Ben Sira at the Boundary: External Books, Moral Instruction, and Rabbinic Canon (Sanhedrin 100b)

This sugya creates a selective model regarding the Book of Ben Sira:¹ some non-canonical material is dangerous or foolish and should not be read as authoritative literature, but valuable sayings may still be extracted, interpreted, and taught.

The sugya begins from the Mishnah’s statement that, according to R. Akiva, one who reads “external books” has no share in the World-to-Come. The sugya then narrows the meaning of this category. A baraita first identifies “external books” with “books of heretics.” Rav Yosef then adds that the book of Ben Sira is also forbidden to read. The discussion that follows clarifies the nature of this prohibition: the problem is that the work contains a mixture of useful ethical material, ordinary wisdom sayings, and absurd or objectionable folk maxims. The sugya therefore distinguishes between reading the book as a canonical text and selectively expounding its valuable teachings.

Abaye challenges Rav Yosef’s ruling by testing several possible reasons for banning Ben Sira. The first example is a practical proverb about not removing the skin of a fish from its ear, but roasting it whole and eating it with bread. Abaye argues that this is not enough to justify prohibition: If taken literally, it is only an application of the biblical principle against needless destruction, based on Deuteronomy 20:19. If interpreted homiletically, it teaches sexual propriety, namely that a husband should avoid having anal sex with his wife, because it causes her discomfort. In either case, the saying can be integrated into accepted rabbinic values.

Abaye next considers Ben Sira’s negative statement about daughters: a daughter is described as a “false treasure” for her father, because at every stage of life she causes him anxiety. As a minor, he fears seduction; as a young woman, sexual misconduct; as an adult, failure to marry; as a married woman, childlessness; and in old age, witchcraft. This saying is also not treated as sufficient reason to ban the book, because the rabbis themselves express a parallel preference for sons over daughters: the world needs both males and females, but one whose children are male is fortunate, while one whose children are female is unfortunate.

The next tested saying concerns anxiety: “Do not introduce anxiety into your heart, as anxiety has killed mighty men.” Again, Abaye argues that this is not problematic, since Proverbs already states, “Anxiety in a man’s heart dejects him.” The sugya adds the interpretation of R. Ami and R. Asi, who read the biblical word homiletically in two ways. One says that a person should remove anxiety from his mind; the other says that he should speak it out to others. The Ben Sira saying is therefore aligned with biblical wisdom and rabbinic interpretation.

Another Ben Sira saying warns against bringing too many people into one’s house. This too is defended by appeal to rabbinic teaching: R. Yehuda HaNasi taught that a person should not have too many friends in his house, citing Proverbs 18:24. Excessive association can expose a person to harm, dependency, gossip, or moral danger. Here too, Ben Sira is treated as compatible with rabbinic moral instruction.

The sugya finally identifies the more serious problem: Ben Sira contains foolish folk aphorisms about beard types, thirst, bread, and appearance. Sparse-bearded men, thick-bearded men, people who blow on their cups, people who ask what they should eat bread with, and people with a “passage” in their beard are each classified by arbitrary traits. These sayings are presented as nonsense. This appears to explain why Ben Sira should not be read as a book: because the text contains enough undisciplined or ridiculous material to make it unsuitable as a general object of study.

Rav Yosef then qualifies his own prohibition. Although Ben Sira should not be read indiscriminately, its “superior matters” may be expounded publicly. The sugya gives a sequence of such wise teachings. Some concern marriage: a good wife is a divine gift to a God-fearing man; a bad wife is like tzara’at to her husband; the remedy for such a wife is divorce; and a beautiful wife brings happiness to her husband. Other sayings warn against sexual entanglement, especially with another man’s wife, and against social intermediaries who facilitate sexual misconduct. Further sayings advise caution in household access, friendship, secrecy, and speech, even within marriage. Another warns against excessive worry about the future, since one may not live to see the troubles one anticipates.

The passage concludes with a Ben Sira expansion of Proverbs 15:15, “All the days of the poor are terrible.” Ben Sira adds that the poor person’s nights are also terrible. The explanation is that his roof is lower than others, so rainwater drains onto it, and his vineyard is high on the hills, so its soil erodes downward into other vineyards. Poverty is thus portrayed as exposure to bad locations, inferior property, and continuous practical anxiety.

Outline

Intro

The Passage

1. Mishnah / R’ Akiva - One who reads “external books” has no share in the World-to-Come

2. Baraita - “External books” means books of heretics

3. Rav Yosef - Reading Ben Sira is also prohibited

Abaye’s response

1. Ben Sira’s fish-skin saying

   1. That saying is not grounds for prohibition: literally, it parallels the Torah’s ban on needless destruction - Deuteronomy 20:19

   2. ... homiletically, it teaches sexual propriety

2. Ben Sira’s negative statement about daughters - Ben Sira 42:11–14

   1. This statement is also not grounds for prohibition, since rabbinic tradition says something similar about preferring sons; The world needs both males and females, but one whose children are male is fortunate, while one whose children are female is unfortunate

3. Ben Sira’s warning against anxiety - Ben Sira 14:1; 30:29

   1. This statement is also not problematic, since Solomon says the same - Proverbs 12:25

   2. R’ Ami / R’ Asi - One interprets Proverbs 12:25 to mean that a person should remove anxiety from his mind; the other says he should speak it out to others - Proverbs 12:25

4. Ben Sira’s warning not to bring too many people into one’s house - Ben Sira 11:37

   1. This statement is also not problematic, since R’ Yehuda HaNasi teaches the same idea; A person should not have too many friends inside his house, because excessive social ties can be harmful

   2. Prooftext - Proverbs 18:24

5. Ben Sira includes absurd folk sayings about beard types, thirst, bread, and personal appearance (these justify not reading it generally)

6. Rav Yosef - Although parts of Ben Sira are inappropriate, its valuable teachings may be expounded publicly

Examples of Ben Sira’s valuable statements - Ben Sira 26:1, 26:3; 25:30

1. A good wife is a divine gift for a God-fearing man; a bad wife is like tzara’at

2. A bad wife is cured by divorce; a beautiful wife doubles her husband’s days

3. One should avoid becoming entangled with a beautiful married woman, since such attraction corrupts many - Ben Sira 9:9–11

4. Peddlers or social go-betweens can facilitate sexual impropriety; such houses become full of deceit - Ben Sira 11:36–37

5. One should limit who enters one’s house, greet many people, but reveal secrets only to one in a thousand - Ben Sira 11:37

6. One should guard speech even from one’s wife

7. avoid excessive worry about the future, since tomorrow is uncertain

8. Ben Sira adds that their nights are also bad, because even their property locations bring constant trouble - Proverbs 15:15

The Passage

At Sefaria: Sanhedrin.100b.3-11

At ChavrutAI: Sanhedrin/100b#3

Mishnah / R’ Akiva - One who reads “external books” has no share in the World-to-Come

רבי עקיבא אומר:

אף הקורא בספרים החיצונים וכו׳.

§ The Mishnah teaches that R’ Akiva says:

Also one who reads external literature has no share in the World-to-Come.

Baraita - “External books” means books of heretics

תנא:

בספרי מינים.

The rabbis taught in a baraita:

This is a reference to reading books of heretics.

Rav Yosef - Reading Ben Sira is also prohibited

רב יוסף אמר:

בספר בן סירא נמי אסור למיקרי.

Rav Yosef says:

It is also prohibited to read the book of ben Sira,

due to its problematic content.

Abaye’s response

אמר ליה אביי:

מאי טעמא?

Abaye said to Rav Yosef:

What is the reason that it is prohibited to read the book of ben Sira?

Ben Sira’s fish-skin saying

אילימא משום דכתב [ביה]:

1. לא תינטוש גילדנא מאודניה,

2. דלא ליזיל משכיה לחבלא,

3. אלא צלי יתיה בנורא

4. ואיכול ביה תרתין גריצים.

If we say that it is prohibited due to the fact that ben Sira wrote in it:

1. Do not flay (תינטוש) the skin of the fish (גילדנא) from its ear,

2. so that its skin does not go to ruin (חבלא),

3. but roast it on the fire

4. and eat with it two loaves of bread (גריצים),

and you believe it to be nonsense, that is not a sufficient reason (as the Talmud goes on to explain).

That saying is not grounds for prohibition: literally, it parallels the Torah’s ban on needless destruction - Deuteronomy 20:19

אי מפשטיה,

באורייתא נמי כתב:

״לא תשחית את עצה״.

If your difficulty is from its literal meaning,

that does not pose a difficulty, as in the Torah, God also wrote:

“You shall not destroy its trees” (Deuteronomy 20:19).

It is prohibited to destroy both trees and fish skin arbitrarily.²

... homiletically, it teaches sexual propriety

אי מדרשא,

אורח ארעא קא משמע לן,

דלא ליבעול שלא כדרכה.

If your difficulty is from its homiletic interpretation as a euphemism,

ben Sira is teaching us proper conduct:³

A man should not have sex in an atypical manner,⁴

Ben Sira’s negative statement about daughters - Ben Sira 42:11–14

(See footnote.)⁵

ואלא,

משום דכתיב:

1. ״בת לאביה מטמונת שוא,

2. מפחדה -- לא יישן בלילה:

3. בקטנותה –

   1. שמא תתפתה,

4. בנערותה –

   1. שמא תזנה,

5. בגרה –

   1. שמא לא תינשא,

6. נישאת –

   1. שמא לא יהיו לה בנים,

7. הזקינה –

   1. שמא תעשה כשפים״.

Rather,

perhaps the book poses a difficulty because it is written there:

1. A daughter is for her father false treasure;

2. due to fear for her -- he will not sleep at night:

3. During her minority,

   1. lest she be sexually seduced (תתפתה);

4. during her young womanhood

   1. lest she engage in licentiousness;⁶

5. once she has reached her majority,

   1. lest she not marry;

6. once she marries,

   1. lest she have no children;

7. once she grows old,

   1. lest she engage in witchcraft (Ben Sira 42:11–14).

This statement is also not grounds for prohibition, since rabbinic tradition says something similar about preferring sons; The world needs both males and females, but one whose children are male is fortunate, while one whose children are female is unfortunate

(See footnote.)⁷

הא רבנן נמי אמרוה:

אי אפשר לעולם

• בלא זכרים

• ובלא נקבות.

• אשרי מי שבניו זכרים,

• אוי לו למי שבניו נקבות.

Perhaps you believe that one should not say this to the father of daughters.

Didn’t the rabbis also say it with regard to women? They said:

It is impossible for the world to exist

• without males

• and without females;

nevertheless,

• Happy (אשרי) is one whose children are males

• and woe (אוי) unto him whose children are females.

Ben Sira’s warning against anxiety - Ben Sira 14:1; 30:29

אלא,

משום דכתיב:

״לא תעיל דויא בלבך,

דגברי גיברין קטל דויא״.

Rather,

perhaps the book poses a difficulty because it is written there:

Do not introduce anxiety (דויא) into your heart,

as anxiety has killed mighty men (Ben Sira 14:1; 30:29).

This statement is also not problematic, since Solomon says the same - Proverbs 12:25

הא שלמה אמרה:

״דאגה בלב איש ישחנה״.

Didn’t Solomon already say it in the verse:

“Anxiety in a man’s heart dejects him [yashḥena]” (Proverbs 12:25)?

R’ Ami / R’ Asi - One interprets Proverbs 12:25 to mean that a person should remove anxiety from his mind; the other says he should speak it out to others

(See footnote.)⁸

רבי אמי ורבי אסי –

• חד אמר:

  • ישיחנה מדעתו,

• וחד אמר:

  • ישיחנה לאחרים.

R’ Ami and R’ Asi interpret the term homiletically and read it as yesiḥenna.

• One says that it means:

  • He shall remove it [yesiḥenna] from his mind, and that will ease his anxiety.

• And one says:

  • He shall tell it [yesiḥenna] to others, and that will ease his anxiety.

Both agree with the statement of ben Sira.

Ben Sira’s warning not to bring too many people into one’s house - Ben Sira 11:37

ואלא,

משום דכתיב:

״מנע רבים מתוך ביתך,

ולא הכל תביא אל ביתך״?

Rather,

perhaps the book poses a difficulty because it is written there:

Prevent the multitudes from inside your house,

and do not bring everyone into your house (Ben Sira 11:37).

This statement is also not problematic, since R’ Yehuda HaNasi teaches the same idea; A person should not have too many friends inside his house, because excessive social ties can be harmful

והא רבי נמי אמרה,

דתניא:

רבי אומר:

לעולם לא ירבה אדם רעים בתוך ביתו,

But didn’t R’ Yehuda HaNasi also say it,

as it is taught in a baraita that

R’ Yehuda HaNasi says:

A person should never have many⁹ friends (רעים) inside his house,

Prooftext - Proverbs 18:24

שנאמר:

״איש רעים להתרועע״.

as it is stated:

“There are friends that one has to his own detriment” (Proverbs 18:24),

as through his association with them he will become weak and be ruined.

Ben Sira includes absurd folk sayings about beard types, thirst, bread, and personal appearance (these justify not reading it generally)

אלא,

משום דכתיב:

1. ״זלדקן –

   1. קורטמן,

2. עבדקן –

   1. סכסן,

3. דנפח בכסיה –

   1. לא צחי,

4. אמר ׳במאי איכול לחמא׳ –

   1. לחמא סב מיניה,

5. מאן דאית ליה מעברתא בדיקניה –

   1. כולי עלמא לא יכלי ליה״.

Rather,

perhaps the book poses a difficulty because it is written there:

1. A sparse-bearded man¹⁰

   1. is clever;¹¹

2. a thick-bearded man (עבדקן)

   1. is a fool (סכסן)

3. One who blows on his cup

   1. is not thirsty.

4. One who said: “With what will I eat bread” --

   1. take the bread from him.

5. One who has a passage (מעברתא) in his beard,

   1. the entire world is unable to overcome him.

Abaye suggests: Due to all this nonsense, it is not appropriate to read this book.

Rav Yosef - Although parts of Ben Sira are inappropriate, its valuable teachings may be expounded publicly

אמר רב יוסף:

מילי מעלייתא דאית ביה --

דרשינן להו.

Rav Yosef says:

Even though there are passages in the book that are inappropriate, the superior matters that are in it --

we teach even in public.

Examples of Ben Sira’s valuable statements - Ben Sira 26:1, 26:3; 25:30

A good wife is a divine gift for a God-fearing man; a bad wife is like tzara’at

(See footnote.)¹²

1. ״אשה טובה –

   1. מתנה טובה,

   2. בחיק ירא אלהים תנתן.

2. אשה רעה –

   1. צרעת לבעלה״.

1. A good wife

   1. is a good gift;

   2. she will be given into the bosom (חיק) of a God-fearing man (Ben Sira 26:3).

2. A bad wife

   1. is tzara’at for her husband.

A bad wife is cured by divorce; a beautiful wife doubles her husband’s days

מאי תקנתיה?

״יגרשנה מביתו,

ויתרפא מצרעתו.

אשה יפה –

אשרי בעלה,

מספר ימיו כפלים״.

What is his remedy?

He shall expel her¹³ from his house,

and will [thus] be healed from his tzara’at (Ben Sira 25:30).

A beautiful wife --

happy is her husband;

the number of his days is doubled (Ben Sira 26:1).

Due to his happiness, it is as though his life is twice as long.

One should avoid becoming entangled with a beautiful married woman, since such attraction corrupts many - Ben Sira 9:9–11

״העלם עיניך מאשת חן,

פן תלכד במצודתה.

אל תט אצל בעלה, למסוך עמו יין ושכר,

כי בתואר אשה יפה רבים הושחתו,

ועצומים כל הרוגיה.

We also teach what it states there:

Avert your eyes from a woman of grace,

lest you be trapped in her snare.

Turn not to her husband, to mix wine and strong drink with him,

as many have been corrupted by the beauty of the beautiful woman,

and mighty are all her fatalities¹⁴ (Ben Sira 9:9–11).

Peddlers or social go-betweens can facilitate sexual impropriety; such houses become full of deceit - Ben Sira 11:36–37

רבים היו פצעי רוכל

המרגילים לדבר ערוה.

Many are the wounds of a peddler (Ben Sira 11:36),

which in this context is referring to those who accustom others to matters of forbidden sex (ערוה).

כניצוץ מבעיר גחלת,

ככלוב מלא עוף,

כן בתיהם מלאים מרמה.

Like a spark ignites a coal (Ben Sira 11:43),

like a cage full of birds,

so too, their houses are filled with deceit (Ben Sira 11:36–37).

One should limit who enters one’s house, greet many people, but reveal secrets only to one in a thousand - Ben Sira 11:37

מנע רבים מתוך ביתך,

ולא הכל תביא ביתך.

Prevent the multitudes from inside your house,

and do not bring everyone into your house (Ben Sira 11:37).¹⁵

רבים יהיו דורשי שלומך,

גלה סודך לאחד מאלף.

Let many be those who greet you;¹⁶

reveal your secrets to one in 1,000.

One should guard speech even from one’s wife

משוכבת חיקך --

שמור פתחי פיך.

From she who lies in your bosom (=your wife) --

guard the openings of your mouth,

i.e., do not tell her everything.

avoid excessive worry about the future, since tomorrow is uncertain

אל תצר צרת מחר,

כי לא תדע מה ילד יום.

שמא למחר איננו,

ונמצא מצטער על עולם שאינו שלו״.

Do not be troubled (תצר) about tomorrow’s trouble,

because you know not what a day may bring;

perhaps tomorrow you will no longer be,

and one will have worried about a world that is not his.

Ben Sira adds that their nights are also bad, because even their property locations bring constant trouble - Proverbs 15:15

״כל ימי עני רעים״.

בן סירא אומר:

״אף לילות.

The verse states: “All the days of the poor are terrible” (Proverbs 15:15).

The book of ben Sira says:

Also the nights are terrible,

as then the poor person worries.

בשפל גגים גגו,

ובמרום הרים כרמו.

The poor person’s roof is among the lowest roofs in the city,

and in the elevation of the hills is his vineyard,

at the highest point, as those are of the lowest quality and consequently the least expensive places for each.

ממטר גגים לגגו,

ומעפר כרמו לכרמים״.

From the rain on the roofs of the entire city, water will flow down to his roof and dampen it,

and the soil of his vineyard is eroded by the rain and swept down to other vineyards.¹⁷

1. See also my 4-part series about Seforim Chitzonim (final part here), later combined and uploaded to my Academia page.

For more on the discussion of Biblical canon in the Talmud, and possible exclusion of books from the rabbinic canon, see these pieces of mine:

• “The Biblical Books Nearly Suppressed: Reconciling Contradictions in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs (Shabbat 30b)”, final part: Pt2

• ‘Sacred and Defiles the Hands’: The Canonical Status of the Biblical Books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5)

2. In early Rabbinic law, bal tashchit principle is understood to include all forms of senseless damage or waste; see my note in “Pt1 Bloodletting, Recovery, and Regimens of Risk: Fires, Food, Wine, Timing, Exposure, and Practical Precautions of Babylonian Amoraim (Shabbat 129a-b)“, on section “Abaye objected that breaking furniture violated needless destruction, and Rabba replied that protecting his body takes precedence“.

3. אורח ארעא - the literal Aramaic equivalent of derekh eretz. Compare my two-part series “Meat, Moderation, and Means: ‘Derekh Eretz’, Dietary Restraint, Household Provisioning, and Economic Prudence (Chullin 84a-b)“, final part: Pt2.

4. שלא כדרכה.

Steinsaltz explains:

i.e., anal sex, with his wife, as it causes her discomfort.

On this in general, see my discussion in “Passions and Prohibitions: Some Notes on Sex in the Talmud“, section “Anal sex in the Talmud - bi’ah she-lo ke-darka - ביאה שלא כדרכה“.

5. I previously cited this passage in an appendix (to the piece cited in the next footnote), see my “Appendix 3 - The perceived inferiority of females to males in Talmudic Literature“, section “The daughter as a “false treasure” at every stage of her life in the Book of Ben Sira (Sanhedrin 100b)“.

6. תזנה - i.e. be promiscuous , have illicit sex. Possibly referring specifically to prostitution, in contrast to the previous line (“being seduced”), which concerned ordinary licentiousness without payment.

7. This same aphorism is cited in a parallel passage elsewhere, see my “Pt3 From Donkey Drivers to Doctors, Bloodletters to Tanners: Rabbinic Insights and Guidance on Professions (Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14; Talmud ibid., 82a-b)”, section “Fortune and Necessity: Hierarchies in Trades and Gender According to R’ Yehuda HaNasi”.

8. This same dispute is cited elsewhere as well, see my “Bread in the Basket, Eyes on the Plate: Talmudic Psychology (Yoma 74b-75a)”, section “Strategies for Coping with Anxiety (Proverbs 12:25): Suppressing it, or Speaking it out with others”, and my notes there.

9. ירבה - literally: “increase, multiply, make many“. Meaning: one shouldn’t bring too many companions/associates into the house(hold).

10. זלדקן.

On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “זַלְדְּקַן”:

(a compound of זל, see זלל, and דְּקַן) thin-bearded, one with a downy beard.

• Sanhedrin 100b:8 (a citation from Ben Sira) ז׳ קורטמן (Manuscript Munich: דלדקן, Variant דל דקן, זיל ד׳ etc., see Rabbinowicz, ‘Dikdukei Sofrim’ there, note) - “a thin-bearded person is sharp-minded”

• Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 4:1:4; Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 4:8:2 -הוה מעבר זלדקן - ”removed one with a downy beard” (from pronouncing the priestly benediction).

11. קורטמן

On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “קוּרְטְמָן”:

(see the preceding word; compare Syriac קורטמא [Latin:] verba crassa et stupida [“Crude and stupid words“], Payne Smith, ‘Thesaurus Syriacus’ 3743)

[stinging,] sharp, acute.

• Sanhedrin 100b:8 (Manuscript Munich: קורש׳, correct accordingly; marginal gloss גרדמן; Manuscript Florence: קורמטן, correct accordingly), see זַלְדְּקַן.

12. The following series of citations from Ben Sira, thru section “One should limit who enters one’s house, greet many people, but reveal secrets only to one in a thousand - Ben Sira 11:37“, is found also in a parallel sugya in tractate Yevamot, Yevamot/63b#13, thru #15.

13. יגרשנה - the standard biblical verb used for divorce.

14. ועצומים כל הרוגיה.

This same phrase appears also in Proverbs.7.26.

15. This verse was also cited earlier in the sugya, in section “Ben Sira’s warning not to bring too many people into one’s house - Ben Sira 11:37“.

16. דורשי שלומך - an idiom, literally meaning “seekers of your shalom”. See Hebrew Wiktionary, “דרישת שלום“.

17. The Talmud subsequently (Sanhedrin 100b#15) cites a number of homiletic interpretations of Proverbs’ “All the days of the poor are terrible, [but] for the good-hearted it is always a feast” (Proverbs 15:15); I discuss the parallel passage in my “Appendix 2 - Temperaments that lead to Good and Bad lives (Bava Batra 145b)”.