volume 7, issue 2, 2015, pages 155-184

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsFZZP7742
Published online: 2015-12-01
Published in print: 2015-12-30

Abstract: Sirach 16:26–17:4 builds on Jewish creation traditions from Genesis and the Psalms. The overall structure follows the sequence of heaven-earth-humanity found in Psalm 148, the canticle in Greek Daniel 3, and Cicero’s treatise De natura deorum. From such parallels, we suggest that Sir 16:26-28 refers to the creation of the heavenly bodies, linked to the angels. God’s ordering of the obedient heavenly bodies, while following biblical teaching (e.g., Psalm 104[103]) and Second Temple Jewish texts (e.g., Hodayot, 1 Enoch, Testament of Naphtali), also has clear parallels in Stoic cosmology (e.g., Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus; Cicero, De natura deorum). Sirach 17:1-2 presents death as something natural, unconnected with human sin, although the idea of returning to the earth echoes the language of God’s punishment of Adam in Gen 3:19. The description of human beings having a limited number of days, presented as a natural phenomenon, agrees with Psalm 90(89), but also matches Stoic ideas of divine providence.