'PRAISE YE THE LORD'

109

Good is set over against evil, and life over against death: so is the sinner over against the godly. And thus look upon all the works of the Most High; two and two, one against another.

Part of another paean on God's works runs as follows. It is at the opening of this paean (at the word 'harps') that the first fragment of the Hebrew original discovered by Dr. Schechter begins. It by no means corresponds word for word with the Greek translation, but I cannot give the differences here. [One additional touch of the Hebrew may, however, be noted. Nothing is too hard for God, but nothing also is too small. There is nothing small or light with him, and there is nothing too wonderful or hard for him.'] Sometimes the grandson of Ben Sira translated loosely; sometimes he misunderstood the Hebrew; sometimes doubtless his Hebrew text was freer from corruptions than the discovered fragment, and sometimes our text of his translation may be itself corrupt.

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Yet more will I utter, which I have thought upon; and I am filled as the moon at the full. Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by a brook of water and give ye a sweet savour as frankincense, and put forth flowers as a lily, spread abroad a sweet smell, and sing a song of praise; bless ye the Lord for all his works. Magnify his name, and give utterance to his praise with the songs of your lips, and with harps; and thus shall ye say when ye utter his praise:

All the works of the Lord are exceeding good, and every command shall be accomplished in his season. None can say, What is this? wherefore is that? for in his season they shall all be sought out. At his word the waters stood as a heap, and the receptacles of waters at the word of his mouth. At his command is all his good pleasure done; and there is none that shall hinder his salvation. The works of all flesh are before him; and it is not possible to be hid from his eyes. He beholdeth from everlasting to everlasting; and there is nothing wonderful before him. None can say, What is this? wherefore is that? for all things are created for their uses.

Therefore from the beginning I was resolved, and I thought this, and left it in writing; all the works of the Lord are good: and he will supply every need in its season. And

none can say, This is worse than that: for they shall all be well approved in their season. And now with all your heart and mouth sing ye praises, and bless the name of the Lord.

Finally, there may be quoted a long praise of the divine works which Mr. Moulton calls a 'Rhetoric Encomium.' We catch imitations from the Psalms in this paean, especially from those which are printed in Part I, pp. 587-597. At the beginning, in the words of the Lord' should probably be changed to by the word of the Lord,' as where it says in the Psalms, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.' [This is now confirmed by the newly discovered Hebrew original.] At the end of the Encomium, the words by reason of him his end hath success' are obscure. [The Hebrew text is also uncertain. The next sentence runs in the original: More like this we will not add; the conclusion of the matter is, He is all.' I may note too that the words 'who is from everlasting to everlasting' are in the Hebrew: 'he is One from everlasting.']

I will make mention now of the works of the Lord, and will declare the things that I have seen:

In the words of the Lord are his works. The sun that giveth light looketh upon all things; and the work of the Lord is full of his glory. The Lord hath not given power to the saints to declare all his marvellous works; which the Almighty Lord firmly settled, that whatsoever is might be established in his glory. He searcheth out the deep, and the heart, and he hath understanding of their cunning devices: for the Most High knoweth all knowledge, and he looketh into the signs of the world, declaring the things that are past, and the things that shall be, and revealing the traces of hidden things. No thought escapeth him; there is not a word hid from him. The mighty works of his wisdom he hath ordered, who is from everlasting to everlasting: nothing hath been added unto them, nor diminished from them; and he had no need of any counsellor. How desirable are all his works! One may behold this even unto a spark. All these things live and remain for ever in all manner of uses, and they are all obedient. All things are double one against another: and he hath made nothing imperfect. One thing establisheth the good things of another: and who shall be filled with beholding his glory?

THE WORKS OF GOD

III

The pride of the height is the firmament in its clearness, the appearance of heaven, in the spectacle of its glory. The sun when he appeareth, bringing tidings as he goeth forth, is a marvellous instrument, the work of the Most High: at his noon he drieth up the country, and who shall stand against his burning heat? A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the sun three times more, burning up the mountains: breathing out fiery vapours, and sending forth bright beams, he dimmeth the eyes. Great is the Lord that made him; and at his word he hasteneth his course.

The moon also is in all things for her season, for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world. From the moon is the sign of the feast day; a light that waneth when she is come to the full. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing; an instrument of the hosts on high, shining forth in the firmament of heaven; the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, an ornament giving light in the highest places of the Lord. At the word of the Holy One they will stand in due order, and they will not faint in their watches.

Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it; exceeding beautiful in the brightness thereof. It compasseth the heaven round about with a circle of glory; the hands of the Most High have stretched it.

By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall apace, and sendeth swiftly the lightnings of his judgement. By reason thereof the treasure-houses are opened; and clouds fly forth as fowls. By his mighty power he maketh strong the clouds, and the hailstones are broken small: and at his appearing the mountains will be shaken, and at his will the south wind will blow. The voice of his thunder maketh the earth to travail; so doth the northern storm and the whirlwind. As birds flying down he sprinkleth the snow; and as the lighting of the locust is the falling down thereof: the eye will marvel at the beauty of its whiteness, and the heart will be astonished at the raining of it. The hoar frost also he poureth on the earth as salt; and when it is congealed, it is as points of thorns. The cold north wind shall blow, and the ice shall be congealed on the water: it shall lodge upon every gathering together of water, and the water shall put on as it were a breastplate. It shall devour the mountains, and burn up the wilderness, and consume the green herb as fire.

A mist coming speedily is the healing of all things; a dew coming after heat shall bring cheerfulness. By his counsel he hath stilled the deep, and planted islands therein. They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel. Therein be also those strange and wondrous works, variety of all that hath life, the race of sea-monsters.

By reason of him his end hath success, and by his word all things consist. We may say many things, yet shall we not attain; and the sum of our words is, He is all. How shall we have strength to glorify him? for he is himself the great one above all his works. The Lord is terrible and exceeding great; and marvellous is his power. When ye glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as ye can, for even yet will he exceed: and when ye exalt him, put forth your full strength: be not weary; for ye will never attain. Who hath seen him, that he may declare him? and who shall magnify him as he is? Many things are hidden greater than these; for we have seen but a few of his works. For the Lord made all things; and to the godly gave he wisdom.

§ 21. Ben Sira's prayer.-At the close of his book Ben Sira has placed a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the protection and the gift of wisdom which he had granted him. Mr. Moulton thinks that originally this prayer stood at the beginning of the book, and he prints it as the 'author's preface,' immediately after the 'preface by the translator.' In the course of his travels Ben Sira must have been at one time in great and imminent danger. He was a man of sufficient importance and station to have been the subject of slander at the court of a king. From this danger he must have been unexpectedly delivered. Further on in the passage our author seems to praise himself unduly. Yet we should hardly be justified in calling him self-righteous or conceited. He is rather naïve than boastful. He is conscious that after his human measure he has acquired some wisdom. He is also conscious that within human limits he has trodden the path of righteousness. We should be better pleased if he had not failed to add that he could have done and could have been yet better, for no one who is completely satisfied with his own goodness or his own wisdom can be either extremely good or extremely wise. The highest wisdom and the purest goodness are always conscious of a beyond, an ideal which they have failed to reach. Nevertheless,

A SAGE'S THANKSGIVING

113:

Ben Sira is saved from conceit because he does not attribute his wisdom to himself. It is the gift of God. That he is wise is not his merit. It is God's grace. And as the source of his wisdom is God, so in God's service must be spent its fruit. All his toil seems to him but little labour, and his reward is his power of praise.

I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, O King, and will praise thee, God my Saviour: I do give thanks unto thy name: for thou wast my protector and helper, and didst deliver my body out of destruction, and out of the snare of a slanderous tongue, from lips that forge lies, and wast my helper before them that stood by; and didst deliver me, according to the abundance of thy mercy, and greatness of thy name, from the gnashings of teeth ready to devour, out of the hand of such as sought my life, out of the manifold afflictions which I had; from the choking of a fire on every side, and out of the midst of fire which I kindled not; out of the depth of the belly of the grave, and from an unclean tongue, and from lying words, the slander of an unrighteous tongue unto the king. My soul drew near even unto death, and my life was near to the grave beneath. They compassed me on every side, and there was none to help me. I was looking for the succour of men, and it was not. And I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy working which hath been from everlasting, how thou deliverest them that wait for thee, and savest them out of the hand of the enemies. And I lifted up my supplication from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death. I called upon the Lord, that he would not forsake me in the days of affliction, in the time when there was no help against the proud. I will praise thy name continually, and will sing praise with thanksgiving; and my supplication was heard for thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time therefore will I give thanks and praise unto thee, and bless the name of the Lord.

When I was yet young, or ever I went abroad, I sought wisdom openly in my prayer. Before the temple I asked for her, and I will seek her out even to the end. From her flower as from the ripening grape my heart delighted in her: my foot trod in uprightness, from my youth I tracked her out. I bowed down mine ear a little, and received her, and