- ful is the contrast between Josephus' vivid and truthful comparison
of Judæa at this period to 'a ship in a storm, tossed by the waves on both sides,'[1] and that proverb of Sirach, worthy, considering the times, of the 'miserable comforters' of Job—
The gift of the Lord remains with the godly,
and his favour brings prosperity for ever.[2]
In short, Sirach represents the reconciliation between the practical ethics of the inspired 'wise men' of old and the all-embracing demands of the Law. Himself only in a comparatively low sense inspired—for we should not hastily reject his claim to a 'tongue' from above—he did nothing, on the ethical side, but repeat the old truths in their old forms, though one gladly admits that he shows a genuine and unassumed interest in the varieties of human character. But on the religious side he is really in a certain sense original, in so far as he combines the traditional 'wisdom' with a heartfelt regard for the established forms of religion, such as the older 'wise men' scarcely possessed. On the latter point he would sympathise with the author of Ps. cxix. Unlike the older proverb-writers, he recommends the punctual observance of rites and ceremonies. These however are to be penetrated by a moral spirit; hence he says,
Do not [seek to] corrupt [the Lord] with gifts, for he receives them not;
and trust not to unrighteous sacrifices.
He who serves acceptably shall be received,
and his prayer shall reach unto the clouds (xxxv. 12, 16).
By Greek philosophy Sirach, as far as we can see, was wholly uninfluenced.
And yet Sirach cannot have been entirely unacquainted with Greek culture, in the more general sense of the word. One striking proof of this is his attitude towards medical science,[3] which is exactly the opposite of the Chronicler's (2.]
- ↑ Antiquities, xii. 3, 3.
- ↑ Ch. xi. 17; comp. ii. 7 &c.; xvi. 6 &c.; xl. 13, 14. There are, however,
passages in which Sirach betrays some little feeling of the practical difficulties of
the older form of the doctrine of retribution: see xxxv. 18 [xxxii. 18 - ↑ See Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese, pp. 29, 30; Grätz, Schir ha-schirim, p. 86. Grotius even supposed the author to be a physician.
