a Jewish sage between opposition and assimilation /
Marko Marttila
Boston :
Walter de Gruyter,
c2012
ix, 287 p. ;
24 cm
Deuterocanonical and cognate literature studies ;
v. 13
Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-265) and indexes
Introduction -- Covenant with mankind according to Sirach 17 -- Wisdom, Israel and other nations in Sirach 24 -- "Put the nations in the fear of you" : the national prayer in Sirach 36 -- Foreign nations in Ben Sira's "Laus patrum" (Sir 44-50) -- Ben Sira and foreign rule : an analysis of short passages -- Summary
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The biblical concept of Israel as the Chosen People raises the difficult question about the fate of other nations. Earlier wisdom literature did not argue in national terms but in Ben Sira we have the first known sage who combined wisdom instructions and the history of his people. Ben Sira's work gives valuable insight into the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the first quarter of the second century B.C.E. Ben Sira attempted to defend the religious and cultural heritage of the Jewish people in order to avoid assimilation, but at the same time he acknowledged wisdom traditions of other nations