"Quale pace tra il ricco e il povero?" (Sir 13,18b): Il binomio povertà – ricchezza nel libro di Ben Sira by Francesco Savini

Abstract

Reviewed by: "Quale pace tra il ricco e il povero?" (Sir 13,18b): Il binomio povertà – ricchezza nel libro di Ben Sira by Francesco Savini Francis M. Macatangay francesco savini, "Quale pace tra il ricco e il povero?" (Sir 13,18b): Il binomio povertà – ricchezza nel libro di Ben Sira ( AnBib 230; Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2020). Pp. 388. Paper €38. The current global pandemic has made reflections on the relationship between rich and poor less abstract. It has made many aware that poor people and countries suffer more than those who have access to adequate health care, greater resources, and better living conditions. Indeed, many have been forced to face the inequality, the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the haves and the have-nots in society. During the Second Temple period, Ben Sira was one of the voices that spoke to the tension between the rich and the poor. The presence of the polarities rich and poor in the book invites inquiry into how this pair of opposites functions in his thoughts. What does Ben Sira have to say about wealth and poverty in light of his tradition and belief in God? Does his work display a form of polemical response to the economic disparities of his time? These are just some of the issues that this monograph, which is a revised dissertation written in Italian at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome under the direction of Nuria Calduch-Benages (2019), attempts to address by tracing Ben Sira's thoughts on the subject of material goods. Savini focuses on texts where the polarity "rich–poor" frequently occurs, namely, Sir 13:1–24; 30:14–31:4; and 10:19–11:28. The methodical and thorough exegesis of the Hebrew text of these passages forms the core of the volume. The present work has seven chapters, starting with the first chapter's survey of previous studies on the topic. Along with insights from the earlier works, particular attention to historical aspects, specifically in their economic and political expressions, and to the pedagogical facets guides the work. In short, the approach is sociological, pedagogical, and theological. The second chapter begins with an examination of the various lexemes for poverty and wealth (an appendix is provided). Concerning Proverbs and Hebrew Ben Sira, it is frequently said that the sapiential corpus witnesses to the sages' interest in the moral and theological aspects of riches. More importantly, Ben Sira's mention of these dialectical [End Page 685] opposites determines the texts selected for the study. Since this mutual opposition between poverty and wealth is a socioeconomic reality, a description of the sociohistorical period of Ben Sira's writing occupies the third chapter. Although S. concurs with the common view that Ben Sira's scribal activities took place between 200 b.c.e. and 175 b.c.e., he is nonetheless more comfortable placing Ben Sira's work around 190 b.c.e., a time that was beset not only by political conflicts inside and outside of Judea but also with social, religious, and cultural tensions. Such realities are said to have swayed Ben Sira's words on wealth and poverty, an issue he treats in service of the moral and religious education of Israel's youth. In chaps. 4, 5, 6, and 7, S. exegetically investigates the selected texts where the opposites rich and poor occur. Each chapter proceeds with the following classic steps: (1) contextualization of the text within the book; (2) textual criticism to establish or reconstruct the text when possible; (3) literary analysis that pays attention to the internal dynamics, images, and rhetorical elements in the text; (4) exegetical and theological commentary on every verse; and (5) conclusion, which highlights the insights from the text and some possible lines of actualization. In the fourth chapter, on Sir 13:1–24, S. describes the perpetual tension between the rich and the poor. The text depicts the rich as calculating and fake, viewing everything according to egoistic interests. Although the absence of any references to God makes it appear as if the world is governed by the rich and the powerful, Ben Sira actually wants to emphasize horizontal relationships. To evade harm and moral...