There are a few striking parallels between the book of James and passages in the book of Sirach.
1. For example, take James 1:13: "Let no one say when they are tempted, 'God is tempting me.' God cannot be tempted by evil and he does not tempt anyone himself."
Now look at Sirach 15:11-12: "Do not say, 'It was the Lord's doing that I fell away,' for he does not do what he hates. Do not say, 'It was he who led me astray,' for he has no need of the sinful" (NRSV).
2. Here's another set of parallels:
James 1:19: "Let each person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."
And Sirach 5:11: "Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering."
3. Next: James 3:10: "From the same mouth comes out blessing and cursing. It is not right, my brothers, for these things to be so."
And Sirach 5:13-14: "Honor and dishonor come from speaking... Do not be called double-tongued..."
4. James 1:2-15 in general covers many of the same topics as Sirach 2:1-18 and 15:11-20, topics like trials, double-paths, humbling ourselves before the Lord, the Lord's mercy, and God doesn't cause us to do evil.
These parallels are not so close as to prove dependence, but it certainly would not be far fetched to suppose that James' wording has been influenced by Sirach at these points.
Of course Matthew 11:28-39 also seems to echo images of Wisdom in Sirach 6 and 51:
Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Sirach 6:26-28: “Come to her [wisdom] with all your soul…for at last you will find the rest she gives.
Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”
Sirach 6:30, 33: “Her yoke is a golden ornament… If you love to listen you will gain knowledge…”
Sirach 51:23: “Put your neck under her yoke... See with your own eyes that I have labored but little and found for myself much serenity.”
In my opinion, only Protestant biases would lead us not to conclude that Matthew is drawing images from Sirach at these points. He does not quote Sirach, but he draws on it.
None of this proves that Matthew and James considered Sirach to be Scripture. And frankly, I have no desire to consider Sirach Scripture, given its horrific attitude toward women (e.g., 42:14) and its faulty view of God's justice in relation to suffering (e.g., 11:26-28). But I believe it was a significant book for many early Christians, at least "deuterocanonical," if not considered Scripture.
If you want to take a gander (it's a long book): here it is.
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3 comments:
I was taking InterTestament with you when I first started dating the woman which is now my wife (yeah for me!)
I remember reading her a few passages out of Sirach. Not exactly the stuff that makes the ladies swoon.
Okay, you 'guys', wisdom is personified as a woman (at least in English) in Scripture. But, wisdom cannot be "found" without knowledge.
Since humans are developmental beings, then knowledge via education is necessary for the student to "grow"...While knowledge is "objectified", wisdom is "subjectified"...
Academic knowledge is useful for society as a whole. The Enlightenment brought about our form of government, which was bred in the "soup" of "reason".
While "reason" has given us the freedoms that we value as Americans, "tradition" gives us "wisdom". But, "wisdom" is contextual and cannot attain to a higher "goal" of developing "reason" than local cultural mores or norms.
So, it seems that "reason" is a "higher value" than "tradition". (I think I've been in an "intellectual fog" lately.)
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