16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do you choose a friend, hold your tongue, and live with honor in a changing world?
Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, gathers the teachings of a Jerusalem scribe and teacher. Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sira, addresses friendship, family, money, work, and prayer. His concern is practical: how to live well among other people, with loyalty, self-control, and care for the poor.
The collection moves from advice on speech and temper to a poem in which Wisdom speaks, then to praise of creation and Israel’s ancestors. According to Sirach, wisdom begins with fearing the Lord and is rooted in the Law of Moses. Early Christians also read the book in worship and teaching.
What you’ll discover
- Friendship worth testing Explore Sirach’s warm but wary counsel on choosing companions and deciding whom to trust.
- Words that carry weight Consider how speech can bring honor or shame, and why restraint matters.
- Daily duties and difficult choices Meet teachings on parents, poverty, money, and work that connect character with everyday responsibilities.
- Wisdom speaks for herself Encounter the central poem where Wisdom speaks and is identified with the Law of Moses.
- Creation and remembered lives Follow hymns of praise through sun, stars, sea creatures, and the great figures of Israel’s past.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like proverbs and practical advice, students of the Bible and its world, and anyone curious about Jewish life before the Maccabees. It may suit you less if you want a single story or a tight argument, because it is a long, loose collection.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Wisdom begins with fearing the Lord
- Honor parents and care for the poor
- Choose friends slowly and test them
- Guard your tongue and your temper
- Money, work and the common good
- Free choice, and God's justice
- Wisdom speaks, and is the Law of Moses
- Creation, and praise of the ancestors
- Survival, status and how to read it
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Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach
by Attributed to Joshua ben Sira
An ancient Jewish teacher links daily conduct with religious wisdom.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
Wisdom begins with fearing the Lord
The book opens by saying that all wisdom comes from the Lord and stays with him forever. Sirach does not treat wisdom as clever tricks. For him it is a gift from God that shapes how a person lives, speaks and chooses. The first chapter returns again and again to the fear of the Lord, which here means awe and loyal respect, not terror. He says this fear is the beginning, the fullness, the crown and the root of wisdom.
He then warns his student that the path is not easy. In chapter two he tells the young man that if he comes to serve the Lord, he should prepare his soul for testing. Gold is tried in fire, he says, and those whom God accepts are tried in the furnace of humiliation. This is a teacher who expects hardship and wants his pupils ready for it.
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What is the Book of Sirach about?
It is a collection of wisdom teaching on how to live well. Topics include friendship, speech, family, money, work, free will and prayer. It closes with a long praise of Israel's heroes and creation.
Why is Ecclesiasticus not in the Protestant Bible?
Protestant churches follow the Hebrew Bible for the Old Testament, and Sirach was not part of it. They place it among the Apocrypha, useful for reading but not for doctrine. Catholic and Orthodox churches include it.
Who wrote Sirach and when?
Jesus ben Sirach, a scribe in Jerusalem, wrote it in Hebrew around 180 BC. His grandson translated it into Greek in Egypt, probably after 132 BC, and wrote a preface describing the work.
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