Isaiah: Chapters 13 to 19

Here is the previous chunk.  Now for this chunk:

CHAPTER 13

This is a prophecy of Babylon.  My Bible’s handy footnotes tell me that this is a red flag.  Around the time that Isaiah was stomping around, Babylon wasn’t any kind of power.  This is likely a prophecy from someone later on working in the Isaiah mold (part of the “Isaiah school” as Biblical scholars sometimes call it) and then postdated back to Isaiah when all the various prophecies were assembled into one.  Later in the prophecy, he mentions Medes instead of Persia, so the story likely comes from before 550 BC.

Anyhow, it’s a clear prophecy of doom, doom, and more doom.  For a while I thought it was a prophecy of the doom of the Hebrew with Babylon acting as God’s instrument.  (The prophecy is more about a general sense than a clear explanation of who is doing it).  But near the end, it becomes clear that the prophecy is OF the doom of Babylon, not doom BY Babylon.  The people of Medes will achieve it and destroy the Babylonians.  Babylon will become the new Sodom and Gomorrah. 

CHAPTER 14

And once Babylon has been destroyed, then it will be time for the Jews to restore Israel.  That’s the sunny side – the restoration after the purification. 

While it’s an upbeat chapter as far as it goes for the Jews, it’s a different kind of upbeat chapter.  The heart of it is the “Taunt-song” against Babylon. Yes, a taunt song.  It’s basically a conga line over the grave of Babylon.  It wasn’t nearly as harsh as I was expecting when I saw the Bible call it a “taunt-song” but it isn’t very sympathetic.

Then we get a bit on Assyria, which is really out of place given that Assyria is before Babylon.  God says for Assyria – and I really need to go in poetry format for this, because it sounds like song lyric:

As I have resolved

So shall it be

As I have planned

So shall it stand.

It’s rather basic, but I just love how it sounds.  It comes off like the beginning of a boastful rap song or something, doesn’t it? 

We get God tells Assyria to watch it, and then a bit telling the Philistines to watch it.  This is weird – it’s going back in time.  Most of the Bible goes chronologically, but that’s done when you get to the prophets.

CHAPTER 15

This is a prophecy of the destruction of Moab.  It’s well written as these things go, but it suffers from a fatal flaw.  It is full of all these proper nouns of places and peoples that are entirely unfamiliar to the modern ear.  So you don’t really know what the hell is going on.

CHAPTER 16

This is more about why Moab is doomed.  I’m not sure why it’s been broken up into two chapters. Chapter 15 is nine verses long, and this one is just 14 verses long.  Does it really need to be two chapters?

There is some nice imagery at times, most notably: “Send them forth, hugging the earth like reptiles.”  Yeah, those people of Moab are so doomed.

CHAPTER 17

Well, now that we’ve gone over the dooming of Moab, time for some new peoples to curse.  This chapter is about the doom of Damascus.  Isaiah says, “See, Damascus shall cease to be a city, and become a pile of ruins.”  2,500-plus years later, that still hasn’t happened.  To be fair, there is no time stamp on these things.  It could still happen any century now.

CHAPTER 18

Time to curse Ethiopia.  Wait – Ethiopia?  These guys barely appear in the Bible at all.  Why do they merit a cursing?  That’s never made clear, we’re just told that they are, “a people dreaded near and far.”  That’s said about them at the outset and noted again at the end, so I guess it matters.

As near as I can tell, this related to international diplomacy around the time, with Ethiopia siding with Egypt in some dispute that no longer matters.  So the issue here is anything but timeless.  We don’t even get much of a curse.  Not only is the chapter a mere seven verses long, but the first five verses are prologue.  It’s like Isaiah is more interested in describing what the weather will be like when they’re cursed than anything.  The curse itself is just one verse long: “They shall all be left to the mountain vultures and to the beasts of the earth.”  As curses go, that’s mild stuff.  Then again, the Hebrew have virtually no contact with them, so it’s hard to work up any scorn.  They are cursed by proxy because of who they’ve allowed to.

CHAPTER 19

As long as we’re cursing everyone, may as well curse Egypt, that most traditional enemy of the Hebrew.  The most interesting part is this: “The Lord has prepare among them a spirit of dizziness.  And they have made Egypt stagger in whatever she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.” 

That’s more a prank than a curse.  This is the Lord who inflicted 10 plagues and parted the seas – and did that to the Egyptians.  Now he’ll make them dizzy?  That’s more a pants-ing than a good old-fashioned curse.

But then we get an unexpected conclusion, as Isaiah tells us, “Although the Lord shall smite Egypt severely, he shall heal them, they shall turn to the Lord and he shall be moved by their entreaty and heal them.”  Huh.  Egypt and Israel will come together under the Lord.  Yeah, I didn’t see that one coming at all.

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Isaiah: Chapters 7 to 12

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CHAPTER 7

It’s the time of King Ahaz of Judah.  He’s the father of Hezekiah, the good king who endures the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem.  Well, thinks look bleak for Judah, with a war going on between Egypt and Syria, and them in between.  Isaiah tells him to stay calm and trust in the Lord.  Yeah, if I’m king, I want something more than that.

He also tells the king to have a son, who shall be named Emmanuel.  Give the kid curds and honey to eat (which the footnote tells me are food eaten by those living in a devastated land).  He says the child will know good from evil, but then Isaiah’s vision immediately turns quite dark, as he prophecies a terrible time in store for the people.

I have no idea what to make of this.  Ahaz has a son who will know good from evil, but his name is Hezekiah, not Emmanuel.  And I just can’t figure out the veering to bleakness by the end here. 

CHAPTER 8

Speaking of sons, Isaiah has one, who he names “Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”  That’s a mouthful.  It means, “quick spoils, speedy plunder.”  That’s a terrible name for a child.  The child’s name is supposed to represent what Assyria will soon do in the north.  My, that’s an even worse name for a child.  He’s going to get so picked on at school with that name. 

Oh, apparently Isaiah has disciples.  That’s nice, and makes sense.  I’ll just point out that many scholars aren’t really sure how many prophets are being condensed into one here.  There is talk of an “Isaiah school” and breaking it into sections has perhaps gone too far; so far that there is no Isaiah left in Isaiah.  That said, there is likely 2 or 3, just because you have this guy living well before the Captivity.  One guy living later in the Captivity.  And one guy after the Captivity.  The last two can be the same guy, but one person didn’t live that long.

Anyhow, because people are unethical sinners, God will send doom their way, but never fear.”  We’re told that, “Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphatali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations.”  I’m sure the Galilee reference perks up the ears of Christians.  Matthew, after all, will have Jesus begin his public mission in Galilee.

CHAPTER 9

The prophecy we ended last chapter with keeps going here.  And boy of boy, is it ever some famous stuff.  Isaiah says of nameless Kid Galilee: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.  His dominion is vast and forever peaceful.  Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!” 

Nice, huh?  That seems to set up Christ really well – except for one thing.  If you read it, this sounds like Isaiah is imaging an early leader.  He’s already prophesized that we’ll have an earthly wonderland after a period of purification, and this is it.  David’s throne is very much an earthly throne.  Now, this material can be – and will be – interpreted to mean we’ll have peace in heaven above, but there is also a reason why the Jews of the 1^st century AD didn’t really see Christ as a savior.  The messiah was supposed to establish David’s throne here, not get crucified by some Roman soldiers.

Also, the Lord is upset at the northern kingdom of Israel.  Apparently, it’s still around in these early prophecies.  So they are so doomed.

CHAPTER 10

Now it’s time for what Isaiah does best – give us a big sermon!  This once denounces those who pervert justice, and it kicks off the beginning of the chapter.  Remember – these things work best if you imagine them spoken out loud.  Here it goes:

“Ah!” – again, with the Ah!  That’s his signature move. – “Those who enact unjust statutes, who write oppressive decrees depriving the needy of judgment, robbing my people’s poor of justice, making widows their plunder and orphans their prey!  What will you do on the day of punishment, when the storm comes from afar?  To whom will you flee for help?  Where will you leave your wealth, lest it stink beneath the captive of fall beneath the slain?  For all this, his wrath is not turned back, his hand outstretched.” 

I don’t think Isaiah would support the Ryan budget plan at all.  His concern here is justice for the poor and downtrodden.  Plenty of this stuff in the Bible.  A lot more of this than, say, stuff on homosexuality.

Isaiah moves into more concrete details.  Assyria is coming and they’ll win – because they are an instrument of God. They are what God is using to punish people.  But – there is a but here, fortunately – then the Assyrians will get cocky and assume that they are the ones who did it, not God.  They’ll give themselves credit, and then God will turn his anger upon them.  Isaiah notes, “Will the ax boast against the one who hews it?”  That’s a nice analogy, with God the hewer and Assyrian the ax.

This is the process of purifying the Hebrew.  The remnant will come back stronger and more faithful than before.  And this is absolutely true.  Sometime between Isaiah and the end of the prophet period, the Jews did become very faithful to the Lord, more faithful than they ever were during the time of miracles.

Actually, let’s pause on miracles.  In the early Bible, if God wanted to punish a people, he wouldn’t send Assyria or some other army.  He’d do it himself.  He’d flood the earth and have the 10 plagues or whatever else.  He was very much involved.  Then he retreated to just doing miracle through prophets, like Elijah.  Now?  He’s pretty much entirely hiding his face from us.  While it sounds more impressive, it didn’t work.  He’d get involved, and people would build some damn golden calf.  So God is letting people be more involved – and strangely enough, that’ll work even better.

CHAPTER 11

Isaiah keeps going back and forth from doom and gloom predictions about the purification process, to sunny and light visions of life after the purification.  Here, we get more of the sunny vision, and it’s some more of the most famous lines in the Bible – largely because Christians point to it as a prediction of Jesus.

Isaiah says, “a shoot shall spout from the stump of Jesse.”  Jesse, of course, is David’s father.  Two of the gospels will trace Christ’s ancestry back through David, and Isaiah is the reason they feel it’s important to do that. 

There are all kinds of good things to be said about the sprout, but rather than just quote the entire first half of the chapters, let’s just cut to my favorite part (and the most famous part, too): “But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide fairly the land’s afflicted.  He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.  Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.  Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with the little child to guide them.”

The King James translation is more famous, but that’s what my Bible has. Isaiah himself has no idea exactly who he is clearing the way for – than unborn kid Emmanuel is as close as we’ve gotten to an identity, but that kid apparently never existed.  But if you’re used to Christian theology, this screams out for Christ to come.

It screams out even louder if you read on, “Him the nations will seek out.”  Yeah, Christianity begins among Jews but then goes to other nations.

CHAPTER 12

This is another short, six-verse chapter.  It’s giving thanks to the Lord for the salvation to come.

I’ll just note one thing before moving on.  This is the third time I’ve read Isaiah.  I have no recollection or retention of anything from those first two times.  I know about Isaiah from reading Biblical commentary, not the Bible itself.  Those previous times, my goal was just to finish the Bible, and once you got past Psalms and all that, I was just reading over it.  For the rest of the Old Testament, almost everything I know about it comes from reading about the Bible; not what I’ve read from the Bible.  Go figure.

I guess that points out the advantages of the approach I’m taking now.  Instead of trying to get through it as fast as I can, I’m trying to take my time.  And writing down my thoughts forces me to, y’know, actually pay attention and stuff.  My eyes still glaze over on occasion, but I’m retaining a hell of a lot more. 

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Isaiah: Chapters 1 to 6

Click here for the end of Ben Sira.

CHAPTER 1

Isaiah hits the ground running.  By the fourth verse, the calls the people of Judah, “Ah! Sinful nation, people laden with wickedness, evil offspring, corrupt children!”  No, tell us what you really think.  Also: I really like the “Ah!” at the beginning.  It really helps establish an exasperated tone.

This book isn’t going to waste time setting up characters or the plot. Right into the main point – his prophesies.  It’s like a TV show that doesn’t waste time for establishing shots. 

And Isaiah soon launches into a main theme – a theme that not only is he famous for, but the prophets as a whole are famous for.  He calls for justice and morality to be made the center of the religion, and not just sacrifice and ritual.  It was the sacrifice and ritual that gave the priests their position.  For priests – like the author of Leviticus – these actions were the heart of religion.  But Isaiah counters, speaking for God when he proclaims: “What do I care for the multitudes of sacrifice? Says the Lord.  I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings.  In the blood of calves, lambs and goats, I find no pleasure.” 

Want to know what you should do?  “Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes.  Cease doing evil, learn to do good.  Make justice your aim: redress the wronged.” 

Now that is a wonderful statement, isn’t it?  “Cease doing evil, learn to do good” has got to be one of the best lines of the entire Bible. 

Oh, there is also a line about “Your hands are full of blood!  Wash yourselves clean!”  When I read it, I wondered if this is where we get the notion of having blood on your hands, but then I remembered – no, that’s the story of Pontius Pilate and the fructification of Christ.  But this line in Isaiah really helps set up that one. I doubt that’s a coincidence.

This is a weird start.  Most of the Bible tells a story.  Even things like the Torah law code are incorporated into the series of books so it becomes part of a larger story.  A large part of the Bible’s appeal is that so much of it is framed as stories so you can relate to and remember.  That goes out the window here.  OK, it went out the window in most of the wisdom books, but those are just statements.  You’d think you could arrange the stories of a prophet in a chronological order – make it like a biography.  But the Bible opts not to do that.

But if you are going to avoid the story method, this is a really good way to begin with Isaiah.  You cut right to the chase and get at his central message.  Nice start.

CHAPTER 2

There are two parts to this chapter – the sunny side and the dark side. 

Isaiah leads with the positive approach.  He foresees a time when all will be right with the world.  God’s house will be on high and all nations will stream to it.  God will sit and judge over nations, and set terms for many people – not just Jews.  It will be a time of great peace, which allows Isaiah to unleash one of the most famous lines in the Bible: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”  The first part is the famous part, of course. 

It’s a great image; one people have always aspired to – a time of peace and brotherhood.  Isaiah foresees it, and it’ll all be under God’s watch.

But that’s in the future.  The present sucks.  Enter the dark side of the chapter.  Isaiah notes how the people have forsaken their Lord.  The problems are the same things we saw back in the historical section of the Bible – which makes sense, given that Isaiah lived near the end of it (and was even mentioned during it).  The Hebrew are acting poorly. 

Isaiah thunders against the sins and issues of his day, and prophecies that God will have his say.  In fact, it’s some really riveting, eloquent stuff.  Imagine this pouring out of the mouth of, say, Martin Luther King Jr., or some other terrific speaker.  Isaiah says:

“For the Lord of hosts will have his day against all that is proud and arrogant, against all that is high and it will be brought lot. 

“Yes against the cedars of Lebanon and against all the oaks of Bashan.

“Against all the lofty mountains and all the high hills.

“Against every loft tower and every fortified wall.

“Against all the ships of Tarshish and all stately vessels.

“Then human pride shall be abased, the arrogance of mortals brought law, and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.”

That is some damn fine stuff.  I just had to break it up into paragraphs by verse because I think the pauses help give it impact instead of making it a simple list.  The way Isaiah mentions all of the various places remind me of the “I Have a Dream” speech.  In fact, its passages like this that likely helped King develop his craft.  He was a preacher, after all.  He mentioned Isaiah in some of his speeches. 

Anyhow, while the future might look rosy, the present isn’t.  We’ll get there; but it’ll be a period of harsh judgment by God that gets us there.  Then we’ll reach the Promised Land.  (Hey, that’s another famous King speech).

CHAPTER 3

Isaiah has a nice way of referring to the Lord as “The Lord, the Lord of hosts.”  Yeah, I like that. 

This chapter is a strong denouncing of the sins of the Hebrew, and a promise to make them pay.  God will put boys as their princes, set the people against each other, and have Judah fall.  Really, this sounds more like something I’d expect from Jeremiah, who is known for being a real Debbie Downer. 

He spends a special section denouncing the women.  He says that when God rises up to punish them, this will be in store for the women: “Instead of perfume there will be a stench, instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of elaborate coiffure, a baldness, instead of a rich gown, a sackcloth.  Then, instead of beauty, shame.”  He really has a problem with the efforts women make on their appearance.  I’ll point out they do it in response to male desires, but they’re the ones who get nailed for it by Isaiah.

CHAPTER 4

A short chapter – just six verses.  It summarizes what’s come before.  In short, life we be wonderful and glorious and puppies and unicorns and rainbows – but first we gotta purify everything.  First it’ll be hellish, but then “for the survivors” it will be “honor and splendor.”  So the destination is great, but the journey a nightmare.

CHAPTER 5

Parable time!  Isaiah tells us of a wonderful vineyard planted.  It was perfectly spaded and cleared and cared for – but all it provided was rotten grapes and garbage.  So what’s the parable – can you guess?

Yup, “The vineyard of thee Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, the people of Judah his cherished plant.  So the Hebrew are rotten grapes.  And the point is simple: if God has done such a great job caring for the vineyard, and you grapes are so lousy, which shouldn’t he plow it under and start a new batch?  He won’t wipe them out, but he’ll teach ‘em but good.  They’ll go into exile, many will go down into Sheol.  In the Promised Land, “young goats shall eat the ruins of the rich.”

Isaiah takes a big picture view and decries the people for their sins.  Again, this guy has a way with words.  Imagine this spoken by someone who knows how to give a sermon.  Martin Luther King Jr. is my default guy: “Ah!  Those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness to light, and light into darkness, who change bitter to sweet, and sweet into bitter!  Ah!  Those who are wise in their own eyes, prudent in their own view” – I just love Isaiah’s use of “Ah!” to punctuate his point.  It just lies there on the page, but that’s why you imagine someone saying it. 

Well, what about those guys, “Their root shall rot and their blossom scatter like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts.”  So they’re in for it. And the reason their in for it is they’ve acted poorly.  With the prophets, ethical conduct plays a big role in religion.  This is an evolution.  Earlier, it was just obedience to the Lord and following rituals.  Now it’s being a moral individual. 

I think it makes sense that the prophets come after the wisdom books.  The centrality those books place on wisdom serves as a bridge to the evolution theology of the Bible given by the prophets.

CHAPTER 6

This takes us back a bit.  Again, the prophet books aren’t necessarily written in chronological order, and this book gives us the early info on Isaiah.  God called him around the year 742 BC, and he initially couldn’t believe his ears.  Like Moses, he’s at first overwhelmed by the call, shouting, “Woe is me, I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts!” Well, an angel purifies him and tells Isaiah to get prophesizing.  

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Isaiah main page

Chapters 1 to 6
Chapters 7 to 12
Chapters 13 to 19
Chapters 20 to 27
Chapters 28 to 33
Chapters 34 to 39
Chapters 40 to 47
Chapters 48 to 55
Chapters 56 to 66

Ben Sira: Chapters 43 to 51

Click here for the previous chunk of Ben Sira.  Now for the last bunch of it:

CHAPTER 43

Here, all Ben Sira does is praise God.  He praises God through nature.  God made the moon, the stars, the skies – they are all reflections of the Lord.  They are all ways we can see why and how he is wonderful.  The weather? God, too. 

We should, “praise him the more, since we can not fathom him.”  That’s a nice sense right there.  No, I’m not a believer, but that’s the sort of God that is worth believing in. If there is a God, he surely is beyond all our comprehension.

CHAPTER 44

Now we enter a section that defines almost all the rest of Ben Sira.  After giving him views on life and all that, he decides we need to praise the ancestors.  Here, he praises Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.  There really isn’t much to say here, but this approach will take almost all remaining chapters.

What I’m saying is, it looks like this Bible book will go out with a long, extended and pretty boring whimper.  This is why I reckon the “do not” tally will end at 116.

CHAPTER 45

It’s more of the same.  After spending all last chapter praising the patriarchs, this time he moves on to Moses and Aaron.  Oh, and he gets early priest Phinehas in it, too.  He killed a guy, if I recall correctly from the Torah. Ben Sira doesn’t give much info on them.  He mostly just broadly refers to them and why they were great.

CHAPTER 46

This is the second straight wisdom book to end like this.  The Book of Wisdom also ended with a prolonged section of praise for what happened previously in the Bible, and now so does Ben Sira.  Well, at least Ben Sira was interesting before this part (unlike the Book of Wisdom).

This chapter goes through Joshua, Caleb, the Judges (who don’t get named) and Samuel.  Clearly, Ben Sira is working from the same texts I am, but …. I already read this stuff. 

Oh, there is one notable point.  Ben Sira says of Joshua, “Formed to be, as his name implies, the great savoir of God’s chosen ones.”  Huh.  I guess in ancient Hebrew, Joshua means some sort of savoir.  This is especially notable because the actual name for Jesus Christ it Joshua.  (Jesus is a Greek-ified version of his name).  And if you’re Christian – and Ben Sira is only in the Catholic Bible these days – then it’s all the more appropriate that the guy with Jesus’ name is said to be a savoir to his people because of his name.

CHAPTER 47

Same as it ever was.  We get the prophet Nathan, David, and Solomon this time. 

Ben Sira says of David, “He played with lions as though they were young goats.”  Wait – what? 

This is either awkward phrasing or awkward translation: after a section on how Solomon “abandoned himself to women,” Ben Sira writes, “Solomon finally slept with his ancestors.”  It took me a beat, but I finally realized this meant Solomon died.  I thought he accused Solomon of incestuous necrophilia there for a second.

CHAPTER 48

Now it’s Elijah and Elisha.  Ben Sira says of Elijah, “You are destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord.” Wait – where is this written?  Either I missed it or a forgot it; both of which are possible.  Well, it’s been written now, hasn’t it?  It’s in Ben Sira. 

We also get the fall of Israel and the story of Isaiah.  The prophet gets just a handful of verses, which end: “He foretold what would happen till the end of time, hidden things yet to be fulfilled.”  Again, this is key if you’re a Christian because Isaiah is often portrayed to be foretelling the coming of Christ.  Ben Sira writes before Christ, so this works out.

CHAPTER 49

We get the end of the days of Judah.  Ben Sira says that the only non-wicked kings were David, Hezekiah, and Josiah.  No Solomon?  No, not Solomon. He was wise, but also wicked.  For that reason alone, it’s amazing that books like this one spend as much time promoting wisdom as they do.

For that matter – there are several other kings endorsed in Kings I and Kings II.  True, but there are always some qualifications.  OK, but Chronicles II is in love with Jehoaphat.  Yea, but Ben Sira may not have that book.  Anyhow, who actually pays attention to Chronicles anyway?  It’s a much worse, much lamer version of the Samuels and the Kings. 

CHAPTER 50

This is a little unexpected.  We get an entire chapter praising ….a guy we’ve never heard of before.  Simeon, son of Jochanan.  Huh?  According to the footnotes, he was high priest from 219-196 BC, around the time of Ben Sira.  Ah, so he’s writing what he knows and has seen.  Still, you get this oddity of a very brief summation of all the great Biblical heroes, culminating in a guy we’ve never heard of before – but he gets damn near the entire chapter, something not even Moses could claim.

But not quite the entire chapter, as Ben Sira concludes with a epilogue where he urges people to focus on wisdom.

CHAPTER 51

Though the last chapter ended with an epilogue, we still have one last chapter to go.  The first half of the chapter is all about thanking God for what he’s done.  The second half thanks wisdom. 

Yeah, that sounds about right.  In this entire section of the Bible, wisdom is continually praised alongside God, so they get to share the stage at the end here.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

OK, this was better than I expected.  It’s tons better than the Book of Wisdom. 

I had trouble getting into it at first, but what drew me in was the sense of the person behind it.  First it was his negative approach with all the “Do not”s.  OK, so they might be off-putting, but it got me wondering about the person behind the pen.  Then you saw his fixations on bad friends and financial matters and I got a clearer sense of Ben Sira as a man whose life hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped, but who found his refuge in God’s wisdom.  That also explains why he goes against Job’s philosophy.  Here is a man who was saved by God when he was at his lowest, so naturally he feels that’s how it works. 

Parts of this book are dull (like the last 8-10 chapters or so).  Some advice I didn’t like.  But much of the advice really was nice.  And I like the sense of a person writing this, not just a bunch of dry comments detached from lived humanity.  The Bible is always at its best when it is at its most human, and this was surprisingly human for a book that appears to be a bunch of dry maxims about life.  

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