Jeremy L. Berg

I’m in Chicago all week in a classroom full of doctoral students with noses in ancient texts, studying the role of teachers and students, prophets and scribes, literacy and illiteracy in the ancient world. Our course has the somewhat laudatory title: Becoming Doctors of the Church. 

I’m sharing some thoughts and insights from my studies for the one person out there who may be interested. Today let me introduce you to one early Jewish teacher, and his famous (idealized) description of the scribe.

Ben Sira, or Ben Sirach (2nd century BCE) was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Jerusalem. He is the author of the Book of Sirach, also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus. He wrote his work in Hebrew, possibly in Alexandria, Egypt ca. 180–175 BCE, where he is thought to have established a school.

Here’s Ben Sira’s idealized description of the ancient Jewish scribe or sage, whose livelihood depended on “opportunity of leisure” which he first contrasts with the blue-collar workers of the day. His description of the farmer and craftsmen, and their different role in society, may sound a bit condescending at times; but he also highlights their impressive skills and significant role in “maintaining the fabric of society.”

I share this with a (tongue in cheek) awareness that many probably view my ability to spend a week away in Chicago “seeking out all the wisdom of the ancients” a privilege many other people don’t have. I am deeply grateful for this “opportunity of leisure” but, as my professor just said, “Some people work by the sweat of their brow and others work by the sweat of their brains (scholars) and the sweat of their mouths (teachers/preachers).”

So, what do you think about Ben Sira’s description of the place and contribution of the Jewish Sage in the ancient society compared to the place of the one “who handles the plow”:

The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure; 

only the one who has little business can become wise. 

²⁵ How can one become wise who handles the plow, 

and who glories in the shaft of a goad, 

who drives oxen and is occupied with their work, 

and whose talk is about bulls? 

²⁶ He sets his heart on plowing furrows, 

and he is careful about fodder for the heifers. 

²⁷ So it is with every artisan and master artisan 

who labors by night as well as by day; 

those who cut the signets of seals, 

each is diligent in making a great variety; 

they set their heart on painting a lifelike image, 

and they are careful to finish their work. 

²⁸ So it is with the smith, sitting by the anvil, 

intent on his iron-work; 

the breath of the fire melts his flesh, 

and he struggles with the heat of the furnace; 

the sound of the hammer deafens his ears,

and his eyes are on the pattern of the object. 

He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork, 

and he is careful to complete its decoration. 

²⁹ So it is with the potter sitting at his work 

and turning the wheel with his feet; 

he is always deeply concerned over his products, 

and he produces them in quantity. 

³⁰ He molds the clay with his arm 

and makes it pliable with his feet; 

he sets his heart to finish the glazing, 

and he takes care in firing the kiln. 

³¹ All these rely on their hands, 

and all are skillful in their own work. 

³² Without them no city can be inhabited, 

and wherever they live, they will not go hungry.

Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,

³³ nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly. 

They do not sit in the judge’s seat, 

nor do they understand the decisions of the courts; 

they cannot expound discipline or judgment, 

and they are not found among the rulers.

³⁴ But they maintain the fabric of the world, 

and their concern is for the exercise of their trade. 

How different the one who devotes himself 

to the study of the law of the Most High! 

 39 He seeks out the wisdom of all the ancients, 

and is concerned with prophecies; 

2 he preserves the sayings of the famous 

and penetrates the subtleties of parables; 

3 he seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs 

and is at home with the obscurities of parables. 

4 He serves among the great 

and appears before rulers; 

he travels in foreign lands 

and learns what is good and evil in the human lot. 

5 He sets his heart to rise early 

to seek the Lord who made him, 

and to petition the Most High; 

he opens his mouth in prayer 

and asks pardon for his sins. 

6 If the great Lord is willing, 

he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; 

he will pour forth words of wisdom of his own 

and give thanks to the Lord in prayer. 

7 The Lord will direct his counsel and knowledge, 

as he meditates on his mysteries. 

8 He will show the wisdom of what he has learned, 

and will glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant. 

9 Many will praise his understanding; 

it will never be blotted out. 

His memory will not disappear, 

and his name will live through all generations. 

10 Nations will speak of his wisdom, 

and the congregation will proclaim his praise. 

11 If he lives long, he will leave a name greater than a thousand, 

and if he goes to rest, it is enough for him.

(Ben Sirach 38:24-39:11)