Ecclesiasticus

Ecclesiasticus
/i klee'zee as"ti keuhs/, n.
a book of the Apocrypha. Also called Wisdom of Jesus. Abbr.: Ecclus.

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also called the  Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach 

      deuterocanonical biblical work (accepted in the Roman Catholic canon but noncanonical for Jews and Protestants), an outstanding example of the wisdom genre of religious literature that was popular in the early Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD). This book appeared in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, though it was later rejected as apocryphal by Jews. Like other major wisdom books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Wisdom of Solomon), Ecclesiasticus contains practical and moral rules and exhortations, frequently arranged according to subject matter—e.g., hypocrisy, generosity, filial respect. Wisdom, personified as Sophia, or Lady Wisdom, delivers an extended discourse on her eternal relationship with God (chapter 24) and is identified with the Mosaic Law.

      The text is the only apocryphal work whose author is known. It was written in Hebrew in Palestine around 180–175 BC by Ben Sira, who was probably a scribe well-versed in Jewish law and custom.

      Ben Sira's grandson, whose name is unknown, carried the book to Alexandria and translated it into Greek shortly after 132 BC for Greek-speaking Jews. The translation was probably intended to encourage adherence to ancestral beliefs and customs and to defend Jewish religious doctrines by showing the essential agreement between Judaism and Hellenistic philosophical truths. The concept of “wisdom” as an active emanation from God, for example, closely approximates the Stoic concept of the universal logos.

      The book is extant in a Greek text and in Hebrew texts, some of which was discovered in 1896–97 in the geniza (“repository”) of the Ezra Synagogue in Cairo and among the Dead Sea Scrolls (q.v.).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ecclesiasticus — [e klē΄zē as′ti kəs, iklē΄zē as′ti kəs] n. [LL(Ec), short for ecclesiasticus liber, lit., the church book (see ECCLESIASTIC): from its frequent use for catechetical teaching] a book of proverbs in the Old Testament Apocrypha and the Douay Bible:… …   English World dictionary

  • Ecclesiasticus — Ec*cle si*as ti*cus, n. [L.] A book of the Apocrypha. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ecclesiastĭcus — Ecclesiastĭcus, 1) jeder Geistliche; bes. 2) die Chorherren, Pfarrer, Capläne u. alle Weltgeistlichen, die außerhalb der Klöster u. von Kirchengütern leben; 3) in der Vulgata der Name des Buches Sirach …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Ecclesiasticus — • The longest of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible, and the last of the Sapiential writings in the Vulgate of the Old Testament Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • ECCLESIASTICUS — liber apocryphus; qui licet varia salubria monita complectatur, proin πανάρετος Graecis dictus, ertorem tamen Iudaicum errat, c. 48. v. 10. de Eliae Thisbitae reditu; contradicit iis, quae de Sapientia personali et aeterna, in Proverbiis dicuntur …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Ecclesiasticus — Das Buch Jesus Sirach (Ben Sira, Siracides, Sophia Seirach oder Ecclesiasticus, abgekürzt Sir, auch fälschlich Ben Sirach durch Vermischung von Ben Sira und Jesus Sirach) ist ein Buch der Weisheitsliteratur, das ungefähr 180 v. Chr. von dem in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ecclesiasticus — Although about two thirds of this book in the original Hebrew have been discovered (e.g. among the Dead Sea scrolls) it has long been known in the Greek translation made in Egypt soon after 132 BCE by the author s grandson, who was anxious in… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Ecclesiasticus — noun Etymology: Late Latin, from ecclesiasticus Date: 1533 a didactic book included in the Protestant Apocrypha and as Sirach in the Roman Catholic canon of the Old Testament …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • ecclesiasticus —    (cursus e.) cursus ecclesiasticus …   Dizionario di retorica par stefano arduini & matteo damiani

  • Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) —     Ecclesiasticus     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Ecclesiasticus     (Abbrev. Ecclus.; also known as the Book of Sirach.)     The longest of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible, and the last of the Sapiential writings in the Vulgate of the Old …   Catholic encyclopedia

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