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Ausgabe: | November/2023 |
Spalte: | 1069-1071 |
Kategorie: | Altes Testament |
Autor/Hrsg.: | Brodersen, Alma |
Titel/Untertitel: | The Beginning of the Biblical Canon and Ben Sira. |
Verlag: | Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2022. XIII, 257 S. = Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 162. Lw. EUR 139,00. ISBN 9783161615993. |
Rezensent: | Pancratius C. Beentjes |
The Book of Ben Sira, written in Hebrew about 180 BCE and translated into Greek about 120 BCE, plays an important role in the debate about the date and the final form (»canon«) of the Hebrew Bible. For in the introduction to the Greek translation (Prologos) three times a reference is found to »the Law, the Prophets, and the other traditional/remaining books«. Many biblical scholars, both in past and present, consider this threefold mention to be the first reference in history to the tripartite canon of the Hebrew Bible. In a thorough examination of all available data, Brodersen in this revised Habilitationsschrift (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich 2022) aims to answer one main question: »Does the Book of Ben Sira really refer to a biblical canon?« (34)
Chapter 1 offers a short introduction to some canonical categories (e. g., canon, Bible, Scriptures, authoritative texts) and to the question of intertextual references between the Book of Ben Sira, the Hebrew Bible, and texts outside the Hebrew Bible, e. g., the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Greek texts like Theognis, Papyrus Insinger.
Chapter 2 discusses the historical contexts of Ben Sira, such as the date of the book and its author, orality, literacy, materiality, as well as an outline of literature which is older than or contemporary with the Book of Ben Sira (e.g., 1 Enoch, Jubilees).
Chapter 3 provides an analysis of the Greek text of the Pro- logue to the Book of Ben Sira, discusses Greek terms related to »Law«, »Prophets«, and »Writings« in- and outside the Book of Ben Sira, and presents a systematic assessment of possible canonical references in the Greek Prologue to Ben Sira. Brodersen correctly points to the fact that »the Prologue is most similar to a tripartite but open canon allowing authority to be held by books such as Ben Sira« (97).
In Chapter 4, the Greek text of Sir 38:34–39:1 is studied since this passage – which is part of a detailed description of a scribe’s activities (38:24–39:11) – is often seen as referring to a biblical canon. Despite a multiplicity of options no one appears tenable at the end.
Chapter 5 provides a comparative survey of Sir 44–50, the so-called »Praise of the Ancestors«, both in Hebrew and Greek, and a systematic assessment of possible canonical references in this section of the book, since it is often used to argue for Ben Sira’s references to a biblical canon. Even Sir 48:10 which is almost unanimously considered a quotation from Malachi 3:23–34, in Brodersen’s thorough argumentation does not persist as a reference to the Hebrew Bible.
Chapter 6 presents five case studies of passages in Sir 44–50 which are particularly frequently used to argue for a reference to a specific biblical text or to a whole biblical book: Enoch; the Judges; Isaiah; Job; the Twelve Prophets. After a thorough reading of these five passages, there is just one conclusion, viz. that no intertextual references can be substantiated between the Book of Ben Sira and the Hebrew (and/or Greek) Bible. At the same time, however, the case studies show »that extant traditions outside the Hebrew Bible share similarities with Ben Sira« (186). There can hardly be any doubt that Ben Sira made use of a wide range of contemporary traditions such as Dead Sea Scrolls, 1 Enoch, and Jubilees. Specifically, »the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to the diversity and variability of texts in antiquity« (188).
This impressive and well-structured monograph is no less than a painstaking deconstruction of the widespread view that several passages in the Book of Ben Sira are proof of a/the tripartite canon of the Hebrew Bible. Instead, it argues in favor of studying the Book of Ben Sira a little bit more with due regard of contemporary traditions from the 3rd and 2nd Century BCE.
An extensive Bibliography (193–238), an Index of Sources (239–252), and an Index of Subjects (253–257) complete this valuable book.