The century in w^hicli he lived is one of the most obscure in Israelitish history ; hence it is not possible to interpret any political allusions with
certainty. Some have endeavoured to find a politi- cal programme in 45-''-^°, where the author insists that the high-priesthood belongs for ever to the house of Aaron, but the royal title to the house of David. The true explanation seems to be that he is projecting himself into the period of national independence for the restoration of which he prays, and indeed Jewish authors of a much later period do the same ; in the Tanna d'Be Eliiihu of about the lUth cent. A.U. (ed. Warsaw, 1893, p. 563), the ' crown of the house of Aaron and the crown of the house of David ' are still said to be inalienable.
2. Sources. — The translator mentions the author's biblical studies, and in 24-*- ^' the latter confesses that his book is a biblical anthology, though in 39''' his enumeration of what the scribe should study seems to be rather too copious to be confined to the OT as we know it. Besides the Law, he is to study the wisdom of all the ancients, prophecies, the dicta of renowned men, strophes, mysteries, and enigmas. From his list of famous men we should gather that his Bible contained no book that, or at any rate no author who, has since been lost, and in the main the Torah (in the wider sense) which he possessed was identical with ours. Thus he utilizes the whole of Isaiah, all five books of Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, and eveiy division of the Proverbs. He fails, indeed, to mention Daniel and Ezra in his list of famous men, and this silence is often used as a strong argument against the genuineness of both ; nevertheless he appears to quote Daniel in 33*", Kal -iiWoiuire Kaipov! Kai eoprds, from Dn 2-', dXXoioi Kaipoin Kal xp^""^^ (perhaps DnyiD), and the name for the Deity, 6 ^Hf eh Tbn aidva (18'), is found in the OT only in Dn 12'. The phrase elp-qvevovre^ 4v KaroLKlaLs avrwf (44'''') is from Dn 4^. 40"^^^, d\Layr}aei ry^v ^vx^v avrov iv io^afiaatv aWorplois, is probably an allusion to Dn 1^ Further, the passage 39'^- '■*, in which the ' holy sons ' are addressed and bidden ' bless the Lord for all his works,' is very like a reference to the hymn of the ' tliree holy children ' inserted in the Greek Daniel 3°^. For it is not clear who else the ' holy sons ' can be, and the words addressed to them, ' thrive as a rose growing on a water-brook,' are easily interpreted from Dn 1"*. It does not appear possible to demonstrate acquaintance on Ben-Sira's part with Chronicles or Esther ; on the other hand, it cannot be shown that he was unacquainted with them.
Besides the OT, Ben-Sira displays very consider- able acquaintance with Greek literature, though he nowhere confesses this, or even makes the study of Greek a necessary part of the equipment of the ' scribe.' Homer's comparison of the race of men to leaves {II. vi. 146-149) is fairly closely paraplirased in 14'*. There is a reference to an ^■Esopic fable in 13-. Many thoughts are borrowed from the works of Aristotle : the sleeplessness of the stars (43'") from de Cwlo, 284 A 32 ; the change- ableness of the fool (27") from Eudemian Ethics, 1239 B 12 ; the comparison of a friend to wine (9'") from ih. 1238 A 23 ; abuse preceding battle (22-) from Metaphys. 1013 A 9 ; the enmity between the hyiena and the dog (13") from Nat. Hist. 594 B 3 ; the decoy partridge (11'") from ib. 614 A 13; the pleasing effect of green vegetation on the eye (40--) from Problems, 959 A 25 ; the description of a friend as 'one whose soul is like thine' (37'*") from Great Ethics, 1211 A 32; tlie affection between animals of the same species (13'*) from Problems, 896 B 10. The use of Plato is far less considerable ; still the author appears in 43' to adopt from Cratylus 409 C Plato's derivation of the word ' month,' ij.ds or iirjp, from ficioSaSai,, ' to diminish ' or ' wane ' of the moon — a derivation which naturally applies to the Greek, not to the Hebrew, name of the month ; and the puzzle in 6"-, ' wisdom is according to her
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name and is not manifest to many,' appears to be a misuniliM'sliiMclinf; of tlie ]>assaj;e in tlie Cratijliis (•41'J 1!) wlieie the etymolu};y of aoipla. is given, and is said to be aKOTube^Ttpov, 'somewhat ob- scure,' with reference not to wisdom, but to the etymology which he suggests. (The coincidence of some [jrecepts witli those to be found in the Story of Aliikar is to be explained by borrowing on tlie part of tlie hitter from lienSira, the Aramaic papyrus of Ahikar published by Sachau being a glaring forgery. )
One or two additional cases of borrowing from Greek literature will be noticed below ; there is of course some danger of discerning a loan where there is only a coincidence. Hence the saying (20'*), ' A slip oft" the ground rather than from the tongue,' need have no connexion with tli.-it ascribed to the Stoic Zeno (Diog. Laert. vii. 22), ' It is better to slip with the feet than with the tongue,' just as alMuhallab may have been independent of both when he pointed out (A.H. 83 = A.D. 702) that ' a man raaj' slip with his foot and recover ; but if he slips with his tongue, he will perish' (Uin Khaldun, iii. 53). Where, however, an author acknowledges to composing an anthology and in- sists on the importance of learning by heart what wise men have said, the chances of borrowing on his part where there is close correspondence in thought and expression are very great. We shall probably be right, then, in supposing Ben-Sira to have got from the Greeks the maxim (ll''*), ' Call no man lia|ipy before his end.' For this saying is dehnitely associated by the Hellenes with the name of Solon (Herod, i. 86 ; Aristotle, Nic. Ethics, 1100 A 11), though it is constantly quoted as a proverb.