King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 15
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1He that feareth will do good, and he that hath the knowledge of shall obtain her. 2And as a mother shall she meet him, and receive him as a wife married of a virgin. 3With the bread of understanding shall she feed him, and give him the water of to drink. 4He shall be stayed upon her, and shall not be moved; and shall rely upon her, and shall not be confounded. 5She shall exalt him above his neighbours, and in the midst of shall she open his . 6He shall find joy and a of gladness, and she shall cause him to an name. 7But foolish men shall not attain unto her, and shall not see her. 8For she is far from pride, and men that are liars cannot remember her. 9 is not seemly in the of a , for it was not sent him of . 10For shall be uttered in , and will prosper it. 11Say not thou, It is through that I fell away: for thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth. 12Say not thou, He hath caused me to err: for he hath no need of the man. 13 hateth all ; and they that love it not. 14He himself made man , and left him in the hand of his ; 15If thou wilt, to keep , and to perform acceptable . 16He hath set and water before thee: stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt. 17Before man is life and ; and whether him liketh shall be given him. 18For the of is great, and he is mighty in , and beholdeth all things: 19And his eyes are upon them that fear him, and he knoweth every work of man. 20He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any man licence to .
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›
Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.
- The successors
- Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
- Hellenism
- Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
- The crisis
- Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
- Further afield
- Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.
All of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)