Chapter Four. Election And Tradition: The Preservation And Transmission Of Wisdom

Abstract

This chapter attempts to answer the question: what particular mechanisms for preserving Israel's wisdom did the sage Ben Sira envision. Ben Sira clearly associates wisdom instruction with a tradition passed on from one generation to the next. Further, the chapter address the question: Is there an approach by which one might discern precisely what Ben Sira thought the mechanisms for conserving and handing on Wisdom among the elect should be. Whereas the book of Proverbs portrays the king as a patron of wisdom, with the family and scribe playing secondary roles, Ben Sira downplays the roles of the family and the king, elevates the role of the scribe, and introduces the function of the priests in the transmission of wisdom. One can make sense of this remarkable sociological shift by considering the new political configuration of Ben Sira's Jerusalem.Keywords: Ben Sira; Israel's wisdom; Jerusalem; priests; Sirach; Solomon's proverbs