Ben Sira

The Wisdom of Ben Sira is the paradigmatic Wisdom text from the Second Temple period. Its author was a scribe/sage who lived in Jerusalem during the early part of the second century bce. It has a complicated history of transmission, originally written in Hebrew, but the Greek translation is its primary language of transmission. The book provides evidence for one elite Jew’s understanding of how to please God while living under the political domination of foreign powers. Ben Sira’s instruction has the goal of equipping his students to fear the Lord, fulfill the commandments, and acquire wisdom in order to achieve success in such an uncertain world.