Ben Sira on the Piety of Men and the Piety of Women: Binary Opposites in the Taxonomy of Piety?

This paper evaluates two categories of passages: (a) those that deal with human relations in a manner that indicates Ben Sira’s views on gender; and those that concern piety/fear of God. Through such evaluations, the paper aims at answering the following questions: Is piety the primary taxonomizer in the Book of Ben Sira? What are the expressions of piety in the Book? How does the author view the piety of men and the piety of women? Does he have the same or different expectations for males and females in terms of wisdom and the fear of God?