In Syriac Lexicographical Notes on the Bible the order is: Kings, Kuth, Wisd., Eccl., Cant., Sirach, Prophets (see Opuscula Nestoriana, ed. G. Hoffmann).
(6) Name. — Luther saj's in his Preface : ' This book has been called hitherto in Latin Ecclesi- asticus, which has been rendered the spiritual discipline [die geistliche Zucht). Elsewhere its true name is Jesus Sirach, after its master, as it is stykd in its own Preface and the Greek,* in the same way as Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, and all the books of the Prophets are styled after their masters.' In our documents it is styled (1) -o4>i.a ~etpax in codex B (inscr. ); (2) Zo(pia lri<xov viov Zeipax (or 2i-) in codd. ACS, and in the subscription of B. Ch. 50 has the inscription Upotreirxi} Irjo'ov vtou Zeipax, and occurs separately under tliis heading, e.g. in cod. Bodl. misc. gr. 205 (xiv cent.) ; (3) -o0io 7j Traraperos lijaov I'tou ^eipax stands in the edition of Caraerariiis, 1551, before the so-called Prologus incerti auctoris. The expression iravdpeTos is applied to Proverbs (Eus. HE iv. 22), to Wisd. (Athan., Synops., Epiph., subscr. in codex SjTo-hexaplaris Ambrosianus), to Sirach (Eus. DE viii. 2, Jerome).
Clement of Alexandria quotes : tprialv i] tou "Itj^ov "Zotpia, T) ypa<pr} {Str. ii. 180), i] ^o(pla, trapd rt^ ^oXoixuivTt (ii. 160), Trapd — oXo/tuJiros, nat5a7W76s. Origen (ii. 77) : toO t6 auyypafifjLa ri]v 1o(piav ri^tv KaTa\nr6vT0% 'IijffoD vlov 1.ipdx ; (iii. 48) (prjaif ycLp ij ^0(pLa, (1.39) \€'yotjfftjs t7)s ypa<pT]s.
In the official editions of the Latin Bible the book has the heading Ecclesinsticus ; then follows, ' In Ecdesiasticum Je.su tilii Sirach Prologus.' Ch 50 has the heading ' Oratio Jesu lilii Sirach.' In the codex Amiatinus the inscription and sub- scription is Liber Ecclesiastirum Halomonis ; the 8ubscrii>tion standing after 3 Kegn. 8--'", which follows in this MS immediately after ch. 51. The same arrangement is found in mediaeval Bibles, aa the Wenzel Bible, the hrstGerman Bible (Eggestein, Strassburg, c. 1461).
Very strange is the heading 'Y,KK\r]in.auTiKis (be- cause hitherto found only in Latin and the pas- sage of Photius quoted above) t in cod. 248 before
• Of printed Greek texts Luther knew probably only the edition of Lonicerus just mentioned, 1526 ; the other texts printed at that time wore in tlie Pulyplot Bible of Ximenes, 1514, and in the Greek Bible of Aldus, 1618 ; Melanchthon's edition of the Greek Hiblc appeared a few months before Luther's death, 1645. Frz. l>elitzsch {Studien zur Knlatehun'jsneschichte der Poly- gtttttentnhel des Cardinals Xirnenes, Leipzig, 1871, p. 5) states that Luther nowhere mentions the Bible of Ximenes, but that Melanclithon refers to it while Luther was living, and that the library of Wittenberg possessed the copy dedicated to the Elector ; two years after the death of Luther it passed into the library of Jena.
t Besides the statement of Zahn, GesrJi. d. ffan. ii. 233, cL Oikononios, irifii raif e ifi,wri»iuraii, ii. 679. On the adjectlw ixMXr.ffiatrrtx^ see Clement. Str. vi 125 (ed. Dind. iii. 217) xavwt ixjAr,9-itifTixie, Origen, IL 97. 1, iii. 44. 1 ; Rufinus {Expo$,
SIllACH (BOOK OF)
SIRACH (BOOK OF)
511
the text of the book and the Prologus inceiti auctoris, the latter being inscribed 2o0io 'iTjffoi/ uioO
The common Latin designation since Cyprian is Eeclesiaxtinis, and means, most probably, the Church-book kot' iioxri", from its frequent use in the Church, esijccially for the instruction of cate- chumens.
Ecdisiaftiau U used in Cyprian once of Ecclesiastes {Tt*t. S, 88. 61), once ot WisU. (3, 112 cod. A), ot our book (3, 1. 95. lia 111): it is asi-ribed to Solomon in 3, 8. 12. 20. 53. 113, Op. 5, Sent 27, Bp. 3, 2 ; it is both ascribed to Solomon and called Hcclcsi- BSticus in 2, 1. 3. 35. 61. fW. 97. 109 (see Ronsch, "die Alttest. CiUtc bei C.\-prian' in Zcitschri/t JiXr hittor. Theot. 1S76, Oo). Ambrose writes ; ' In Ecclesiastico S>Tach, in libro S^picntia Syrach ' ; Lact-iritius (£./). 25), * In Ecclesiastico per Salomonem ' ; it is referred to Solomon also by Viprilius of Thapsus, Anicctus of Buruch ; Hilary ('qui nobiscum Salomonis inscribitur, apud Gneco6 atfitu llehrceon [!) Sapicntia Sirach babetur'X Jerome ■ays, * In Sapientia qua Sirach inscribitur.*
The (wrongly) abbreviated inscription of codex B and the editio Si.\tina have become prevalent in modem books, even in those of lioman Catholic authors.
(r) Kame of the original work. — Jerome (in the Preface to the books of Solomon) writes : ' Fertur et irai'dpeTos Jesu lilii Sirach liber, et alius tj/evS- trriypa<j>oi qui Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur ; qrio- rum priorcm. Hcbraicum reperi, nee Ecclcsiasticum, ut apud Latinos sed Parnimlas pncnotatuni ; cui juncti rraiit Ecclesia.stes et Canticum Canticorum, ut similitudincra Salomonis non solum libiorum numero, sed etiara materiarum genere adu'ijuaret,* Kecundus apud Hebioeos nusquam est.' This rai.ses the question, What was the original title of the work ? The Syriac version, wliioh is based (see § viii.) on the Hebrew, is in Lagarde's edition (frnm cod. 12,142 of the Brit. Mus., vi cent.) in- scribed NTa -ill nn-DH ' Wisdom of Bar Sira'; in Walton's Polyglot, N:n3 i.t NnpnCT ntdk pyscn kzhd KTDK -i:i n,T::n ' Book of Simeon Asira, w-liich book is called tlie Wisdom of Bar Asira.' At the end we read {'i) Hitherto the words of Je-m bar Simeon, irho is rriU:d linr .l.sirat and (i) ' Eiideth to write t he Wl-idum of 15:u- Sira.' Walton has (seo Lagarde, 1'. ix) ' Endeth the Wisdom of Bar Asira. In 2t) ihaiiters and to (lod glory in eternitj'.' The MSS of rococke and U.s>her add after (a) instead of (i) ' Endeth the book of the Widom of Jesus the son of Simeon who is called Bar .Asira (cod. Usslier 2, •SiV'f/.). in which are iJ.jilO words.'