rather than Israel. However, studies of the manuscript have shown that the Egyptian scroll is a translation done by the author's grandson who added a prologue. He translated it in order to provide the Israelite community of Egypt a way to better understand and practice the heritage of their ancestors.

Consequently, many of the passages of this book are meditations or reflections on the Hebrew Scriptures. The reading that we proclaim today is such a passage as it reflects on and bridges the ministries of two of the great non-classical prophets of Israel, Elijah and Elisha. These men are called "non-classical" because they did not leave behind a body of work such as the five major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel) and and twelve minor (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) classical prophets.

Whenever I read Sirach, I am struck by its meditative or reflective tenor. It provides me with a context in which to enter into my own prayerful reflections on the Hebrew Scriptures and reminds me that this tradition is continued in the Christian Scriptures. We are not meant to read these works as history books. Rather, they are springboards that help us to pray about, to meditate on, and to contemplate the wonderful plan that God put in place for our salvation. For instance, the passage we read today speaks of the intensity, the ardor, the fervor with which Elijah pursued the Word of God. Such dedication to God's word is certainly an example that I can imitate or emulate. This connection to one of our Hebrew ancestors helps us to understand our vocation as we, like Jesus ben Sira's grandson, strive to live according to the heritage of the Catholic faith even though we live in a culture that seems to be losing that heritage.