Ben Sira’s teaching on medicine and healing in Sir 38:1–15 is divided into two parts: the first (38:1–8) deals directly with the medicine of the time (doctors – 38:1–3 and the medicines they used – 38:4–8), while the second focuses on the healing process (38:9–15). In the latter, the sage first focuses on the attitude of the sick (38:9–11) towards God and the role and tasks of the physician in the process of healing the sick (38:12–15). The article addresses Ben Sira’s teaching on the relationship of the sick man to the Lord (38:9–11). The sage, after positively evaluating and responding to modern medicine (a novelty in the Old Testament), returns in 38:9–11 to the implicitly expressed conviction found in the Bible that only God can restore health to a sick person – that He is the only physician. He therefore urges the sick person to turn to God. According to the sage, turning to the Most High (38:9a), prayer (38:9b), the rejection of sin and iniquity (38:10) and sacrifices (38:11) play an important role in the process of recovery. Sir 38:9–11 has a concentric structure with a call for a change in moral conduct at its centre (38:10). These are surrounded by appeals to turn to the Lord (38:9 and 38:11). According to Ben Sira, healing from illness is the work of God, so the sick person should make a conversion (abandon sin and turn away from evil) and renew his relationship with the Most High. According to him, conversion is crucial in the healing process – without it, the sick person cannot return to health and full strength. In this way, the sage expresses the Old Testament teaching about illness as the result of sin (retribution) and God as the only physician. What is new in Ben Sira’s teaching is the call to offer sacrifices for the recovery of health and healing from suffering.
Le livre de Sira est une œuvre complète pour ce qui concerne la réflexion à la vie humaine dans les livres de sagesse de l'ancien Israël. Même si les questions de la vie après la mort ne trouvent pas les réponses définitives, le livre de Sira ose les poser. Il nous présente une vision de l'homme vivant sous la protection du Créateur qui agit avec la miséricorde envers la fragilité de sa création. Le Seigneur sait bien que la fin de la vie humaine est une pitié ; aussi multiplie-t-il son pardon. La mort qui nous attend est présentée dans le livre de Sira sans en faire un drame. C'est plutôt un fait naturel qu'on doit accepter. A‘autre part la mort porte une douleur ; elle est l'objet de la réflexion et la crainte du cœur de l'homme (40,1-2). La mort est amère a l'homme qui "vit tranquille", mais sa sentence est bienvenue "pour l 'homme dont les forces diminuent" (41,1-2). La question de la mort est posée par Sira dans le contexte de la rétribution. Quand Dieu va-t-il rendre à l'homme le prix de sa vie ? Sira répond: au moment de mourir (11,26). C'est alors que chacun va voir toute sa vie et sa valeur. L'homme, même si la fin de sa vie est mort, a sa dignité de la création. Et c'est un des aspects bien positifs dans la pensée de Sira: on doit mourir - c'est vrai, mais on vit la vie et mort avec dignité et en sachant d'avoir le Créateur Miséricordieux.
Biblical wisdom literature of Israel draws attention first of all because it deals with the life of person involved in the nearest environment. The books of wisdom don’t speak of big historical traditions of God’s people but they try to form a man to help him to adapt himself to the order established by God. The family, with a figure of father, is the first step of maturing on the way of wisdom. The father has a double responsibility: he is a master of wisdom and a tutor for his own son. He transfers a treasure of his experience to his son. He leads him, sometimes with severity, to the future of happiness. The poem of the book of Sirach (30, 1-13) is a good example of that. We see here the wisdom of father who is at the end of his own life and who has the unique desire: to see the son as his follower. Even if he is requiring, he does it for the good of his child. Making so he ends his life as a responsible master of wisdom.
The article aims at providing a perspective on the successive periods of Biblical Israel as found in the Praise of the Ancestors (Sir 44–49) in the Book of Sirach. The writer begins with determining the boundaries and context of the analyzed text. She then presents briefly a general introduction to the Praise of the Ancestors (Sir 44–49). The next parts of the article offer a proposal for periodization, consisting of three parts: the covenant period (Sir 44:16–45:26), the period of the prophets and kings (Sir 46:1–49:10), and finally the renewal period (Sir 49:11-16). The full text of the Praise is rounded out by an appendix which concerns the fulfillment of all the previous historical periods in the person of Simon II, the high priest of the Jerusalem Temple (Sir 50:1-24). The periodization of history in the Praise of the Ancestors, besides providing chronology, is a presentation that might be described as a theological, canonical and sacerdotal approach.
PL
Artykuł ma na celu przedstawić ujęcie poszczególnych okresów biblijnego Izraela, które zawiera Pochwała ojców (Syr 44 – 49) Księgi Syracha. Na początku autorka zaznacza kontekst i granice tekstu przyjętego do analizy. Następnie pokrótce przedstawia ogólne wprowadzenie do Pochwały ojców (Syr 44,1-15). Kolejne części artykułu stanowią propozycję periodyzacji, która składa się z trzech części: etapu przymierza (Syr 44,16 – 45,26), etapu proroków i królów (Syr 46,1 – 49,10) oraz etapu odnowy (Syr 49,11-16). Całość zamyka apendyks, który stanowi wypełnienie wcześniejszych etapów historii w osobie Szymona II, arcykapłana świątyni jerozolimskiej (Syr 50,1-24). Periodyzacja dziejów obecna w Pochwale ojców, oprócz chronologii jest prezentacją, w której można zauważyć podejście teologiczne, kanoniczne i kapłańskie.
Ben Sira in the Praise of the Fathers (Sir 44:1-50:21) speaks about Nehemiah, but does not mention Ezra. This peculiar omission has elicided a lively discussion concerning the reasons of this silence. The present paper presents the most important exegetical attempts to solve this problem. There are essentially two ways of approach to Ben Sira's omission: the fi rst one concentrates on the literary and historical motifs, the most important of which questions the historical character of Ezra. The second approach proposes to solve the problem by pointing to some theological motivations that might have caused the omission. One of the proposals sees a different conception of theocracy between the author of Ben Sira and the book of Ezra, where the latter is presented as an offi cer of Persian authority, and therefore responsible for foreign infl uence on Israel in Judea. This reason together with a different understanding of priesthood in these two texts have most probably led to the omission of any mention of Ezra in Ben Sira's book. The ultimate answer to that question, however, must remain hypothetical.
The instances where daughters are mentioned in the Greek books of the Old Testament are not numerous. They are interesting, however, and deserving of exegesis and interpretation. In Tobit and Ben Sira their relationship to fathers are stressed and this aspect is of importance, whether those relationships are good or strained. If the texts are compared with the Hebrew Bible, more light is thrown on the personalities of the daughters, and they are valued more highly. Some influence of the Greek civilization can be presupposed here. A link with the Mediterranean culture of honor and shame can also be traced, especially in Ben Sira.
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