Bible Reading: Sirach, and historical context

Sirach 34

Empty and false are the hopes of the senseless, and fools are borne aloft by dreams. Like a man who catches at shadows or chases the wind, is the one who believes in dreams. What is seen in dreams is to reality what the reflection of a face is to the face itself. Can the unclean produce the clean? Can the liar even speak the truth? Divination, omens and dreams all are unreal; what you already expect, the mind depicts. Unless it be a vision specially sent by the Most High, fix not year heart on it; for dreams have led many astray, and those who believed in them have perished. The Law is fulfilled without fail, and perfect wisdom is found in the mouth of the faithful man.

A man with training gains wide knowledge; a man of experience speaks sense. One never put to the proof knows little, whereas with travel a man adds to his resourcefulness. I have seen much in my travels, learned more than ever I could say. Often I was in danger of death, but by these attainments I was saved.

Lively is the courage of those who fear the Lord, for they put their hope in their savior; he who fears the Lord is never alarmed, never afraid; for the Lord is his hope. Happy the soul that fears the Lord! In whom does he trust, and who is his support? The eyes of the Lord are upon those who love him; he is their mighty shield and strong support, a shelter from the heat, a shade from the noonday sun, a guard against stumbling, a help against falling. He buoys up the spirits, brings a sparkle to the eyes, gives health and life and blessing.

Tainted his gifts who offers in sacrifice ill-gotten good! Mock presents from the lawless win not God’s favor. The Most High approved not the gifts of the godless, nor for their many sacrifices does he forgive their sins. Like the man who slays a son in his father’s presence is he who offers sacrifice from the possessions of the poor. The bread of charity is life itself for the needy; he who withholds it is a man of blood. He slays his neighbor who deprives him of his living; he sheds blood who denies the laborer his wages.

If one man builds up and another tears down, what do they gain but trouble? If one man prays and another curses, whose voice will the Lord hear? If a man again touches a corpse after he has bathed, what did he gain by the purification? So with a man who fasts for his sins, but then goes and commits them again: Who will hear his prayer, and what has he gained by his mortification?

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The Book of Sirach was written by Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach, in Hebrew, between 200 and 175 BC. The text was translated into Greek by the author’s grandson, who also wrote a forward to the text. Read what he wrote and remind yourself that this grandson wrote this introduction sometime around 132 BC, very near to the time of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth just over a hundred years later:

Many important truths have been handed down to us through the Law, the Prophets, and the later authors; and for these the instruction and wisdom of Israel merit praise. Now, those who are familiar with these truths must not only understand them themselves, but a lover of wisdom, be able, in speech and in writing, to help others less familiar. Such a one was my grandfather, Jesus, who, having devoted himself for a long time to the diligent study of the Law, the Prophets, and the rest of the books of our ancestors [comment: he means here the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament written before the time of Sirach, according to the threefold division of the present Hebrew Bible], and having developed a thorough familiarity with them, was moved to write something himself in the nature of instruction and wisdom, in order that those who love wisdom might, by acquainting themselves with what he too had written, make even greater progress in living with conformity with the Divine Law. [comment: Though not included in the Hebrew Bible after the 1st century AD, nor accepted by Protestants, the Book of Sirach has always been recognized by the Catholic Church as divinely inspired and canonical, except for this forward, which is important for its information.]

You therefore are now invited to read it in a spirit of attentive good will, with indulgence for any apparent failure on our part, despite earnest efforts, in the interpretation of particular passages. For words spoken originally in Hebrew are not as effective when they are translated into another language. That is true not only of this book but of the Law itself, the Prophets, and the rest of the books, which differ no little when they are read in the original. [comment: Are you not amazed to read the words of the translating grandson of an author of a Bible book, 2139 years after they were written? And how plain and relaxed they are about the problems of translation that the holiest men of their times faced then? It makes the harshness and rigidity of argument on this subject nowadays even more painful in comparison. The holiest people of the time of the Bible authorship did not act as though every word was life or death in its exact accuracy of translation. Instead they kept their priority on conveying the divine wisdom.]
I arrived in Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Euergetes and while there, I found a reproduction of our valuable teaching [comment: this is the source of the 132 BC date for the writing of this forward.] I therefore considered myself in duty bound to devote some diligence and industry to the translation of this book. Many sleepless hours of close application have I devoted in the interval to finishing the book for publication, for the benefit of those living abroad who wish to acquire wisdom and are disposed to live their lives according to the standards of the Law.

**
Is this not a wonderful forward by a religious and charmingly open grandson? Bless his heart, along with of course his grandfather, the author of Sirach, for their holy work. By reading this you are first hand experiencing the thoughts of the grandson of the author of a Bible book that has contributed to the Catholic Church liturgy. Read Sirach 1: 1-13 here:

All wisdom comes from the Lord and with him it remains forever. The sand of the seashore, the drops of rain, the days of eternity: who can number these? Heaven’s height, earth’s breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these? Before all things else wisdom was created; and prudent understanding from eternity. To whom has wisdom’s roots been revealed? Who knows her subtleties? There is but one, wise and truly awe-inspiring, seated upon his throne: It is the Lord; he created her, has seen her and taken note of her. He has poured her forth upon all his works, upon every living thing according to his bounty; he has lavished her upon his friends.

Fear of the Lord is glory and splendor, gladness and a festive crown. Fear of the Lord warms the heart, giving gladness and joy and length of days. He who fears the Lord will have a happy end; even on the day of his death he will be blessed. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which is formed with the faithful in the womb. With devoted men was she created from of old, and with her children her beneficence abides.

**Notice the beautiful last few sentences that refer to the preborn baby as having the beginning of wisdom in the fear of the Lord! I’ve alluded to this in my writings that the soul is received by the baby upon its conception and quickening, and also the accompaniment and instruction of its guardian angel. People two thousand years ago understood the sanctity and perfection of preborn life. How smart are people today?