Ben Sira’s Praise of the Ancestors of Old (Sir 44–49): The History of Israel as Parenetic Apologetics

Abstract

That Ben Sira was completely immersed in the traditions of Israel’s history and sacred literature is a commonplace in biblical studies. Even a casual reading of the book would convince one of that. Since he was a well-educated and cultured Jew who had travelled extensively in the Hellenistic world (Sir 34:12-13)1, we can reasonably assume that he was at least familiar with some Greek literary works and with the various genres of Greek historical writing2, But this does not mean that Ben Sira modeled in any way his Praise of the Ancestors on Greek literature. From the earlier parts of the OT he had all the historical models he would have needed. Thomas R. Lee, however, believes that Ben Sira did indeed base the Praise on Greek literature, and he argues that of all the Hellenistic literary genres Ben Sira was principally indebted to the encomium3. While acknowledging the importance of Lee’s study, Burton L. Mack believes that this study needs revision. Mack’s thesis, accordingly, is that Ben Sira “was conversant with Hellenistic historiography, biography, and the encomium, but that each provided models only for certain aspects of the poem [44-50]”4. The arguments in support of the thesis that Ben Sira modeled the Praise on Greek literature are slim and, in my judgment, unconvincing. The reason is that, since Ben Sira explicitly and frequently warns his students/readers against the blandishments of Greek ideas and ideals5, he would be unlikely to employ Greek genres for his great poem in Praise of Israel’s Ancestors. R.N. Whybray appropriately remarks: “If Ben Sira thought it important to include a ‘historiographical’ section to his wis-