Sirach Chapter 2 and the Temple

The opening of Ben Sira’s second chapter, calling the student to be ready for testing, hints at the story of Abraham’s greatest test (Gen 22:1). The chapter’s conclusion quotes David’s words to the punishing angel in the story of the census (2 Sam 24:14; 1 Chr 21:13). Both biblical stories are etiological narratives explaining the choice of the temple site: “Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David” (2 Chr 3:1). The article explores how far a temple context for Sirach Chapter 2 can shed light on the poem.