The Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

The longest wisdom book in any canon: practical instruction on money, friendship, speech, work, parenting, illness and death, from a Jerusalem teacher who ran a school. It ends with a hymn in praise of the ancestors that gave the phrase “let us now praise famous men” to English.

Testament

Old (51 chapters)

Type

Deuterocanon

Date

Written in Hebrew around 180 BC; translated into Greek after 132 BC.

Wisdom as a way of living

Ben Sira is interested in how a person behaves at dinner, lends money, treats employees and speaks about absent friends. The book is closer to Proverbs than to philosophy and is unembarrassed about being useful.

Honour your parents, and your doctor

Chapter 38 tells the sick to pray and then to call the physician, because God made him too. It is a striking piece of practical theology to find in an ancient text.

Key verses (KJV)

“A faithfull friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure.” — Sirach 6:14 (KJV)

“Honour a physician with the honour due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord hath created him.” — Sirach 38:1 (KJV)

How to read Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

Not front to back. Dip in — a chapter at a time, like Proverbs. Chapters 2, 6, 38 and 44 are the ones people come back to.

Read Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) on your iPhone

Read the full book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) in Quiethaven — choose your translation, read offline, and pick up where you left off. Pair it with a daily verse and a prayer timer.

More Old Testament books

• The Book of Baruch
• The Book of 1 Maccabees
• The Book of 2 Maccabees
• The Book of Tobit
• The Book of Judith

Frequently asked questions

What is the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) about?

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) is a book of Deuterocanon, running to 51 chapters. Its main threads: Wisdom as a way of living; Honour your parents, and your doctor.

Who wrote the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)?

Jesus ben Sira, a scribe in Jerusalem — one of the very few Old Testament books whose author names himself. His grandson translated it into Greek and wrote a preface explaining why translation is hard, which is the earliest such note we have.

Where does Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) come in the Bible?

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) is one of the seven deuterocanonical books — part of the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament, and printed in the Apocrypha of some Protestant Bibles rather than in the canon. That is why a Protestant Bible has 66 books and a Catholic one 73.