The Wisdom of Ben Sira (review)

Hebrew Studies 34 (1993) 200 Reviews knowing as much as possible about the historical circumstances and background of the text makes us better implied readers (one hopes it would make us better readers, period). What most disturbs me about this readerbesides the fact that the reader is a "hen-is being told what the reader will feel (e.g., sympathy, anxiety) or wonder about (e.g., "will Jacob succeed in making good his escape [from Laban]?" Does anyone think he won't?). Perhaps I should worry about not worrying about what a reader is supposed to be worrying about. Real readers do not read like implied readers (which I understand to be a construct implied or encoded in the text), and as a resistant reader, I do not believe they should. Sherwood's "reader" (the term appears without modifiers throughout the study) is Sherwood-but isn't every constructed reader a reflection of the critic, more or less? Nonetheless, he might have been more self-consciously reflective about the reciprocal relations between text and reader. On the whole, Sherwood's insights into the way this narrative works are worth considering, and especially valuable are his observations on point of view and his recognition of the ambiguous quality of dialogue. J. Cheryl Exum University of Sheffield Sheffield SJO 2UJ England THE WISDOM OF BEN SIRA. By Patrick W. Skehan and Alexander A. Di LelIa. Anchor Bible. Pp. xxiii + 620. New York: Doubleday, 1987. Cloth, $22.00. In the late 1970's, while writing my Ph.D. dissertation on the Psalms, the late Patrick W. Skehan made his own transcription of the Cave 4 Psalms manuscripts under his control available for my research. Since the final edition of these texts (which even then he said were nearing completion) have yet to be published almost fifteen years later, I was-and remain-more than a little grateful for his gracious generosity. For the most part, I found his work to be meticulous and painstaking, employing careful and cautious speculation when necessary. This was especially true in the area of text criticism for which Skehan is justifiably considered an authority. Hebrew Studies 34 (1993) 201 Reviews The present work is a further reflection of Skehan's gracious willingness to work with other scholars-in this case the respected Alexander A. Di Lella, author of the Anchor Bible volume on the book of Daniel-as well as his careful work on the text, as reflected in the translation and textual notes for which he was chiefly responsible. Skehan's death in September, 1980, left the final edition of the book to the hands of his coauthor , Di LelIa, who was responsible for the introduction and commentary as well. The result of this collaboration is a sizable volume (620 pp.) that suffers only occasionally from the inconsistency imposed by Di LelIa's inability to iron out final disagreements with his co-author (Preface, p. x). Following the typical Anchor Bible pattern, the work consists of an extensive introduction (92 pp.), a helpful bibliography (current through about 1984). Skehan's new translation (based primarily on the NAB) with textual notes. and Di LeIla's commentary. I will comment briefly on most of these sections in tum. The Introduction is subdivided into ten sections: Title and Contents; Ben Sira and His Times; Canonicity of the Book and Place in the Canon; Literary Genres; Wisdom Traditions in the Old Testament; Ben Sira and the Other Books of the Old Testament; Ben Sira and the Non-Jewish Literature; The Original Hebrew Text and Ancient Versions; The Poetry of Ben Sira; The Teaching of Ben Sira. Overall, Di LelIa's treatment is adequate -ranging from extremely brief discussions (Ben Sira and His Times) to quite lengthy analysis (The Teaching of Ben Sira). De Lelia is at his best when discussing the history of the text. This particular section contains a brief but lucid discussion of the textual history of Ben Sira and the resources for textual criticism of the book. Di Leila is a realistunderstanding the complexity of the textual development and the necessity for flexibility in textual reconstruction (pp. 59-60). Di LelIa's style is usually clear and illuminative...