Bibliography
| Title: The Function of Torah in Sirach Type: Thesis Year: 1993 Abstract: "The purpose of the dissertation was to examine the function of Torah in Sirach in its historical context. Chapter 1 served as the introduction and an overview of the research with regard to the topic. Though no one has engaged in such a study as this, there has been an understanding in Sirach studies that the Torah has a special function. No one, however, has pursued that function until now. Chapter 2 presented the linguistic evidence for the use of Torah and its semantic equivalents in Sirach. The Torah in Sirach refers to the five books of Moses which had been "canonized" in some fashion by the time of Ben Sira. To disclose this information, both the Hebrew and Greek texts were examined. Chapter 3 was an examination of the historical setting of the book of Sirach. Sources such as Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Josephus were briefly analyzed to offer a sketch of life in the first quarter of the second century B.C.E. Chapter 4 was both an analysis and exegesis of texts which are concerned with the relationship between Torah and wisdom. First, texts in the Hebrew Bible and texts contemporary with Sirach were examined in order that the relationship between Torah and wisdom be established. Second, texts in Sirach that deal with the relationship between Torah and wisdom were examined in light of their historical and literary context. The first function of Torah in Sirach, then, was to show that the relationship between Torah and wisdom was not one of equality, where one is identified with the other, but rather that wisdom only comes when one studies and obeys the Torah. In that chapter, Sirach 24 was the key text which disclosed this conclusion. The Torah and wisdom, it was concluded, work together in a synergistic way even though they are asymetrically related, i.e., they are different concepts and forms. Chapter 5 served as the conclusion to the dissertation. Both a summary of the conclusions of the research and suggestions for further research were included in that chapter". Keywords: ewish and Christian Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic |