Sirach — Chapter 45
Moses, Aaron, and Phinehas
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
45:1 From him He brought forth a man of mercy who found favor in the eyes of all flesh, beloved by God and people: Moses, whose remembrance is among blessings.
45:2 He made him like the holy ones in glory and magnified him through the fears of his enemies.
45:3 By his words He caused signs to cease; He glorified him before kings. He gave him commandments for His people and showed him something of His glory.
45:4 In faithfulness and gentleness He sanctified him; He chose him out of all flesh.
45:5 He let him hear His voice, brought him into the darkness, and gave him commandments face to face, a law of life and knowledge, to teach Jacob the covenant and Israel His judgments.
45:6 He exalted Aaron, a holy man like him, his brother from the tribe of Levi.
45:7 He established him as an everlasting covenant and gave him the priesthood of the people. He blessed him with beautiful attire and girded him with a robe of glory.
45:8 He clothed him with the fullness of splendor and equipped him with mighty garments: breeches, a robe reaching to the feet, and a shoulder piece.
45:9 He surrounded him with little pomegranates, with many golden bells all around, to sound with his footsteps and make an audible ringing in the sanctuary as a remembrance for the sons of His people;
45:10 with a holy robe of gold, blue, and purple, the work of an embroiderer; with an oracle-piece of judgment, tokens of truth, twisted scarlet, a craftsman’s work;
45:11 with costly stones bearing engraved seals in settings of gold, a stoneworker’s work, as a remembrance in carved writing according to the number of Israel’s tribes;
45:12 with a golden crown upon the turban, the impression of a seal of holiness, an honor to boast of, a mighty work, beautifully adorned things desired by the eyes.
45:13 Before him there had never been such beautiful things. Forever no outsider put them on, but only his sons and his descendants continually.
45:14 His sacrifices will be wholly offered twice every day, continually.
45:15 Moses filled his hands and anointed him with holy oil. It became an everlasting covenant for him and his offspring, throughout the days of heaven, to minister to Him, serve as priests, and bless His people in the Name.
45:16 He chose him from every living person to present an offering to the Lord, incense and a pleasing fragrance as a remembrance, to make atonement for your people.
45:17 In His commandments He gave him authority concerning covenants of judgments, to teach Jacob the testimonies and enlighten Israel through His law.
45:18 Outsiders banded together against him and envied him in the wilderness: the men around Dathan and Abiram, and Korah’s assembly in anger and wrath.
45:19 The Lord saw and was not pleased, and they were brought to their end in furious wrath. He worked portents upon them, consuming them in His flaming fire.
45:20 He added glory to Aaron and gave him an inheritance. He allotted him the firstfruits of the first produce; He prepared bread in abundance first for them.
45:21 For they will eat the Lord’s sacrifices, which He gave both to him and to his offspring.
45:22 But he will inherit nothing in the people’s land, and he has no portion among the people, for He Himself is your portion and inheritance.
45:23 Phinehas son of Eleazar was third in glory, because he was zealous in the fear of the Lord and stood firm when the people turned away, with the goodness of his soul’s eagerness. He made atonement for Israel.
45:24 Therefore a covenant of peace was established for him, to preside over holy things and His people, so that the majesty of the priesthood might belong to him and his offspring forever.
45:25 There was also a covenant for David son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah: the inheritance of a king passes from son to son alone; Aaron’s inheritance belongs also to his offspring.
45:26 May He give you wisdom in your heart to judge His people in righteousness, so that their good things may not disappear, and their glory may last through their generations.
Source and editorial notes
Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.
The translator’s prologue is separate from the 51 chapters. Its eight source units map to publisher labels 1, 1a–1g; main-text 1:1 maps to 1h. Source 5:15 includes material often numbered 6:1, so chapter 6 begins at 6:2. Source label gaps are preserved; no text is invented.
45:1 “From him” continues the preceding reference to Jacob.
45:2 The plural “fears” is retained; the Greek does not expressly name the deeds that caused them.
45:3 The signs “cease,” κατέπαυσεν, in the accessed text; “perform” is not substituted. “Something of” represents the partitive expression concerning God’s glory.
45:7 The Greek directly places Aaron as the object beside “an everlasting covenant”; the rendering does not silently replace this with “made a covenant with him.”
45:8 “Shoulder piece” renders ἐπωμίς; no reconstructed Hebrew garment name is inserted into this Greek-only column.
45:10 The clothing list continues the preceding verbs. “Oracle-piece” and “tokens of truth” preserve λόγειον and δῆλα without claiming that the Hebrew Urim and Thummim have been independently compared.
45:13 The Greek combines an aorist “put on” with “forever”; the temporal compression is retained rather than converted into a different legal formula.
45:15 “Filled his hands” is the source’s ordination expression, retained literally. “The Name” has no added proper name in the Greek.
45:16 The final “your” is a second-person shift in the source, not a copying error corrected to “His.”
45:20 The final phrase ἄρτον πρώτοις ἡτοίμασεν πλησμονήν is compressed and includes plural πρώτοις. The priority and abundance are retained; the exact construction remains a translation question.
45:22 The shift from “he” to “your” is explicit in Greek.
45:24 Ἁγίων may refer to holy things or holy persons; the priestly setting supports “holy things,” without excluding the lexical alternative.
45:25 The contrast in hereditary succession is terse. “Passes” and “belongs” supply verbs for the Greek noun clauses; no detailed constitutional rule is added.
45:26 “May last” supplies the sense of the final verbless phrase; the Greek’s singular “heart” with plural “you” is retained.