Thoughts on the Language of Sirach 36:1–22

Certain words in the prayer of Sir 36:1–22 that appear to be secondary exhibit nationalistic and eschatological tones that are otherwise alien to the book of Ben Sira. These elements likely reflect the interpretation and reading of the text in the course of its transmission in the first millennium CE. In its present form, therefore, the nationalistic/eschatological themes are accented in a way that might not have been the case in earlier versions.