Yeshua Ben Sira was a Jewish scribe and sage writing in the time of the Seleucid Empire to adapt his understanding of traditional Judaism with Hellenistic culture. Succumbing to Greek notions of individual authorship, Ben Sira provided his name to the work, becoming the first self-proclaimed author in Jewish literature. Ben Sira also applied discussions of several typical Greek themes and philosophical ideas: praise of virtuous heroes, friendship, self-control, rhetorical skill, satisfaction, etiquette and decorum, among other themes, provide close affinities with stoicism (258). Ben Sira recounts the glorious history of the heroes of Israel to highlight the antiquity of his people, which was a characteristic of superiority in the Hellenistic world. Also appealing to the Hellenistic world is the function of personified divine wisdom in creation and salvation and as permeating the cosmos, thus bearing similarities with the Stoic concept of logos.
According to Perdue, Ben Sira wrote a schoolbook after the Greek model, in order to guide his students down a middle road between Judaism and Hellenism. Interestingly Ben Sira models his writing after the sayings of Proverbs and presents his teachings as equivalent to prophecy, which possibly suggests he expected his inspired interpretation of Torah to be accepted into the “canon” that was under discussion at his time (273):
24:33 I will again pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all future generations
(NRSV)
Ben Sira thus marks the rise of scribes as inspired interpreters of scripture, who have the freedom to expand and adapt the words of the previous traditions to speak to new generations (282). Perdue proposes that the work contains a Sadducean outlook, which is betrayed by the absence of apocalyptic, lack of references to the oral traditions that were espoused by the Pharisees, the identification of wisdom with Torah, and his praise of the high priest (supposedly Simon II, who was favored by the Sadducees).
