Jubilees, Sirach, and Sapiential TraditionBen Sira famously does not quote from it explicitly.^12 Like the author of
Jubilees, though, Ben Sira interprets this authoritative corpus, whether he
is clarifying what it means to honor parents (3:1-16) or alluding to the de
struction of Sodom and Gomorrah (16:8). He does not cite an authorita
tive text to underwrite his interpretations, but rather he appeals to primor
dial Wisdom as his source of authority. Whereas Jubilees' halakic
prescriptions resided on the primordial heavenly tablets long before the
angel of the presence dictated them to Moses (the first of Najman's strate
gies), Ben Sira appeals to Wisdom, which also existed primordially with
God, as his source of understanding.
In a similar way that in Jubilees the angel of the presence links the
heavenly realm with the earthly, assuring the accuracy of what Moses writes,
so primordial Wisdom links heaven and earth, authorizing Ben Sira's teach
ing. Sir 24 is perhaps the locus classicus for understanding how Ben Sira
theologizes about Wisdom — and not without good reason. Wisdom speaks
on her own behalf; she begins by describing her presence throughout all the
earth (w. 1-6). She then seeks "rest" (v. 7). But where? God sends her to Is
rael, specifically to the Jerusalem temple where she ministers "before him"
(w. 10-12). The eternal and primordial Wisdom is established in the temple,
where she flourishes (w. 13-17).
Given her presence in the temple, one might expect Ben Sira to make
explicit some priestly connection with Wisdom, but in w. 19-22 Wisdom
calls to anyone who desires her.^13 These verses form a segue to the next place
that one finds Wisdom, the Mosaic Torah: "All these things are the book of
the covenant of the Most High God, a law that Moses commanded us, an in
heritance for the gatherings of Jacob" (v. 23). Unfortunately, the phrase
"these things" is rather vague, but it must refer to what Ben Sira has just said
about Wisdom. Her presence not only legitimates the temple cult, but she is
also embodied in the Torah, and her access is not restricted only to priests.
As in Jubilees, in Sirach the law, in a sense, exists before the Sinai event. Un
like Jubilees, however, Ben Sira does not envision another revelation to Mo
ses, but he identifies primordial Wisdom as a heavenly, preexistent feature of
the Mosaic Torah. This idea has powerful consequences, as we shall shortly
- For problems with the word "canonical" in this context, see especially Robert A.
Kraft, "5.1 Scripture and Canon in Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha," in Hebrew Bible/
Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, vol. 1, From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages
(Until 1300), ed. Magne Sasbo (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 67-83. - The connection is made in the praise of Simon II (chap. 50), which contains simi
lar imagery to chap. 24.