Bradley C. Gregory, «Slips of the Tongue in the Speech Ethics of Ben Sira», Vol. 93 (2012) 321-339
This article examines the references to slips of the tongue in the speech ethics of Ben Sira. Against the background of Proverbs, this characterization of accidental speech errors represents a new development. Its origin can be traced to the confluence between sapiential metaphors for mistakes in life and the idea of a slip of the tongue in the Hellenistic world. Ben Sira’s references to slips of the tongue are generally coordinated with a lack of discipline, though at least two verses seem to suggest that slips are not always sinful and that they represent a universal phenomenon, found even among the wisest sages.
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328 BRADLEY C. GREGORY
As a fatty tail without salt, so is a word without timing;
in the mouth of the undisciplined it remains.
From the mouth of a fool a proverb is rejected
for he does not speak it at its proper time. (20,18-20)
This translation follows the Syriac version, with the exception of v.
19b which is missing from the Syriac and has been supplied from the
Greek 13. The first line draws an image from the natural world, a com-
mon technique for Ben Sira, to extend the idea of slipperiness to the
manner of speech of the wicked. The Greek makes this element of slip-
periness more explicit: “A slip (ovli,sqhma) on the ground is better than
that of the tongue; so the fall of the wicked shall come just as swiftlyâ€.
Commentators since (at least) Fritzsche have noted that the Greek form
of v. 18a bears a striking resemblance to a saying by the Stoic Zeno 14.
Even though most commentators follow the Greek for v. 18a, the
obliqueness of the Syriac’s natural imagery suggests that it is likely to
be original and that the Greek has clarified the image by conforming
the verse to a well-known Greek proverb 15. C. Spicq notes that the
same saying has been attributed to Socrates and to Solon 16. In addition,
the Demotic text Instruction of Ankhsheshonq records a similar saying:
“You may trip over your foot in the house of a great man; you should
not trip over your tongue†(10,7) 17.
13
The Syriac of v. 19a appears to have been expanded in connection with
the loss of v. 19b; a plausible reconstruction is: ‫.×ליה ×‘×œ× ×ž×œ×— מלה ×‘×œ× ×¢×ªâ€¬
So M.Z. SEGAL, ‫( ספר ×‘×ŸÖ¾×¡×™×¨× ×”×©×œ×‬Jerusalem 41997) 121. In its favor, this
reconstruction reflects beautiful symmetrical assonance and can better ac-
count for a corruption on the part of the Greek (which reflects its own use of
assonance: a;carij - a;kairoj). Because of the brevity of this reconstruction,
those who follow it usually retain the Greek version of the second line.
14
O. FRITZSCHE, Die Weisheit Jesus Sirach’s erklärt und übersetzt (Leipzig
1859) 101. Interestingly, according to Diogenes Laertius, Zeno appealed to
this proverbial saying in order to explain why he was so carefree at drinking
parties. The playfully counterintuitive use of the saying by Zeno and the pres-
ence of similar sentiments elsewhere indicate that the proverb was not unique
to Zeno.
15
I owe this argument to Jeremy Corley, who suggested it to me in private
conversation.
16
C. SPICQ, “L’Ecclésiastiqueâ€, La Sainte Bible 6 (ed. L. PIROT – A.
CLAMER) (Paris 1951) 667.
17
Translation from M. LICHTHEIM, Ancient Egyptian Literature (Berkeley,
CA 1973-1980) III:167, 177. Also note a similar line from Instruction of
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