Sirach — Translator’s Prologue
Translator’s Prologue
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
Prologue 1 Since many great things have been given to us through the law, the prophets, and the others who followed after them, for which Israel ought to be praised for instruction and wisdom, and since the readers themselves ought not only to become knowledgeable,
Prologue 1a but lovers of learning should also be able to benefit those outside, both by speaking and by writing, my grandfather Jesus, having devoted himself extensively to reading the law and the prophets
Prologue 1b and the other ancestral books, and having acquired considerable familiarity with them, was himself moved to write something concerning instruction and wisdom, so that lovers of learning, by becoming engaged with these things too, might advance much further through a life according to the law.
Prologue 1c You are therefore urged to read with goodwill and attention, and to show indulgence wherever we may seem
Prologue 1d to fall short in some expressions despite the labor devoted to translation. For things expressed in Hebrew in their own form do not have equal force when transferred into another language. Not only these things, but even the law itself, the prophecies,
Prologue 1e and the remaining books show no small difference when expressed in their own form. For in the thirty-eighth year, under King Euergetes, I arrived in Egypt and stayed for some time; finding a likeness of no small learning,
Prologue 1f I myself considered it most necessary to contribute some diligence and hard work toward translating this book. Over the intervening time I devoted much wakefulness and skill to bringing the book to completion and publishing it also for those living abroad who wish to learn,
Prologue 1g preparing their character to live according to the law.
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.
Prologue 1; publisher Sirach 1:1 [RH-SIR1] Source label 1 begins the prologue, not main Sirach 1:1. The long sentence continues through Prologue 1b; source boundaries divide its clauses.
Prologue 1a; publisher Sirach 1:1a [RH-SIR1] Jesus renders Ἰησοῦς, the grandfather named by this pre-Christian translator; it does not identify him with Jesus Christ. The list and sentence continue in the next row.
Prologue 1b; publisher Sirach 1:1b [RH-SIR1] Ancestral books renders πατρίων βιβλίων. The translator describes his grandfather’s writing; no separate Hebrew source has been reconstructed here.
Prologue 1c; publisher Sirach 1:1c [RH-SIR1] The request continues in the next source unit.
Prologue 1d; publisher Sirach 1:1d [RH-SIR1] The prologue explicitly recognizes differences of force between languages. This statement is translated from Greek and does not imply that this project has accessed the grandfather’s Hebrew.
Prologue 1e; publisher Sirach 1:1e [RH-SIR1] “A likeness of no small learning” provisionally retains ἀφόμοιον and the genitive μικρᾶς παιδείας. John A. L. Lee questions the familiar “copy/exemplar” interpretation and proposes changing μικρᾶς to μικρόν, yielding a substantial similarity in learning. His proposal was directly read but is not adopted as the publisher’s text. The syntax remains unresolved. The royal year is retained without an inserted absolute date. [LEE-PROL29]
Prologue 1f; publisher Sirach 1:1f [RH-SIR1] The effort and publication purpose continue into the closing unit. Living abroad renders ἐν τῇ παροικίᾳ; a specific modern community is not inserted.
Prologue 1g; publisher Sirach 1:1g [RH-SIR1] Concludes the translator’s prologue. The publisher’s following label 1h begins main Sirach 1:1.