Simon and the Actualization of Wisdom in the Jerusalem Temple

Scholars have highlighted Ben Sira’s ethical teaching while downplaying his treatment of ritual. This article demonstrates that Ben Sira also held in high esteem the ritual commandments of the Torah, and it shows the centrality of Israel’s cultic piety to the sage’s understanding of Wisdom. Specifically, it argues that Ben Sira understood the activities of Simon the High Priest to be an actualization of primordial Wisdom within the Jerusalem temple. The sage constructs his portrait of Wisdom and Simon a s ideal figures from the scriptural traditions he inherited.