Opening the text

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contentsOesterley, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil)

Religion

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contents

Name: The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contents
Author: Oesterley, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil)

Oesterley, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil)

Bible. Apocrypha -- Introductions

But the ungodly by their hands and words called him [i.e. Hades]
            unto them;
        Deeming him a friend they were consumed with love of him,
      And they made a covenant with him,
        Because they are worthy to be of his portion.

But, on the other hand, the opening words of the book bring out in
a very clear manner the indispensable need of divine grace for the
right exercise of the will:

      Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth,
        Think ye of the Lord with a good mind,
      And in singleness of heart seek ye Him;
        For He is found of them that tempt Him not,
      And is manifested unto them that do not mistrust Him....
        For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit,
      And will start away from thoughts that are without understanding,
        And will be scared away when the unrighteous approacheth
                                                     (i. 1-5).


(_e_) _The Doctrine of the Messiah._

The didactic character of Ecclesiasticus is sufficient to account for
the extreme meagreness of references to the Messiah. In the few cases
in which the subject is referred to it is the seed of David to which
the Messiah belongs, viz.:

      He will not cut off the posterity of His chosen ones,
        Nor will He destroy the offspring of them that love Him;
      And He will give to Jacob a remnant,
        And to the house of David a root from him (xlvii. 22).

And in the eighth verse of the Hymn of Praise which (in the Hebrew
only) is inserted after li. 12, occur these words:

      Give thanks unto Him that maketh a horn to sprout for the house
            of David,
        For His mercy endureth for ever.

Ben-Sira, therefore, believes in a Messiah who is purely human,
according to the usual Jewish doctrine, and who belongs to the house
of David; but his belief is otherwise vague. Apart from the nature
of the book itself, it must be remembered that the conceptions of
a Messiah were largely conditioned by the historical circumstances
of any given period; during the time of Ben-Sira these were not
of a nature to call forth Messianic hopes, and therefore the
teaching regarding the Messiah was indefinite, and receded into the
background. In the Book of Tobit the Messiah is never mentioned, but
the renovated Jerusalem which the writer speaks of, and the gathering
in of the dispersed Israelites as well as of the Gentiles, gives a
picture of what corresponds to the Messianic Kingdom:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contentsOesterley, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil)

Religion

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contents

Oesterley, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil)

Bible. Apocrypha -- Introductions

But the ungodly by their hands and words called him [i.e. Hades]
            unto them;
        Deeming him a friend they were consumed with love of him,
      And they made a covenant with him,
        Because they are worthy to be of his portion.

But, on the other hand, the opening words of the book bring out in
a very clear manner the indispensable need of divine grace for the
right exercise of the will:

      Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth,
        Think ye of the Lord with a good mind,
      And in singleness of heart seek ye Him;
        For He is found of them that tempt Him not,
      And is manifested unto them that do not mistrust Him....
        For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit,
      And will start away from thoughts that are without understanding,
        And will be scared away when the unrighteous approacheth
                                                     (i. 1-5).


(_e_) _The Doctrine of the Messiah._

The didactic character of Ecclesiasticus is sufficient to account for
the extreme meagreness of references to the Messiah. In the few cases
in which the subject is referred to it is the seed of David to which
the Messiah belongs, viz.:

      He will not cut off the posterity of His chosen ones,
        Nor will He destroy the offspring of them that love Him;
      And He will give to Jacob a remnant,
        And to the house of David a root from him (xlvii. 22).

And in the eighth verse of the Hymn of Praise which (in the Hebrew
only) is inserted after li. 12, occur these words:

      Give thanks unto Him that maketh a horn to sprout for the house
            of David,
        For His mercy endureth for ever.

Ben-Sira, therefore, believes in a Messiah who is purely human,
according to the usual Jewish doctrine, and who belongs to the house
of David; but his belief is otherwise vague. Apart from the nature
of the book itself, it must be remembered that the conceptions of
a Messiah were largely conditioned by the historical circumstances
of any given period; during the time of Ben-Sira these were not
of a nature to call forth Messianic hopes, and therefore the
teaching regarding the Messiah was indefinite, and receded into the
background. In the Book of Tobit the Messiah is never mentioned, but
the renovated Jerusalem which the writer speaks of, and the gathering
in of the dispersed Israelites as well as of the Gentiles, gives a
picture of what corresponds to the Messianic Kingdom:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contents

The books of the Apocrypha : $b their origin, teaching and contents

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