the people. In general Ben Sira voices the wholesome Jewish attitude toward labor:

Hate not laborious work;

Neither agriculture that the Most High hath ordained.

He is especially strong in his commendation of physicians:
Be a friend to the physician, for one has need of him,
For verily God hath appointed him.

A physician receives his wisdom from God,

And from the king he receives presents.

The knowledge of a physician causes him to lift

sup

his head,

And before the princes may he enter.

God created medicines out of the earth,

And a prudent man will not be disgusted with them.

The following proverb has a universal application:

He who sins before his maker,

Let him fall into the hands of his physician!

V. Rise of the Scribes. The writings of Ben Sira reveal the close connection between the earlier wise and the later scribes. He lived at the period when the wise man was turning scribe. He himself had a profound respect for the law:

A man of understanding will put his trust in the law,

The law is faithful to him as when one asks at the oracle.

One of his fundamental teachings is formulated in the proverb:
Fear the Lord and glorify his priests,

And give him his portion even as it is commanded.

Elsewhere he declares:

The leisure of the scribe increases his wisdom,
And he who has no business becomes wise.

In his famous description of the typical wise man in 391-11 may be recognized many of the traits of the later scribes. As the law and the ritual gained greater prominence in the life of Judaism, it was inevitable that it should command the attention of the practical teachers of the

people. Thus gradually the wise devoted themselves to its study and interpretation, ever emphasizing, however, thought and conduct as well as conformity to the ritual. Scribism was greatly enriched by its lineal inheritance through the earlier wise, and long retained the proverbial, epigrammatic form of teaching and that personal attitude toward the individual and his problems which was one of their greatest sources of strength. The honor which the early scribes enjoyed was well deserved. Their methods were free from the casuistry that characterized many of the later scribes. They not only copied and guarded the law, but were its interpreters, applying it practically to the every-day problems of the people as well as to their duties in connection with the temple service. Their influence upon the Jews in this early period was on the whole exceedingly wholesome, and from their ranks rose the martyrs that a generation later were ready to die for the law.

VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. Ben Sira was acquainted with Greek culture and shows at several points familiarity with Greek ideals and methods of thinking, but his point of view in general was distinctly Jewish. He gathered together all that was best in the earlier teachings of his race. In many ways he represents an advance beyond all that had gone before and a close approximation to the spirit and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The God of his faith was omnipotent, majestic, omniscient, just, and merciful. He was the God of all mankind, although it was through Israel that he especially revealed himself. Ben Sira did not, like Ezekiel, think of God as far removed from the life of men and as communicating with them only through angels, but as directly and personally interested in the experiences and life of the individual. In 231, he addresses him as Lord, Father, and Master of my life. Thus he employs in the personal sense the term Father, which was most often on the lips of the Great Teacher of Nazareth. In Ben Sira's stalwart faith and simple trust there is also much that reminds us of the Greater than Solomon. Like the teachers who had preceded him, he had, however, no clear belief in individual immortality (cf. 413-4, 3816, 23). The only reward after death that he could hold up before a good man was his reputation:

4

A good life has its number of days,
But a good name continues forever.

Consistent with the orthodox wisdom school, he taught that rewards for right living came in this life:

1. Antiochus Epiph

anes

and the

apostate

Jews

110-15)

Delight not in the delights of the wicked;

Remember they shall not go unpunished to the grave.

Even though he lacked the inspiration of future hope, Ben Sira taught loyalty to God and fidelity to every duty. Justice toward all, consideration for the needs of the suffering and dependent, and generosity to the poor are constantly urged by this noblest Jew of the age.

§ CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE Now there came forth from [Alexander's successors] a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at Rome, and he began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Syrian rule (175 B.C.). In those days there appeared certain lawless (I Mac. Israelites who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen about us; for since we have stood aloof from them many evils have befallen us. And the proposal met with approval. And certain of the people were ready to do it, and went to the king who gave them the right to do as the heathen. Then they built a place for gymnastic exercise in Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen. They also made themselves uncircumcised, and, forsaking the holy covenant, fraternized with the heathen, and sold themselves to do evil.

2. Anti

success

ful in

vasion of

Egypt (16-19)

Now when Antiochus saw that his authority was well ochus's established, he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might reign over the two kingdoms. So he invaded Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and horsemen, and with a great navy. And he made war against Ptolemy, king of Egypt. And Ptolemy was defeated by him and fled, and many fell mortally wounded. And they seized the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils of Egypt. Then after Antiochus had conquered Egypt he returned in the hundred and forty-third year (169 B.C.) and went up temple against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he insolently went into the sanctuary, and took the golden altar, and the candelabrum, and all that belonged to the table of the showbread, and the cups for libations, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the curtain and the gar

3. His plunder

of the

at Jerusalem

(20-22,

24-28)