troublesome are his obsession with honor and shame (despite efforts at reinterpreting them), his excessive caution in social relations, and his quickness to dismiss many other persons as “fools.” The book of Sirach is regarded as canonical Scripture by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians but not by Jews and Protestants (though it is used in the latter traditions). The Hebrew text of Ben Sira’s book was not entirely lost after the Greek translation. It continued to be used at Qumran