ECCLESIASTICUS one of the most important and most esteemed of the Apocryphal books of the 0. T.
1. The title of the Book.—The original IIebrew title of this book, according to the authority of the Jewish writings, and St. Jerome (vide infra, sec. 3) was tr,vn Proverbs, or more fully p N.1 the Proverbs of Yesus, son of Sirs, which was abbreviated according to a very common practice, Into KVID p Ben Sin; pfl Sirach, which we find in a few later writers, evidently originated from a desire to imitate the Greek ltpcix. Hence all the quotations made from this book in the Talmud and Midrashim are under these titles. (Comp. Mishna, Iadaim, iii. t5 ; Chagiga, is ; Midrash Rabba, 6, b. ; Tanchuma, 69, a, etc. etc.) The Greek MSS. and Fathers, however, as well as the prologue to this book, and the printed editions of the Sept., de signate it l'oOla. (Ei, 77) pax, The Wis dom of 7esus, the son of Sirach, or by way of ab breviation, Ioq51e,Z.lipdx, The wisdom of Sirach, or eogia ravdperos, or simply i7 ravciperos, The book of all virtues, because of the excellency and diversity of the wisdom it propounds, with which the Syriac l;--o-.00-,-C? iLLD.ar.., agrees. The name Ecclesiasticus, by which it has been called in the Latin Church ever since the second half of the fourth century, and which has been retained in many versions of the Reformers (e.g., the Zurich Bible, Coverdale, the Geneva version, the Bishops' Bible, and the auth. version) is derived from the old Latin version, adopted by St. Jerome in the Vulg., and is explained to mean church-reading hook. The appellation libri ecclesiastici was given by the ancients to those books which were read in the churches for edification, to distinguish them from libri canonici ; and as this book was especi ally esteemed and read more generally for ecclesi astical purposes, it was gar' called Ecclesias ticus. Calmet, however, is of opinion (Preface) that this name was given to it because of its resem blance to Ecclesiastes. But as this title is very vague it is rightly rejected by Luther, and almost all modern critics.
2. The Design and Alethod of the Book.—The de sign of this book is to propound the true nature of wisdom, and to set forth the religious and social duties which she teaches us to follow through all the varied stages and vicissitudes of this life ; thus teaching the practical end of man's existence by re viewing life in all its different bearings and aspects.
In addition to the fact that no Palestinian pro duction, whether inspired or uninspired, can be reduced to a logically developed treatise according to Aristotelian rules, there are difficulties in tracing the plan of this book, arising from the peculiar cir cumstances of the author as well as from the work itself. Ben Sira brings to the execution of his plan the varied experience of a studious and practical life, and in his great anxiety not to omit any useful lesson which he has gathered, he passes on, after the manner of an Eastern logic, from the nature of heavenly wisdom to her godly teachings, from temptation in its varied forms to filial duties ; he discloses before the eyes of his readers the inward workings of the heart and mind, he depicts all the passions and aspirations, all the virtues and vices, all the duties towards God and man in proverbs and apothegms, in sayings which have been the property of the nation for ages, and in maxims and parables of his own creation, with a rapidity and suddenness of transition which even an Eastern mind finds it at times difficult to follow. Add to this that the original Hebrew is lost, that the Greek translation is very obscure, that it has been muti lated for dogmatic purposes, and that some sections are transposed beyond the hope of readjustment, and the difficulty of displaying satisfactorily the method or plan of this book will at once be appa rent, and the differences of opinion respecting it will be no matter of surprise. Believing Fritzsche's development of the plan of Ben Sira to be the most satisfactory we have no hesitation in adopting it. The book, according to this painstaking and learned critic, is divisible into seven parts or sections, as follows : Section I., comprising chaps. i.-xvi. 21, de scribes the nature of wisdom, gives encour agements to submit to it, as well as direc tions for conducting ourselves in harmony with its teachings.