Introduction

The Wisdom of Yeshua the son of Sira, also known as Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, is a collection of teaching about how to live wisely. The writer identifies himself as a teacher from Yerushalem (Jerusalem). In the prologue preserved below, his grandson explains that he translated his grandfather’s work from Hebrew into Greek so that more people could benefit from its instruction.

Like Proverbs, this book connects wisdom with respecting God and obeying his instructions. Its advice reaches into everyday life: choosing friends, caring for parents, using money, controlling what we say, bringing up children, eating and drinking, dealing with illness, and grieving for the dead. Its topics often return in different settings, so the opening forty-two chapters are best read as a collection of related teachings rather than as one continuous argument.

The later chapters praise God’s wisdom in creation and remember earlier generations of Yisrael’s (Israel’s) leaders, priests, and prophets. This leads to a description of the high priest Shim’on (Simon) and the worship at the temple. The book ends with a prayer of thanks and a personal account of seeking wisdom, inviting readers to become learners themselves.

The Wisdom of Yeshua the Son of Sira, also called Ecclesiasticus, is recognised as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Romaios Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches.