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Sirach / Chapter 49

Sirach 49

19 verses • Latin Vulgate (Jerome)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The Praise of the Ancestors accelerates through the final period of the monarchy and into the exile and return. Josiah is praised for his faithfulness amid a wicked generation. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets receive brief honor. The postexilic leaders -- Zerubbabel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and Nehemiah -- are praised for rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. The chapter closes with a surprising coda: a return to the earliest ancestors -- Enoch, Joseph, Shem, Seth, and Adam -- creating a ring structure that links creation to restoration.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The rapid survey of prophets and restorers in just a few verses each stands in sharp contrast to the extended treatment of Moses, Aaron, David, and Elijah. Ben Sira's brevity here is itself significant: as he approaches his own time, he accelerates. The final coda (vv. 16-19) returning to Enoch, Joseph, Shem, Seth, and Adam creates a cosmic frame: the Praise of the Ancestors spans from Adam to Simon, from creation to the present.

Translation Friction

Several notable figures are omitted: Ezra is not mentioned (perhaps because his role overlapped with Nehemiah's, or because Ben Sira's priestly circle had tensions with the Ezra tradition). Daniel is also absent. The brevity given to Jeremiah and Ezekiel seems insufficient given their stature.

Connections

2 Kings 22-23 (Josiah's reform); Jeremiah 1:5 (called from the womb); Ezekiel 1 (the chariot vision); Haggai and Zechariah (prophets of the restoration); Ezra-Nehemiah (the rebuilding); Genesis 5 (the genealogies of Enoch, Seth, and Adam).

Sirach 49:1

Memoria Iosiae in compositionem odoris facta opus pigmentarii.

The memory of Josiah is like the blending of incense prepared by the art of the perfumer.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

Iosiae
"Josiah"

The great reforming king of Judah (c. 640-609 BCE) who discovered the book of the Law and purged the land of idolatry (2 Kings 22-23).

compositionem odoris
"blending of incense"

The sacred incense of Exodus 30:34-38, compounded from stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense; the most holy of all aromatics.

Translator Notes

  1. Josiah's memory is compared to sacred incense -- a compound of precious ingredients that produces a uniquely pleasing fragrance. His name evokes the same response as holy perfume.
Sirach 49:2

In omni ore quasi mel indulcabitur eius memoria et ut musica in convivio vini.

In every mouth his memory will be sweet as honey, and like music at a feast of wine.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Three senses engaged: smell (incense, v. 1), taste (honey), and hearing (music). Josiah's memory is a total sensory experience.
Sirach 49:3

Ipse est directus divinitus in paenitentiam gentis et tulit abominationes impietatis.

He was divinely guided to lead the nation to repentance, and he removed the abominations of ungodliness.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

abominationes impietatis
"abominations of ungodliness"

The idolatrous shrines, altars, and cult objects that Josiah physically destroyed in his sweeping reform.

Translator Notes

  1. Josiah's reform (2 Kings 23): the systematic destruction of idolatrous sites and practices throughout Judah and even into the former northern territory.
Sirach 49:4

Et gubernavit ad Dominum cor ipsius et in diebus peccatorum corroboravit pietatem.

He directed his heart toward the Lord, and in an age of sinners he strengthened piety.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

pietatem
"piety"

Devotion to God expressed in faithful observance of the covenant; Josiah's piety was active, reforming, and public.

Translator Notes

  1. Josiah's personal devotion ('directed his heart') is set against the hostile context of a generation given to sin. He swam against the current.
Sirach 49:5

Praeter David et Ezechiam et Iosiam omnes peccatum commiserunt.

Except for David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, all the kings committed sin.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A devastating summary of the monarchy: out of all the kings of Judah, only three pass Ben Sira's test. The rest are failures.
Sirach 49:6

Nam reliquerunt legem Altissimi reges Iuda et contempserunt timorem Dei.

For the kings of Judah abandoned the law of the Most High and despised the fear of God.

Sirach 49:7

Dederunt enim regnum suum aliis et gloriam suam alienigenae genti.

For they gave their kingdom to others, and their glory to a foreign nation.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The Babylonian conquest is framed as the kings' own doing: they 'gave' their kingdom away through their faithlessness.
Sirach 49:8

Incenderunt electam sanctitatis civitatem et desertas fecerunt vias ipsius in manu Hieremiae.

They burned the chosen city of holiness and made its streets desolate -- as Jeremiah had foretold.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Hieremiae
"Jeremiah"

The 'weeping prophet' who foretold Jerusalem's destruction, witnessed it, and composed the Lamentations over its ruins.

Translator Notes

  1. The destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, which Jeremiah had predicted and mourned. 'In the hand of Jeremiah' means 'as prophesied by Jeremiah.'
Sirach 49:9

Nam male tractaverunt illum qui a ventre matris consecratus est propheta evertere et eruere et perdere et iterum aedificare et renovare.

For they mistreated the one who was consecrated as a prophet from his mother's womb, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, and again to build and to renew.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

a ventre matris consecratus
"consecrated from his mother's womb"

Jeremiah's prenatal calling (Jeremiah 1:5), establishing his prophetic authority as prior to and independent of any human appointment.

Translator Notes

  1. Jeremiah's call from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5) and his twofold commission (Jeremiah 1:10) -- to destroy and to build -- are compressed into a single verse. The mistreatment of Jeremiah by his contemporaries is noted as their crowning sin.
Sirach 49:10

Hiezechiel qui vidit conspectum gloriae quam ostendit illi in curru cherubin.

And Ezekiel, who saw the vision of glory that God showed him upon the chariot of the cherubim.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

Hiezechiel
"Ezekiel"

The priest-prophet of the exile, whose visions of the divine chariot-throne and the restored Temple shaped Jewish mysticism and eschatology.

curru cherubin
"chariot of the cherubim"

The merkavah -- God's throne-chariot borne by cherubim (Ezekiel 1, 10), the foundation of the merkavah mystical tradition.

Translator Notes

  1. Ezekiel's entire career is summed up in his inaugural vision: the chariot-throne (merkavah) of Ezekiel 1, which became the foundation of all later Jewish mystical tradition.
Sirach 49:11

Nam commemoratus est inimicorum in imbre et benefacere illis qui ostenderunt rectas vias.

For he remembered the enemies under the image of rain, and did good to those who showed straight paths.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. An obscure verse in the Vulgate. The 'rain' may refer to Ezekiel's prophecies of judgment (storms) upon Israel's enemies, while the 'straight paths' echo his calls to repentance.
Sirach 49:12

Et duodecim prophetarum ossa pullulent de loco suo nam corroboraverunt Iacob et redemerunt se in fide virtutis.

May the bones of the Twelve Prophets flourish from their resting place, for they strengthened Jacob and redeemed themselves by steadfast courage.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

duodecim prophetarum
"Twelve Prophets"

The Book of the Twelve (Trei Asar): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi -- treated as a single unit in the Jewish canon.

Translator Notes

  1. The Minor Prophets are honored as a collective -- the 'Twelve' (Hosea through Malachi). Their bones 'flourishing' is a blessing upon their memory, not a literal expectation.
Sirach 49:13

Quomodo amplificemus Zorobabel nam et ipse quasi signum in dextera manu.

How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? For he too was like a signet ring on the right hand.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

Zorobabel
"Zerubbabel"

The Davidic descendant who led the first return from exile and oversaw the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 3-6); a messianic figure in postexilic hope.

signum in dextera manu
"signet ring on the right hand"

The seal of royal authority (Haggai 2:23); God 'wears' Zerubbabel as his personal seal, marking him as the chosen instrument of restoration.

Translator Notes

  1. Zerubbabel's comparison to a signet ring echoes Haggai 2:23, where God reverses the curse on Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 22:24) by making Zerubbabel his chosen seal.
Sirach 49:14

Sic et Iesum filium Iosedec qui in diebus suis aedificaverunt domum et exaltaverunt templum sanctum Domino paratum in gloriam sempiternam.

So too Jeshua son of Jozadak, who in their days built the house and raised up the holy temple of the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Iesum filium Iosedec
"Jeshua son of Jozadak"

The postexilic high priest who, with Zerubbabel, oversaw the rebuilding of the Second Temple. His name is the same as Joshua and Jesus.

Translator Notes

  1. Jeshua (Joshua) the high priest partnered with Zerubbabel in the Temple reconstruction (Ezra 3:2, Haggai 1:1). The priestly and Davidic leaders worked together.
Sirach 49:15

Et Neemias in memoria multi temporis qui erexit nobis muros eversos et stare fecit portas et seras qui erexit domos nostras.

And Nehemiah, whose memory is long-lasting, who raised up for us the walls that had been thrown down, and set up the gates and bars, and rebuilt our houses.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Neemias
"Nehemiah"

The Persian-appointed governor who rebuilt Jerusalem's walls in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15) and reformed the community's religious practices.

Translator Notes

  1. Nehemiah's wall-rebuilding (Nehemiah 2-6) is his defining achievement: restoring Jerusalem's physical security and civic identity.
Sirach 49:16

Nemo natus est in terra qualis Enoch nam et ipse receptus est a terra.

No one born on earth was like Enoch, for he was taken up from the earth.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

receptus est a terra
"taken up from the earth"

Enoch's bodily assumption (Genesis 5:24); he 'walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.'

Translator Notes

  1. The surprising return to primordial history. Enoch reappears (cf. 44:16) as a figure of incomparable uniqueness: his translation to heaven sets him apart from all other mortals.
Sirach 49:17

Neque enim sicut Ioseph natus est homo princeps fratrum firmamentum gentis rector fratrum stabilimentum populi.

Nor was anyone born like Joseph, the ruler among his brothers, the support of his nation, the governor of his brothers, the foundation of his people.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Ioseph
"Joseph"

The patriarch who saved his family from famine (Genesis 37-50); his administrative brilliance and moral resilience are condensed into four honorific titles.

Translator Notes

  1. Joseph is celebrated for his role as sustainer of the family that became Israel. Four titles pile up: prince, support, governor, foundation.
Sirach 49:18

Et ossa ipsius visitata sunt et post mortem prophetaverunt.

And his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Joseph's bones were carried out of Egypt (Exodus 13:19, Joshua 24:32), fulfilling his deathbed prophecy. Even his remains bore witness to God's faithfulness.
Sirach 49:19

Seth et Sem apud homines gloriam adepti sunt et super omnem animam in origine Adam.

Shem and Seth gained glory among mortals, and above every living being in his origin was Adam.

Notes & Key Terms 3 terms

Key Terms

Seth
"Seth"

Adam's third son (Genesis 4:25), through whom the line of the righteous continued after Abel's murder.

Sem
"Shem"

Noah's son, ancestor of the Semitic peoples and forefather of Abraham's line.

Adam
"Adam"

The first human being, created directly by God; his position at the climax of the ancestry list affirms that all human glory derives from the original divine creative act.

Translator Notes

  1. The Praise of the Ancestors ends where human history begins: with Adam, the first created being, whose 'origin' (creation by God's own hands) surpasses all subsequent glory. The ring is complete: from Enoch (44:16) to Adam, from the first man to the last high priest (ch. 50).
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