My Protestant readers may well be unfamiliar with the book of Sirach, which is a book in the Catholic Bible. Here's a little information about it for those who may not know its history.
The book itself is referred to as either Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. It's estimated that the book was written between 200-175 B.C. There have been claims that the book was written by King Solomon, but this has been disproven. It was written by Ben Sirach, who was a Jewish scribe living in Jerusalem. The book was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Later, the grandson of the original author translated the book from its original language into Greek. It was thought that the original manuscript was lost, but fragments have since been found.
Earlier this week, I shared a post about forgiveness. This passage from Sirach is a reinforcement of the message from that post:
The book itself is referred to as either Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. It's estimated that the book was written between 200-175 B.C. There have been claims that the book was written by King Solomon, but this has been disproven. It was written by Ben Sirach, who was a Jewish scribe living in Jerusalem. The book was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Later, the grandson of the original author translated the book from its original language into Greek. It was thought that the original manuscript was lost, but fragments have since been found.
Earlier this week, I shared a post about forgiveness. This passage from Sirach is a reinforcement of the message from that post:
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor's injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.
- Sirach 27:30 - 28:7
isn't this just beautiful! why would we look any where else for answers?
ReplyDeleteTrue, true, true. We must forgive but so often our egos are so big we are choking on them and the words won't come out.
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest examples of forgiveness is illustrated in a book about Our Lady of Kibeho, written by a woman who barely survived the Rwandan genocide and forgave those who killed her family. I was really humbled by it.
Just like Jesus explains in the Gospel of Matthew after He teaches the Lord's Prayer, we are forgiven if we forgive others.
ReplyDeleteThis passage reminds me of the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
ReplyDeleteThis is good. Thank you for sharing it with us. We need to remember how important it is that we forgive those who sin against us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Charlotte