observer of the Law), of whom so glowing an account is given by Sirach (chap. I.), is the chief exception to this degeneracy; yet he was powerless to stem the revolutionary current even within his own family. His cousin Joseph was the notorious farmer of the taxes of Palestine, who by his public and private immorality[1] sapped the very foundations of Jewish life, while two of Simeon's sons, Jason and Menelaus, became the traitorous high priests who promoted the paganising movement under Antiochus. It is well known that many critics refer the Book of Ecclesiastes to the period immediately preceding this great movement. The deep and almost philosophical character of the unknown author's meditations seems to be in harmony with this date. On the other hand, there is the well-ascertained fact that the Book of Sirach shows no trace of really philosophical thought; it is little more than a new version of the ordinary proverbial morality. It is to this book, the 'Doppelgänger des kanonischen Spruchbuchs,' as Schürer calls it, the work, as a Greek writer puts it, of an attendant ([Greek: opados]) of Solomon, that these pages are devoted. Nothing is more remarkable (and it ought to make us very deliberate in determining dates upon internal evidence) than the appearance of such a book at such a time.
The name of the author in full is Joshua (Jesus) ben Sira (Sirach),[2] but he may be called Sirach for shortness, this being the form of his family-name in the Greek translation. He tells us himself that he was of Jerusalem; that from his youth up his desire was for wisdom; that he laboured earnestly in searching for her; and that the Lord gave him a tongue for his reward (l. 27; li.) Sirach, in fact, is one of those 'wise men' to whom was entrusted so large a part of the religious education of the Jewish people. The remarkable fact that 'wise men' exist so long after the time of their prototype Solomon, proves that their activity was an integral part of the Jewish national life. The better class of 'wise
