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Ben Sira lived in an era when Hellenistic influences continued to spread in Palestine. The supreme political power was in the hands of foreign rulers. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that Ben Sira discusses the position of foreign nations in several passages. The tone varies due to the given context. This study demonstrates that Ben Sira’s relationship to foreign nations is best defined as “balanced”, as his attitude is neither thoroughly hostile nor that of uncritically embracing Gentiles. On the basis of certain passages, one can get the impression that even the foreigners could be recipients of the Torah. On the other hand, some nations were regarded by earlier biblical authors as archenemies of Israel, and these anti-elect people caused also Ben Sira’s anger to be provoked. Ben Sira was deeply rooted in Judaism but this did not prevent him from being open toward foreign influences as far as they were compatible with his religious and cultural heritage.
E-Book Content
M a r k o Marttila Foreign Nations in the Wisdom of Ben Sira
Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies Edited by
Friedrich V. Reiterer, Beate Ego, Tobias Nicklas
Volume 13
De Gruyter
Marko Marttila
Foreign Nations in the Wisdom of Ben Sira A Jewish Sage between Opposition and Assimilation
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-027010-5 e-ISBN 978-3-11-027011-2 ISSN 1865-1666 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
Marttila, Marko, 1974— Foreign nations in the wisdom of Ben Sira : a Jewish sage between opposition and assimilation / Marko Marttila. p. cm. — (Deuterocanonical and cognate literature studies, ISSN 1865-1666 ; v. 13) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-3-11-027010-5 (hardcover 23 x 15,5 : alk. paper) 1. Gentiles in the Old Testament. 2. Bible. O.T. Apocrypha. Ecclesiasticus — Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. BS1199.N6.M37 2012 229'.406—dc23 2011043914
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The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2012 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen VII.< ist="" unkorrekt".="" see="" also="" günther="" hölbl,="" geschichte="" des="" ptolemäerreiches.="" politik,="" ideologie="" und="" religiöse="" kultur="" von="" alexander="" dem="" großen="" "bis="" zur="" römischen="" eroberung="" (darmstadt:="" wissenschaftliche="" buchgesellschaft,="" 2004),="" 169="" (and="" the="" illuminating="" pedigree="" of="" the="" ptolemaic="" family="" in="" pp.="" 4="" 0="" 3="" 405).="" after="" the="" death="" of="" his="" co-regent="" philometor,="" euergetes="" ii="" consolidated="" his="" throne="" by="" annihilating="" all="" the="" potential="" usurpers="" and="" other="" people="" who="" could="" pose="" a="" threat.="" therefore,="" the="" citizens="" of="" alexandria="" modified="" the="" name="" of="" the="" king="" to="" "kakergetes"="" (="malefactor);" hölbl,="" geschichte="" des="" ptolemäerreiches,="">
12
Skehan and Di Leila, Wisdom, 134.
6
Introduction
Ben Sira and his grandson work in tandem.13 According to Williams, a sixty-year gap between a grandfather and his grandson is plausible. He further argues that Ben Sira published his wisdom work ca. 175 B.C.E. at which time he was about sixty years old and his grandson was an infant. Then the grandson arrived in Egypt in his early forties in 132. When the grandson completed the translation 116/115, he was himself approximately sixty years old. A sixty-year gap between a grandfather and his grandchild is quite normal in our west