The Friendship Pericope (Sir 6, 5 -17.) as per the Newly Discovered Manuscript C Fragment

Abstract

The text of the Book of Sirach in the Hebrew language was unknown until the discovery of the Cairo Geniza. Since then, eight Hebrew manuscripts of this book have been found, five of which (named A, B, C, D, E) were found in the Cairo Geniza. Last year a new fragment of manuscript C (two sheets) was identified which contains, in the main, a friendship pericope. The text of this manuscript does not follow standard versification patterns of Ben Sira's text, rather it is a modified text in which the verses are intermixed. Therefore the friendship pericope in manuscript C is in fact a combination of Sir 6,5 – 17 and 37,1 -6. Friendship is one of the themes treated by Ben Sira in his work, and this text is his most well-known text on friendship. The first section reminds the reader to be cautious in his relationships with friends; furthermore, Ben Sira points out three types of dangers regarding friendship, and he ends his pericope with a description of a devoted friend. The new compilation of the friendship pericope in manuscript C is stylistically not as well-done as the original pericope, though its linguistic value is undeniable.