The Wisdom of Ben Sira: Commentary

Ben Sira’s book is of unique interest to the scholar and the theologian as a Hebrew work of nearly known date that links the Old Testament and the Rabbinic writings. The first step to its right appreciation is to note its discursive use of the ancient Scriptures, and the author’s free way of adapting their thoughts and phrases to his purposes. The Hebrew restores allusions that were lost or obscured in the other versions. In the year following the publication of Adolf Neubauer and A. E. Cowley’s newly discovered leaves of Ecclesiasticus, S. Schechter found an additional 11 leaves that added to the growing collection of original Hebrew texts. In The Wisdom of Ben Sira, S. Schechter provides notes on the text and an in-depth introduction. C. Taylor provides the English translation, footnotes, and a helpful appendix.