Questions of vocation and character formation become important to students as they continue to receive higher education. Jesus Ben Sira combines secular wisdom from Near Eastern wisdom sources and divine revelations from the Hebrew Bible to create the Book of Sirach. By applying form criticism to Ben Sira’s book, Daniel J. Harrington provides students with historical information of the psychological and sociological context underlying Ben Sira’s teachings, as well as an understanding of how Ben Sira’s ancient wisdom can contribute to personal and social formation in the 21st century.

Chapters include Ben Sira and His Book, Ben Sira and Other Wisdom Books, Reading Ben Sira’s Book, Ben Sira’s Ways of Teaching, Ben Sira’s Social World, Ben Sira’s Abiding Wisdom, as well as references, suggestions for further study, and an index.

Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Ph.D., is a professor of New Testament at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has written numerous scholarly works, including Paul on the Mystery of Israel, The Gospel of Matthew, and The Gospel According to Matthew published by the Liturgical Press.

This book is part of the series Interfaces.