Exemplars of Humility and the Discourse of Authority in Second Temple Judaism: A Comparison of Sirach and the Community Rule

While pride and humility were important moral topics in Second Temple Judaism, Sirach and 1QS both appeal to humility as a social virtue which is embedded within and reinforces their own claims of authority over against rival Jewish groups. In their respective discourses, however, they ground humility in different exemplars and seek to construct different kinds of authority structures in relation to prior authoritative traditions.