According to the first prologue to the book of Eccle- siasticus, taken from the Sipiopsis of the Pseudo-Atha- iiasius (iv, 377, ed. Migne), the translator of tlie book bore the same name as the author of it. If this conjec- ture were true, a genealogy of the following form would result : 1. Sirach. 2. Jesus, son (father) of Sirach {au- thor of the book). 3. Sirach. 4. Jesus, son of Sirach {translator of the book). It is, however, most likely that the last chapter, " T/ie frayer of Jesus, the Son of Sirach," gave occasion to this conjecture. The prayer was attributed to the translator, and then the table of succession followed necessarily from the title attached to it.
As to the history and personal character of Ben-Sira, this must be gathered from his book, as it is the only source of information which we possess upon the sub- ject. Like all his co-religionists, he was trained from
his early life to fear and love the God of his fathers. He travelled much both by land and sea when he grew up, and was in frequent perils (Ecclus. xxxiv, 11, 12)e Being a diligent student, and having acquired much practical knowledge from his extensive travels, he was intrusted with some office at court, and his enemies, who were jealous of him, maUgned him before the king, which nearly cost him his life (Ii, 6, 7). To us, howev- er, his religious life and sentiments are of the utmost im- portance, inasmuch as they describe the opinions of the Jews during the period elapsing between the O. and N. Test. Though deeply penetrated with the fear of God, Avhich he declared was the only glory of man, rich, no- ble, or poor (x, 22-24), still the whole of Ben-Sira's te- nets may be described as limited, and are as follows: Resignation to the dealings of Providence (xi, 21-25) ; to seek truth at the cost of life (iv, 28) ; not to use much babbling in prayer (vii, 14) ; absolute obedience to par- ents, which in the sight of (Jod atones for sins (iii, 1-16 ; vii, 27, 28); humility (iii, 17-19; x, 7-18, 28); kindness to domestics (iv, 30; vii, 20, 21; xxxiii, 30, 31) ; to re- lieve the poor (iv, 1-9) ; to act as a father to the father- less, and a husband to the widow (iv, 10) ; to visit the sick (vii, 35) ; to weep with them that weep (vii, 34) ; not to rejoice over the death of even the greatest ene- my (vii, 7), and to forgive sins as we would be forgiven (xxviii, 2, 3). He has nothing in the whole of his book about the immortality of the soul, a future judgment, the existence of spirits, or the expectation of a Messiah. — Smith ; Kitto. See Sirach.
5. See Barabras.
6. (Col. iv, 11). See Justus.
JESUS is also the name of several persons mention- ed by Josephus, especially in the pontifical ranks. See High-priest.
1. A high-priest displaced by Antiochus Epiplianes to make room for Onias {Ant, xii, 5, 1 ; xv, 3, 1).
2. The son of Phabet, deprived by Herod of the high- priesthood in order to make way for his o^vn father-in- law Simon {Ant. xv, 9, 4).
3. Son of Sie, successor of Eleazar {Ant. xvii, 13, 1).
4. The son of Damnajus, made high-priest by Agrip- pa in place of Ananus (.4 nt. xx, 9, 1).
5. The son of Gamaliel, and successor of the preceding in the high-priesthood {Ant. xx, 9, 4 ; compare War, iv, 4,3).
6. Son of Ananus, a plebeian, and the utterer of the remarkable doom against Jerusalem, which Avas fulfilled during the last siege simultaneously with his own death (IFm-,vi,5,3).
7. A priest, son of Thcbutluis, who surrendered to Ti- tus the sacred utensils of the Temple ( War, vi, 8, 3).
8. Son of Sepphias, one of tlie chief priests and gov- ernor of Tiberias ( War,\\, 20, 4).
9. Son of Sa]ihat, a ringleader of the Sicarii during the last war with the Romans {War, iii, 9, 7).
Jesus Christ (\i]noi'i; XpiarCc, 'ItjtTovg 6 Xpia- Tog; sometimes by Paul in the reverse order "Christ Jesus'), the ordinary designation of the incarnate Son of God and Saviour of mankind. This double designa- tion is not, like Simon Peter, John Mark, Joses Bama- bas, composed of a name and a surname, but, like John the Baptist, Simon Magus, Bar-Jesus Elymas, of a prop- er name and an official title. Jesi's was our Lord's proper name, just as Peter, James, and John were the proper names of three of his disciples. To distinguish our Lord from others bearing the name, he was termed Jesus of Nazareth (John xviii, 7, etc., strictly Jesus the yazarene,'\r]ciovQ 6 Isa^uipalog), and Jesus the son of Joseph (John vi, 42, etc.).
I. Import of the name. — There can be no dtuibt that Jesus is the (ireek form of a Hebrew name, which had been borne by two illustrious individuals in former pe- riods of the Jewish history — the successor of jVIoses and introducer of Israel into the jiromised land (Exod. xxiv, ]3\ and the high-priest who, along with Zerubbabcl (Zech. iii, 1), took so active a part in the re-establish-
JESUS CHRIST
874
JESUS CHRIST
mcnt of the civil and religious polity of the Jews on their return from the Babylonish captivity. Its orig- inal and full form is Jehoshua (Numb, xiii, IG). By contraction it became Joshua, or Jfshua; and when transferred into Greek, by taking the termination char- acteristic of tliat language, it assumed the form Jesus. It is thus that the names of the illustrious individuals referred to are uniformly written in the Sept., and the first of them is twice mentioned in the Nev/ Testament by this name (Acts vii, 45 ; Heb. iv, 8).