An Atheist Explores the Apocrypha Part 26: Things Exist, Therefore God (But The Poetry Is Good) (Ecclesiasticus 41-45)
Ecclesiasticus
41-45
Things Exist, Therefore God (But The Poetry Is Good).
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts
(Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old
Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as
literature and mythology.
Ecclesiasticus
41
“Therefore be shamefaced according to my word: for it is not
good to retain all shamefacedness; neither is it altogether approved in every
thing”
What should a man be ashamed of? That’s what this
chapter mainly deals with. And it is a man
specifically rather than a person of non-specific gender, since such things
include not “to gaze upon another man's
wife” or to be “overbusy with his
maid”.
Sexual impropriety aside, the verses range from
matters of justice – “Of an offence
before a judge and ruler; of iniquity before a congregation and people; of
unjust dealing before thy partner and friend” to table manners – “to lean with thine elbow upon the meat”,
and much else.
But the chapter doesn’t begin with this. Instead it
starts with a discussion on death, comparing how a man “that hath prosperity in all things” fears death more than the man “whose strength faileth, that is now in the
last age, and is vexed with all things, and to him that despaireth, and hath
lost patience”, because he has more to lose. A fair observation, I guess.
But, says Ben Sirach, death is nothing to fear because “there is no inquisition in the grave, whether thou have lived ten, or
an hundred, or a thousand years”. Dead is dead. What matters more is one’s
legacy and the effects the bad reputation can have on the descendants of an
ungodly person – “The inheritance of
sinners' children shall perish, and their posterity shall have a perpetual
reproach”. On the other hand, having a good reputation is worth more than
earthly riches and will live on after you are gone – “Have regard to thy name; for that shall continue with thee above a
thousand great treasures of gold”.
All of this is very much rooted in the physical realm,
with no need to invoke heavens and hells to enforce its moral message.
Ecclesiasticus
42
“The
father waketh for the daughter, when no man knoweth; and the care for her
taketh away sleep: when she is young, lest she pass away the flower of her age;
and being married, lest she should be hated”
More complaining about women in this chapter; not only
how daughters are a constant source of worry to a father in case they mess up
somehow, but also how “Better is the
churlishness of a man than a courteous woman, a woman, I say, which bringeth
shame and reproach”. Given the apparently constant expectations from a
father that his daughter will do something to bring shame upon him, it’s
perhaps no wonder that some women in Ben Sirach’s time may well act out of what
he considers to be their place.
But enough of that. There’s also a lot about weights
and measures and proper book-keeping – “Deliver
all things in number and weight; and put all in writing that thou givest out,
or receivest in”, and also how good it is to beat people until they bleed,
how one should not be ashamed “of much
correction of children; and to make the side of an evil servant to bleed”.
The last bit of the chapter is praise of God and how
He is complete in His own right – “unto
him may nothing be added, neither can he be diminished, and he hath no need of
any counsellor”. The chapter ends by declaring that “he hath made nothing imperfect”. Except women, children and
disobedient servants, apparently.
Ecclesiasticus
43
“The
pride of the height, the clear firmament, the beauty of heaven, with his
glorious shew”
This is a chapter essentially full of the “Things exist: therefore God” argument,
although it is couched in some very lovely poetic language. For example “A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat,
but the sun burneth the mountains three times more; breathing out fiery
vapours, and sending forth bright beams, it dimmeth the eyes” or “The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars,
an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord. At the commandment
of the Holy One they will stand in their order, and never faint in their
watches” or “The noise of the thunder
maketh the earth to tremble: so doth the northern storm and the whirlwind: as
birds flying he scattereth the snow, and the falling down thereof is as the
lighting of grasshoppers” and so on.
The sun, the moon, the stars, mountains, the weather
(with a rare discussion of snow and frost), rainbows and the sea all get mentions
in this chapter. Of course, it’s not a very convincing argument to the modern
scientific mind, unless one demands a “why” to go with the “how” (which
presupposes that there is a meaningful “why” to such phenomena. The inference
in this chapter is, for example, that rainbows exist for humans to look at
(oddly it omits the post-Flood covenant). What would actually be a more
meaningful question is why we should find the refraction of light to be
intriguing and attractive.
Anyway, it’s a delightful bit of poetics, but not a
very convincing argument. Particularly when it points out, of the sun, that “At noon it parcheth the country, and who can
abide the burning heat thereof?” That doesn’t sound like the perfect
planning of a benevolent God to me – why not dial back the heat output of the
sun a bit, or make it more even throughout the day?
Ecclesiasticus
44
“Let
us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.”
It’s an unusual style for a Biblical chapter to
provide that kind of meta-commentary on where it’s going next, but I’ve noticed
with Ecclesiasticus that the chapters, for once, really are divided up by
topics. And in this one, as it says, we get a brief overlook of the patriarchs
of old.
Each only gets a line or so; Enoch, Noah, Abraham and
Isaac. My guess would be that we continue in the next chapter. What’s
interesting is that once again Ben Sirach puts forward the idea that dead is
dead, and there is no guarantee of immortality, even if you are great – “And some there be, which have no memorial;
who are perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they
had never been born; and their children after them.”
However, he is very firmly in the “legacy as a form of
immortality” camp when he says “Their
bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore. The people will
tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will shew forth their praise.”
And it’s also interesting of the kinds of
characteristics that Ben Sirach thinks will grant this kind of lasting memorial
– “Leaders of the people by their
counsels, and by their knowledge of learning meet for the people, wise and
eloquent are their instructions Such as found out musical tunes, and recited
verses in writing”. The wise, the learned, the merciful, the just, the
cultured; these are the people that Ben Sirach thinks should be remembered with
honour. Turns out that they are.
Ecclesiasticus
45
“And
he brought out of him a merciful man, which found favour in the sight of all flesh,
even Moses, beloved of God and men, whose memorial is blessed.”
A note here about the use of the word “even” in the
KVJ style (I know, I’ve written some 270 or of these posts and I only now
address it). We read it to mean “as well as”, but in the KJV it only seems to
serve as a signifier. You could take it out completely and the text would read
more clearly to modern eyes.
Because here the text turns to discussing Moses,
chosen by God to be blessed and “magnified”,
to give the people laws. It then turns to put more effort into discussing
Aaron, describing his (faintly ludicrous) accoutrement – “And he compassed him with pomegranates, and with many golden bells
round about, that as he went there might be a sound, and a noise made that
might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of his people”
over several verses. This is to establish the importance of Aaron and the
Aaronites, since the text then goes on to describe how “Moses consecrated him, and anointed him with holy oil: this was appointed
unto him by an everlasting covenant, and to his seed, so long as the heavens
should remain, that they should minister unto him, and execute the office of
the priesthood, and bless the people in his name”.
Yes, the sacrifices (twice a day) are supposed to
continue forever as a sign of the covenant between man and God. I can see why
this one was left out of many versions of the Bible because the idea that the
sacrifice of Jesus was enough to cover sacrifices forever more goes against
this, implying that God didn’t have the foresight to realise that the
sacrifices didn’t need to go on forever. One wonders, also, why not do the
whole sacrifice of Christ thing at this point, rather than go through a series
of half-arsed covenants with the Israelites for a few hundred year. Obviously
mysterious divine plans ™ and all that….
There’s also “The
third in glory is Phinees the son of Eleazar, because he had zeal in the fear
of the Lord, and stood up with good courage of heart: when the people were
turned back, and made reconciliation for Israel” who gets to become “chief of the sanctuary”. I don’t
remember much about “Eleazites” or whatever they’d be called; I possibly
skipped over them among all the other temple functionaries and roles assigned
in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Comments
Post a Comment