. . . it becomes clear that the main point of the speech is not to
argue for a tripartite canon; it is not his intention either to criticize the
process of translation, or to privilege Judean wisdom—though there are pieces
of all these arguments in the speech. Instead, it has become clear that Ben Sira’s
descendent is conducting an epideictic discourse, which first sets up the
element of virtue (instruction and wisdom), then shows the different ways in
which the object of praise participates in that component of virtue. According
to the translator, his ancestor has fulfilled his duty of explicating the
wisdom and instruction found in the teachings of the ancestral books. In doing
so, he created a work which approaches the other ancestral works in wisdom,
instruction, and thus value. Because of the intrinsic praiseworthiness of his
ancestor’s work, Ben Sira’s descendant also fulfils his duty, as a lover of
learning, to make that work available to a wider audience by translating it
into Greek. Thus the ultimate goal of the prologue, perhaps obviously, is to
show the importance of the translation as a contribution to the life of the
law. But, an essential step along the way is to ensure that the work the
descendant is translating is also worthwhile. In this context, that means that
it must contain the same qualities as the Law, the Prophets, and other books. It
seems, therefore, that however these writings were valued at this time, whether
merely as collections of wisdom or as sacred scripture, Sirach shared it.
Though it does appear that the beginnings of a tripartite division of valued
books exists in the mind of the translator, it is plain that these corpora are
not closed, and their contents, just as with the book of Sirach, may be
debated. This very fact opens up an entirely new avenue toward understanding
the canon process, and it is hoped that this avenue will be pursued vigorously.
(Francis Borchardt, “Prologue of Sirach (Ben Sira) and the Question of Canon,”
in Sacra Scriptura: How “Non-Canonical” Text Functioned in Early Judaism and
Early Christianity, ed. James H. Charlesworth, Lee McDonald and Blake A. Jurgens
[Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies 20; London: Bloomsbury
T&T Clark, 2014], 70-71)
