Sir. See Tiioun.
Sir (as the English o(dominus) was the title adopted by priests, as " dom" i)y monks, and in conseijuence they were commonly called Sir Johns. There were tliree sirs — sir king, sir priest, and sir knight. At the Refor- mation it was the title of those in orders, but not grad- uated— those who had graduated being known as mayis- ters (masters).
Sira (Bex-), Alphabet of. Under the title of "Alphabet of Ben-Sira" (X"l''0 '|3T Xn"^3XSbx), there exists a collection of proverbs in Hebrew and
SIRACH
781
SIREN
Chaldee, which is of a later date than those commonly ascribed to Joshua ben-Sirach. In the preface bcn-Sira is called the son of Jeremiah. Amonj^ these saj'ings there are some genuine fragments, with much that is worthless. As they offer parallels to the book known untler the name of " Ecclesiasticus" (q. v.), we will give them here :
The First or Chaldee Alphabet of Ben-Sira.
1. Give care no i)lace in thy heart, for many has care
shun (comp. Eccliis. xxx, 23).
2. Let a sou who does not conduct himself as a son swim
away on the water (i. e. leave him to himself).
3. Pick the bone which has fallen to thy share, whether
It be good or bad (i. e. be content with what thou hast).
4. Gold requires to be beaten, and a boy requires chas-
tisement.
5. Be good, and withdraw not thine hand from him who
is good. C. Woe to the wicked, and woe to his companions.
7. Cast thy biead on the waters or cast it on the dry land ;
at last thou wilt tind it again (comp. Ecchis. xi, 1).
8. Hast thon seen a black donkey ? Neither a black nor
a white one (i. e. do not be inveigled in matters of which you are ignorant).
0. Do not good to the evil (person), and evil will not be
done thee. 10. The bride enters her chamber, and knows not what
may happen to her. n. To a wise man a nod, to a fool a kick.
12. He who honors a person that despises him is like an
ass.
13. One burning light sets fire to many fields of corn.
14. You must run a hundred limes to a good and one hun-
dred thousand times to a bad cautioner. 1.5. Separate your table, and quarrels will cease.
16. May good sous fall to thy lot, if thou art obliged to
carry on business.
17. Ifyour goods are at hand, you may eat of them; if they
are at a distance, they will eat you.
15. Deuy not an old friend (comp. Ecclus. ix, 14).
19. You may have sixty counsellors, but do not give up
your own counsel.
20. Always appear to be fall, and not to have been hungry
and afterwards to have become full. The Seciiiid or Hebretv Alphabet of Ben-Sira.
1. Woe to him who follows his eyes, although he knows
that they are the children of seduction, and that he will gain nothing by them.
2. Every person likes male children, but alas for the par-
ent of daughters !
3. Keep at a distance from a bad woman, who by her
tongue rules over thee, for a bad woman is like to rabid dogs. Her gates are closed even when she talks mildly.
4. Withdraw thy countenance from evil companions;
walk not in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path, lest thou be caught in their snare.
5. My son, conceal thy money during thy life; keep it
secret, and give it not to thine heirs till the day of thy death (comp. Ecclus. xxxiii, 20, 24).
6. Procure property, a good wife who fears the Lord, and
increase thy children — even though they were a hun- dred.
7. Withdraw from bad neighbors and be not reckoned
one of their company, "for their feet run to evil and make haste to shed' blood. But still have pity on thy companions, even if they are wicked, and give them part of thy food, for they will bear witness for thee when thou standesl in the judgment.
8. Gain gold and goods, but tell not thy wife where they
are, even although she be a good wife (comp. Ecclus. xxxiii, 20). (We have omitted three proverbs belonging to the sec- ond alphabet as being more or less unfit for translation.)
The alphabet was first published at Constantinople, s. a.; then at Venice (1514, and often). In Hebrew and Latin they are given in Bartolocci Bibl. Rabbinica, i, 084, and were also edited in Hebrew and Latin with ainiotations by Fagius ( Isny, 1542 ) ; in Latin they are given in Von Stein, Comment, ad Ecclesiast. p. 29 ; in Judico-German they were published by Salomo ben- Jacob (Amst. 16(J0). The}' are also given by Duke, Babbinische Blumenlese (Leips. 1844), p. 31 sq. See also Zunz, Guttesdienstliche Vortrdrje, p. 105. (15. P.)
Sirach {'S.upaj(^, 'S.ipax'i in Rabbinic writers Sira, NT'D), the father of Jesus (Joshua), the writer of the Hebrew original of the book of Ecclesiasticus (Ecclus. prol. i, 1; 1, 27). See Winer, De Utriusque Siracidoi yEtate (Erlang. 1832). See Ecclesiasticus; Jesus THE Son of Sikach,
Si'rah (Heb. with the art. has-Sirah', iTlSin, the turning [perhaps, as Fiirst suggests, from a khan in the vicinity]; Sept. 6 ^ttpan; Vulg. Sira), a well ("3; Sept. (pptap; Vulg. cister?i) marking the spot from which Abner was recalled by Joab to his death at He- bron (2 Sam. iii, 26). It was apjiarently on the north- ern road from Hebron — that by which Abner would naturally return through Bahurim (ver. IG) to Jlaha- naim. There is a spring and reservoir on the western side of the ancient northern road, about one mile out of Hebron, which is called Ain Sara, and gives its name to the little valley in which it lies (see i)r. Rosen's pa- per on Hebron in the Zeilschrift der deiitschen morijenh Gesellschaft, xii, 48(5, and the excellent map acconqjany- ing it). This may be a relic of the well of Sirah. It is mentioned as far back as the 12th centurj- by rabbi Pe- tachia, but the correspondence of the name with that of Sirah seems to have escaped notice.— Smith. Lieut. Conder suggests that the modern Arabic name, " like the Hebrew, means withdraivn, and the title is due to the fact that the spring is under a stone arch at the end of a little alley with dry stone walls, and is thus with- drawn from the high-road" {Tent Work in Palest, i, 86). Josephus, however, says (Ant. vii, 1, 5) that the place was twenty furlongs from Hebron, and was called Be- sira {Bijaipa).