Now the author does not believe that every thing written in the works of Sirach are erroneous , however, as a complete work, it is the wisdom of a man at best, and foolishness at worst (especially when read from the most reliable source, the Septuagint) , either because of being corrupted by translation, or because of innate ineptitude of the writer, and this shall be demonstrated as follows.
“All scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10
So the established book in the Tanakh that has proverbs from the wisest people the world has ever seen such as Solomon considers a good woman to be worth more than rubies.
Let’s consider Ben Sirach’s views on women.
κρείσσων πονηρία ἀνδρὸς ἢ ἀγαθοποιὸς γυνή, καὶ γυνὴ καταισχύνουσα εἰς ὀνειδισμόν Sirach 42:14
Now some of your translations (the KJV) translate that as this:
“Better is the churlishnesse of a man, then a courteous woman, a woman I say, which bringeth shame and reproch.” Sirach 42:14
So, in this translation, it’s better to be a rude man than a polite woman that brings shame and reproach. This is simply a word-twisting phenomenon to lessen the folly in the original verse. It is ironically better translated as this:
14 A man’s wickedness is better than a woman’s goodness; women bring shame and disgrace. Sirach 42:14 (Good News Translation)
And if anyone doubts this, simply research the words that are in bold in the Greek verse, and you will see that the Septuagint (which is the closest thing to what Sirach actually wrote in Hebrew) , said that the INIQUITY of a man is better than the GOODNESS/GOOD -DOING of a woman, and that women bring shame and reproach. The King James Version is a lie in this case, because it escapes me how a matter of wickedness/inquity vs goodness became a matter of rudeness vs courtesy.
Actual scripture has a much more balanced view:
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones Proverbs 12:4
Now if you still have no problem with that statement, then you must surely rather be in the company of Ahab and Herod than Hadassah, Abigail or Deborah.
Elohim did not both inspire “a good woman is valuable” and “a wicked man is better than a good woman”, simultaneously ..they are mutually exclusive.
Problem #2
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Romans 5:12
Because Adam listened to his wife, Eve, sin entered the world because as the Head and the carrier of the seed, sin was passed down through him, so mankind dies because of the inherited condition from Adam…but not according to Yeshua Ben Sirach.
Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die. Sirach 25:24
The most simple and true retort to this nonsensical statement by Ben Sirach is found in the final Authority’s words in the Book of Genesis.
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake…..
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:17-18″
What did He say would happen if they ate the fruit? That they would die…Did Eve eat the fruit by herself?
He said TO ADAM after arraigning them both for eating the fruit, that he would die because he disobeyed by listening to Eve, which fits like a glove with actual scripture that says by “one man sin entered”.
The book has some good sense in it, but it is not “God-breathed”. Next
Distilled Truth 