Since 1896 to date, several Hebrew manuscripts have been recovered however, no full Hebrew text of the book has been recovered. The book of Ben Sira was originally written in Hebrew between 200 and 180 BCE at a time when Aramaic was the lingua franca in Palestine. The ideal scribe as interpreter of Scripture Thus, Ben Sira, as an interpreter of Scripture, retold the creation story making use of existing exegetical motifs, which he inherited and was also transmitting through his work. It will be argued that Ben Sira's retelling of the creation stories makes use of common interpretive traditions or exegetical motifs and adapts them within the wisdom interpretive framework. The interpreter, as Schniedewind (1999:158) puts it, 'is both the heir to and the creator of tradition' consequently, this study examines Ben Sira's indebtedness to Scripture and interpretive traditions. The focus in this study is on Ben Sira's use of existing interpretive traditions in the retelling of creation in Sirach 16:24-17:14. 45:5) through Simon, in contrast to the authors of 1 Enoch and the Aramaic Levi Document, who were inclined to mantic forms of wisdom and so represented the marginalised priests, and linked the wisdom tradition with such biblical figures as Enoch and Levi (see Goering 2009 Horsley 2005 Mermelstein 2014 Nickelsburg 1981 Stone 1988 Wright 2005). 2 Ben Sira is generally regarded as belonging to a tradition that linked the wisdom tradition with the study of the law and the temple in support of the Aaronite priesthood (Sir 45:17 cf. It should be noted, however, that wisdom as a hermeneutical construct or a literary genre did not belong to a single intellectual movement, rather, it was utilised within the various intellectual movements within Second Temple Judaism. Some scholars argue that Ben Sira in his use of Scripture brought together the wisdom tradition and the Torah as a way of recasting the wisdom framework (Berg 2013 Collins 1997:54 Goering 2009:1-20 Schnabel 1985:26-63). 1 Sheppard's focus in his study was on tracing biblical elements to their source and then comparing the original non-wisdom context of Old Testament passages with their new roles in the context of wisdom in Ben Sira.
Within the wisdom hermeneutic construct, the sages were supposedly shifting 'non wisdom material from Torah and the Prophets to a new context and concern for wisdom like that of Proverbs and perhaps Qohelet' (Sheppard 1980:15). Sheppard (1980:13) highlights that 'wisdom became a theological category associated with understanding of canon … In this sense, wisdom became a hermeneutical construct for interpreting sacred Scripture'. The article highlights the indebtedness of Ben Sira to both Scripture and tradition, and also noting Ben Sira's own creativity in the use of Scripture and tradition in his retelling of creation story.ĭuring the Second Temple period, several documents were produced from the different social and intellectual movements. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS: The article is an exegetical inquiry of the extra-biblical text of Ben Sira in dialogue with Scripture and with other exegetical traditions which were in circulation in the Second Temple period. He also rejected the tendency to blame evil on external agencies such as fallen angels and downplayed the gap between the creation process and the giving of the law at Sinai. In his retelling of the creation stories, he made use of the exegetical motifs that were in circulation, adapting them within the wisdom interpretive framework.
His indebtedness to Scripture is evident from the quotations from Scripture and his use of scriptural language. Ben Sira as an interpreter of Scripture utilised interpretive traditions or exegetical motifs that were in circulation during his time to provide instruction for his generation. This article examines the use of Scripture and tradition in Sirach 16:24-17:14, which is a retelling of the creation stories. Creation retold: Use of Scripture and tradition in Sirach 16:24-17:14ĭepartment of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, South Africa
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