Books Jesus Read

Chapter 8 Spiritual Sages – Sirach and Solomon

Background The genre of writings familiar to Bible readers from the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon is known as “wisdom literature.” In addition to the various historical and literary works written during the “Four Hundred Silent Years,” there were two books of wisdom sayings, selections of which are included here. The Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach was written in Hebrew before the Maccabean Revolt, and reflects the traditional culture and values of Israel. Interestingly, Sirach was not included in the Jewish canon but was accepted as Scripture by the early church, who renamed it Ecclesiasticus, meaning “the Church’s book.” 1

1 Protestants, however, rejected this status at the Reformation.

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