04_Reymond_224_246 15/07/14 12:18 Pagina 224 The Wisdom of Words in the Wisdom of Ben Sira1 I. Introduction: The Risks of Speech and Language More so than earlier Hebrew wisdom books, the Wisdom of Ben Sira evidences an obvious concern for language and words. In part this reflects the notion that words are the outward expression of a person’s thoughts and character, something reflected in various ways, as in the parallelism of Sir 37,16 (Ms B) “The beginning of any work (is) a word, and the beginning of any deed is a thought”, as well as in the assertion that speech is “the test” of a person’s character (27,7) 2. At the same time, Ben Sira seems to recognize that some things of the external and internal world cannot always be expressed in language, that language is limited. For example, he articulates in several passages the traditional observation that God’s “works” defy human description (e.g. Sir 18,4-5; 42,17; 43,28-32). He also writes of his wide experience and the numerous things he has witnessed in his travels; he says of this “my understanding is more than my words” (Sir 34,11) 3. Furthermore, in other passages 1 This paper was read at the Columbia Hebrew Bible Seminar in February of 2013; thanks to the participants for their lively discussion and constructive criticisms. 2 See also 13,25; 25,17; 37,17-18. For the Hebrew text of Ben Sira, see P.C. BEENTJES, The Book of Ben Sira in Hebrew. A Text Edition of All Extant Hebrew Manuscripts and a Synopsis of All Parallel Hebrew Ben Sira Texts (VT 68; Leiden 1997), and the corrections to this work in his, “Errata et Cor- rigenda”, Ben Sira’s God. Proceedings of the International Ben Sira Confer- ence, Durham-Ushaw College 2001 (ed. R. EGGER-WENZEL) (BZAW 321; Berlin 2002) 375-377. Also consulted: Z. BEN-HAYYIM, The Book of Ben Sira. Text, Concordance and an Analysis of the Vocabulary (The Historical Dic- tionary of the Hebrew Language; Jerusalem 1973); J. ZIEGLER, Sapientia Iesu Filii Sirach (Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum 12:2; Göttingen 1965); N. CALDUCH-BENAGES – J. FERRER – J. LIESEN, La Sabiduría del Es- criba / The Wisdom of the Scribe (Biblioteca Midrásica 1; Estella 2003); Bib- lia Sacra iuxta latinam vulgatam versionem, 12: Sapientia Salomonis, Liber Hiesu filii Sirach (Roma 1964); M.G. ABEGG – C. TOWES, “Ben Sira and Tag- ging”, Accordance 9.5 (Altamonte Springs, FL 2007-2009). 3 Cf. Theognis, 419-420. BIBLICA 95.2 (2014) 224-246