I awakened last of all as one who gathers after the great gatherers, By the blessing of the Lord I profited and filled my wine-press as one who gathers grapes.
It was natural, therefore, that he should write down his teachings in the language of his fathers. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he possessed a classical Hebrew style. Like the wise men whose teachings are preserved in the book of Proverbs, he put his thought into poetic, proverbial form. In his book there is a definite, logical arrangement of ideas. The first part consists of a series of essays on various topics. The same subject is often dealt with in many different settings (e.g., choice of friends, 6:5-17, 7:18, 12:8-12, 37:1-5). These brief essays are grouped together, and each group is provided with a brief introduction, usually in commendation of wisdom. Apparently the first half of the book consists of notes based on Ben Sira's early teachings. Each group of sayings may well represent his teachings on a given occasion. In 31:21 through 50:24 is found the roll call of Israel's spiritual heroes, beginning with a psalm in praise of Jehovah's majesty and power and concluding with the description of Simon the high priest. This latter part of the book is clearly a pure literary creation, and was probably added by him as a conclusion to the collection of his wisdom teachings.
III. History of the Book. The book containing the writings of Ben Sira was known under a variety of titles. The Latin Church followed the Greek in calling it Ecclesiasticus. This term was applied to those books which were not in the canon, but were held to be edifying and proper for public use in the churches. The Hebrew text of Ben Sira enjoyed wide currency, was frequently quoted by the later rabbis, and was often referred to by later Jewish and Christian writers. It was almost completely supplanted in time, however, by the Greek version. Jerome was acquainted with the Hebrew version, but most of the Church fathers followed the Greek. Ben Sira was apparently quoted by Jesus, by Paul, and by the authors of the Epistle of James and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Twenty or thirty such references or allusions are found in the New Testament. It was also a great favorite with the Church fathers, who quoted from it even more frequently than from the other Old Testament writings. It was adopted in the canon of the Greek and Latin Church; but, in common with the other apocryphal books, was given a secondary place by the Protestant reformers. Unfortunately, during the earlier part of the last century it ceased to be printed in the standard editions of the Bible. The modern revival of interest in the apocryphal books, both in Europe and America, is tending to restore this book, in common with I Maccabees, to the position which they certainly deserve in the practical working canon of the Old Testament. The discovery in 1896 of a fragment of the original Hebrew manuscript of Ben Sira, and the subsequent recovery of many other parts, have also tended to arouse wide interest in this hitherto much-neglected book. Hebrew portions of thirty-nine out of the fifty-one chapters have thus far been discovered. Most of them come from about the eleventh Christian century and are of widely differing values. By means of these, however, and the quotations by the Jewish rabbis and Christian fathers and in the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions, it is now possible to restore most of the original Hebrew text, and the resulting translation is far superior to those based on the Greek text.
IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life. Ben Sira has given a vivid picture of the domestic, economic, and social life of the Jews of his age. The debased, Oriental conception of marriage had corrupted the atmosphere of the home. Wives were regarded as the possessions of their husbands, and the immoral influence of Hellenism still further undermined the purity and integrity of many a Jewish home. Greek customs and usages were pervading Palestine more and more. Ben Sira refers to banquets with their accompaniments of music and wine. Even these meet with his approval. Agriculture and commerce are the chief occupations of the people. In general Ben Sira voices the wholesome Jewish attitude toward labor:
Hate not laborious work;
Neither agriculture that the Most High hath ordained.
He is especially strong in his commendation of physicians:
Be a friend to the physician, for one has need of him,
For verily God hath appointed him.
A physician receives his wisdom from God,
And from the king he receives presents.
The knowledge of a physician causes him to lift up his head,
And before the princes may he enter.
God created medicines out of the earth,
And a prudent man will not be disgusted with them.
The following proverb has a universal application:
He who sins before his maker,
Let him fall into the hands of his physician!
V. Rise of the Scribes. The writings of Ben Sira reveal the close connection between the earlier wise and the later scribes. He lived at the period when the wise man was turning scribe. He himself had a profound respect for the law: