Asian Art

Ben Sira

Simon Ben Jesus Ben Eliezer ben Sira, better known as Ben Sira, also called Ben Sirach, Jesus ben Sira, Jeshua ben Sira, or Sirach (Hebrew: שמעון בן יהושע בן אליעזר בן סירא, romanized: Šīmʿōn ben Yəhōšuaʿ ben ʾĔliʿezer ben Sirāʾ‍; fl. 2nd century BCE) was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem of the Second Temple period. He is the author of the Book of Sirach, also known as "Ecclesiasticus". Ben Sira wrote his work in Hebrew, possibly in Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom c. 180–175 BCE, where he is thought to have established a school. While Ben Sira is sometimes claimed to be a contemporary of Simeon the Just, it is more likely that his contemporary was High Priest Simon II (219–199 BCE) and this is due to confusion with his father, Joshua. A medieval text, the Alphabet of Sirach, was falsely attributed to him.

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See also

• ▸Brothel
• ▸American Writers Museum
• ▸Bamboo and wooden slips

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.