04_Reymond_224_246 15/07/14 12:18 Pagina 243 THE WISDOM OF WORDS 243 The underlying Hebrew phrase to the Syriac version of 2,18 may play on two related nouns, perhaps hX[m and the participle of hX[ in reference to God (as in Psalm 136); perhaps the noun ~ymxr “mercy” and ~wxr “merciful” (as a description of God, as in Deut 4,31); or, perhaps the plural of hrwbg “mighty works” (in reference to God’s deeds, as in Deut 3,24; Ps 145,4) and rwbg “warrior” (in refer- ence to God, as in Jer 32,18 and Ps 24,8) 42. Alternatively (and perhaps more likely), no reference to specific nouns is intended, but the entire complex of associations that apply to God, his name, and his works is evoked. What is being emphasized is not only the relationship be- tween etymologically related words that refer to God and his works, but also the similar ways that these concepts are referred to, for ex- ample, as the objects of the verbs “to recount” and “to praise” 43. The final example is clearly in the Hebrew and plays on the associ- ations of etymologically unrelated words. It is perhaps the most striking illustration of how Ben Sira uses ambiguity for expressive purposes, and one that is clearly integral to the verse in which it is found. hxwkn ayh ~ybrl alw awh !k hmXk rswmh yk For discipline, like its name, so it (is): it is not obvious to many (Sir 6,22; Ms A). The pronominal suffix on the word “name”, as well as the second colon’s 3rd person fem. sing. independent pronoun and the fem. sing. adjective agree with the underlying reference in “discipline”, that is, wisdom. The word “discipline” is also referred to with feminine pro- nouns in Prov 4,13. The 3rd person masc. sing. pronoun in the first colon is perhaps a mistake for ayh, or, perhaps, it is part of an imper- sonal phrase, referring to the general idea of the preceding clause, “dis- cipline is like its name”. The vocalization marks on hxwkn in Ms A reflect the understanding of the word as a Niphal participle from xky (“be justified”) instead of as the adjective “plain” (as in Prov 8,9) 44. A similar sense is supplied in the Syriac, which ends, like the Hebrew: “as (is) his name, so (are) his deeds”. 42 For the interpretation of 2,18 as reflecting a play on words from the root ~xr, see SKEHAN – DI LELLA, Wisdom of Ben Sira, 152. 43 Note ~X rps in Ps 102,22; hX[m rps in Ps 107,22; 118,7; ~X llh in Ps 69,31; and hX[m xbX in Ps 145,4. 44 See PETERS, Ecclesiasticus, 25.