Sirach
- Job (Job job )
- Psalms
- Proverbs (Proverbs )
- Kohelet (Ecclesiastes )
- Canticles
- Wisdom (Catholic and Greek Orthodox)
- Sirach ( Ecclesiasticus ) (Catholic and Greek Orthodox)
- Prayer of Manasseh (Greek Orthodox)
Name after the ÖVBE. Pseudepigrapha the Septuagint are in italics.
The Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus ( Ben Sira, Siracides, Sophia Seirach, abbreviated Sir, also falsely Ben Sirach by mixing of Ben Sira, and Ecclesiasticus ) is a deuterokanonisches book of the Old Testament, created in the early second century BC (before 175 BC JC). It is counted among the books of wisdom literature.
Author and date
The author's name is mentioned in Sir 50,27 c. It is the Jewish Jesus ben Sirach teachers ( Jesus ben Eleazar ben Sira; ישוע בן אליעזר בן סירא ), often also called simply ben Sirach, Sirach Jesus Son of Sirach or Jesus or Siracides. He lived in Jerusalem and has the book there, but possibly also written in Alexandria, Egypt, where he - unsafe products, according to - worked as a school principal.
Also uncertain are traditions, according to which the author priest, possibly landowner or doctor was. From the text itself, a high level of education can be seen, the familiarity with the public appearance and educational experience. Other features are an excellent knowledge of the Bible and the self-understanding as a " wise man ".
When drafting period, the years are 180-175 BC The book was several decades later translated by a grandson in Egypt into Greek and with an introduction.
Canon and use
Although the book was not included in the Jewish canon, it is quoted in the Talmud, which testifies to the high esteem of the book by the rabbis. It is part of the Septuagint and is considered by Catholics and Orthodox Christians as part of the Bible. In the churches of the Reformation, although there are only financially, the Apocrypha, the book was still very popular, and was reprinted countless times used in the instruction saying how Ernst Koch has demonstrated.
The book was in the Latin Church ecclesiasticus liber (Latin and Greek for latinisiertes church book ) because it was used in the preparation of the catechumens for baptism as a textbook. Today, the title of Sirach or simply Sirach is frequently used instead of Ecclesiasticus. Ecclesiasticus is not to be confused with Ecclesiastes, another name for the Book of Kohelet ( Ecclesiastes ).
Tradition
Only the Greek translation is available in two forms of text ( Gr. I and a longer Gr. II) obtained in various manuscripts that go back all on a single manuscript ( Hyparchetyp ).
Between 1896 and 1900 discovered Solomon Schechter in the Geniza of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo numerous fragments, which were then transferred to Cambridge, where it was discovered, described and published by Schechter, George Margoliouth, Elkan Nathan Adler, Moses Gaster, Israel Lévi that among these numerous findings also fragments of a total of about two-thirds of the book were included.
Other fragments from Chapter 6 were later found at Qumran. After Yigael Yadin in 1964 discovered at Masada fragments with Chapters 39-44, it could be proved that the manuscript B represents the original Hebrew version of the Geniza substantially. From an early Greek translation of the text form Gr. II already a Latin translation was done early, which was included in the later Latin Vulgate by Jerome.
Content
The book is in its first part a thematically organized collection of sapiential proverbs, in which the author 's - featured as a young man - exhorts readers to a God-fearing and God-pleasing life (all quotes from the Bible):
This exhortation to a godly life will unfold in many different walks of life now and in relation to different groups of fellows:
Interspersed are passages in which praised the wisdom and their origin is explained, as the culmination of a hymn of wisdom on itself (Chapter 24, only 24.1 to 3 ):
Among the many sapiential recommendations, which the author gives his readers, including those in the choice of his advisers to be careful ( 37.7 to 11 EU). Trusting counselors are people who adhere to the law ( 37.12 EU), God ( 37.15 EU) and one's own heart:
In the biblical symbolism body the heart is considered the seat of the mind, the decisions and planning and thus is more representative of what we would call a head or brain.
The praise of wisdom corresponds to the appreciation of a life devoted entirely to the wisdom, the life of the scribes ( 38.24 to 39.11 ). The distinction made in this context ( advantageous ) contrasting his life with that of many other professional groups may have been influenced by the Egyptian doctrine of Khety.
The second part of the book begins with a praise of the Creator in nature, to the praise of the fathers of Israel followed - from Enoch to a contemporary of the author, the high priest Simon:
The second part in this way forms a hymn-like outline of the entire history of salvation, ending with the time of the author. After a first closing remarks followed by two additions and a second closing remarks.