Book of Sirach 21-51, Book of Isaiah 1-5

Sirach 25: "I would rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than dwell with an evil wife."  As much as I would love to spin this around the thoughts on dragons at the time, I'll soon be talking about Sirach and women again..."From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die," for instance.

At some point, and perhaps it's owing to material that wasn't part of the original composition but not the fault of the original translator, Sirach's material really slips into the usual wisdom literature perspective and quality, losing its original spark, perhaps owing to someone expanding it to its current status as one of the longer Old Testament works.

31 and 32 speak better of wine than elsewhere is spoken of women.  At this point, it's just clear that Old Testament folk were deep in the heart of the kind of marriage practice that was more about arrangements than love.  The latter is said to be a relatively new invention.  The former produced so much grief that I'd say it colored man's whole interpretation of woman.  When you were marrying someone you didn't choose, there were no doubt going to be a lot (a lot) of bad matches.  I don't suppose either party would be happy about it, but it would probably be the girl being sold, essentially, by her father who would be more resentful of the arrangement.  And her unhappiness, or according to the bias of the man, unwillingness to just shut up and be happy, would paint her in a uniformly unflattering light.  And thus, all women are bad.  They are the "other."  And must be warned about and considered the source, well, of all evil.  Like Eve.  And the reason a great man like Solomon was brought down.  And such.

36: "...that there is no God but thee..."  Apparently Sirach is not familiar with the oodles of biblical material that clearly states God is preeminent among...other gods.  This may be the start of that particular whitewash...Although again, it's not like anyone attempted to delete the previous references.  It just seems to be assumed, perhaps, that they refer to false idols of pagan neighbors.

38 and 39 go out of their way to explain why different classes should remain separate, because they will just never be able to understand each other.

43 is a summary of God, and includes the phrase, "He is the all."  A sort of variation on "I Am Who Am," or omnipotence in so many words.

44 begins a litany of great biblical men, with some interesting selections:

• Enoch ("example of repentance," otherwise not especially biblicly important)
• Noah ("taken in exchange," which certainly seems to make that story different)
• Abraham ("kept the law," which is also interesting, considering "the law" didn't really exist for another few generations, under Moses)
• Isaac
• Jacob
• Moses ("a man of mercy," except when he was smiting people even after God decided not to!)
• Aaron (gets an incredibly lengthy write-up, almost as if he's far more important than anyone else)
• Phinehas ("zealot in the fear of God")
• Joshua ("mighty in war")
• Samuel
• David
• Solomon
• Elijah
• Josiah

And a few other names referenced, although it's not always clear to what extent Sirach is actually endorsing them to the level comparable with the above list, Hezekiah for example.  "No one like Enoch has been created on earth, for he was taken up from the earth.  And no man like Joseph has been born, and his bones are cared for.  Shem and Seth were honored among men, and Adam above every living being in the creation."

50 adds Simon to the list, perhaps on the same basis as Enoch.

Anyway, Sirach really seems to be a final summation of orthodox Jewish thought, perhaps the basis for its modern practice (you know, besides Moses) after a few notable deviations such as Book of Job and Ecclesiastes.

In the same way, Book of Isaiah might arguably called the beginning of a marked transition between the Old and New Testaments.  I know, his prophecies are important to the times he lived in, but he also serves as one of the classic biblical voices pointing, according to Christian thought, toward Jesus.  He seems to be saying in the early going that not only are the people corrupted, but God is actually tired of the old ways, which is to say preparing something new (which, by the way, even Christians don't understand).  The fifth chapter even features a parable that reads very similar to the ones Jesus would later give, concerning a vineyard as a metaphor.

Book of Sirach 6-20

Sirach 6 has great advice concerning friends, including the "a faithful friend is a sturdy shelter" passage.

8: "Do not slight the discourse of the sages, but busy yourself with their maxims; because from them you will gain instruction and learn how to serve great men."  It's interesting, that at least from this perspective, smart people are not themselves fit to be rulers, or great men, apparently.  I suppose it makes sense.

10: Pride was not created for me, no fierce anger for those born of women."  Another interesting perspective.

12 preaches to distance yourself from sinners, which is the opposite of how Jesus would later live his life.

13 is extremely cynical about the motives of rich people.  It's true that we as a society today are skeptical of the rich, and we have plenty of reasons to be, but now I'm wondering how much of that is because we were always told to distrust them.  If we're told to keep our distance, and they keep their distance, that certainly won't help matters, either, is what I'm saying.

All the personification of wisdom both here in Sirach and elsewhere starts to feel very similar to Jesus calling himself the "bread of life."

17 seems to suggest that God showed Adam the difference between good and evil.  I may be reading it wrong, because the chapter is yet another where biblical history is repeated but more in allusion than in specifics.  But it would certainly be an interesting variation.  Everyone just kind of accepts that Genesis explains the Judeo-Christian position on how that happened (and handily blames it on a woman).  Maybe that's not what the faith always said, at least uniformly.

18: "He rebukes and trains and teaches them, and turns them back, as a shepherd his flock."  The same shepherd analogy Jesus would later use himself, done differently (Jesus was the good shepherd, you'll recall), in a more direct fashion.  The same relationship God has been illustrated as having with his people all along, but worded just differently enough...That seems to be the theme of Sirach.  When they say something like "the inspired word of God," I think this would be the stuff they're talking about.  I'm not saying you need to believe all of it, because it's still the fallible work of fallible man, inspired or not, suited to the needs and understanding of the time it was written, but it's helpful.  That's what the whole Bible should be, right?  A guidebook of sorts.

19: "Wine and women lead intelligent men astray."  Although even Sirach is beholden to the idea that women in general are the "other" of society, not necessarily included in any of these thoughts, and must constantly be warned about.  Of wine and women, there are many more concerns about women than wine in the Bible.  Maybe at the time women really were always trying to lead men astray.  Or perhaps more likely, being the "other" they were simply considered the primary source of sexual thoughts.  If the perspective is male, of course they would be.  In a female-oriented culture, that line would read "wine and men lead intelligent men astray," with all the same implications.  It would be nice if we could just get past that already.  Women are people too.  And so let's move along. 

Song of Solomon 1-8, Wisdom of Solomon 1-19, Book of Sirach 1-5

The short and sweet ode to love (to what end beyond love is up for debate) includes henna in its first chapter, whether the tree or the art (up to debate?).  The second chapter includes the phrase, "I am a rose of Sharon," which a type of flower and also a character in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.  The third chapter references frankincense and myrrh in a romantic sense.  Song of Solomon amounts to a wonderful look at the culture of the Old Testament, and after Ecclesiastes is another fine book to read if you're skeptical that there's some truly great literature in the Bible.

Wisdom of Solomon is kind of the opposite.  It's another plodding wisdom literature effort.  (Neither one is actually by Solomon, by the way.)

The first chapter references "that which holds all things together," a phrase that calls to mind Yoda's description of the Force in Star Wars.  Hades is also referenced again.  The second chapter covers this book's vision of how atheists happen.  It also evokes Jesus at the moment of his death.  It further proposes the doctrine of eternal life for the faithful.  The fifth chapter calls Jesus to mind, too.  The tenth and eleventh chapters recap Genesis and Exodus without any names mentioned.  They're pretty interesting.  The thirteenth chapter is the book's version of how pagans come to worship their idols.  The rest of it becomes a little tiresome.

The Book of Sirach (so I'll call it for simplicity's sake) is another piece of wisdom literature, and so far it's far better than Wisdom of Solomon.  It's got a prologue from the translator, who studied, of course, in Egypt.