Honor the Physician (Ben Sira)
By Pinchas Shir
The Book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus or Ben Sira, is a Jewish wisdom text from the Second Temple period, written by Jesus ben Sira around 180-175 BCE in Jerusalem. Sirach is part of the Deuterocanon in many Christian traditions and is included in the Septuagint. However, it did not become part of the Hebrew Bible as it was canonized in rabbinic Judaism, nor is it included in the Protestant canon.
Honor a physician according to your need with the honors due to him, for truly the LORD has created him. For healing comes from the Most High, and he shall receive a gift from the king. The skill of the physician will elevate him, and he will be admired in the sight of great men. ADONAI created medicines on earth, and a prudent man should not ignore them. Wasn’t water made sweet with wood that its power might be known? He gave men skill that He might be glorified in His marvelous works. With them, He heals and takes away pain. With these, the pharmacist makes a mixture. God’s works won’t be brought to an end. From Him, peace is upon the face of the earth. My son, in your sickness, don’t be negligent, but pray to ADONAI, and He will heal you. Put away wrongdoing, and direct your hands in righteousness. Cleanse your heart from all sin. Give a sweet savor and a memorial of fine flour, and pour oil on your offering, according to your means. Then give what is due to the physician, for truly the LORD has created him. Don’t let him leave you, for you need him. There is a time when recovery is in their hands. For they also shall ask the LORD to prosper them in diagnosis and in healing for the maintenance of life. He who sins before his Maker let him fall into the hands of the physician. My son, let your tears fall over the dead, and as one who suffers grievously, begin lamentation. Wind up his body with due honor. Don’t neglect his burial. Make bitter weeping and make passionate wailing. Let your mourning be according to his merit, for one day or two, lest you be spoken evil of; and so be comforted for your sorrow. For from sorrow comes death. (Ben Sria 38, translation by P. Shir)
Ben Sira’s teachings sound a lot like those in the Book of Proverbs; they are to-the-point and practical. The advice is almost poetic and, at times, somewhat repetitive—but such is the nature of some teachers! Reiteration is a technique meant to firmly ensconce an important idea in the mind of the reader. Here, in the midst of giving directions to honor those who practice medicine, the wise teacher reminds his listeners that healing comes from God.
At the same time, Ben Sira argues that Heaven works through the God-fearing physician to enact healing. These pious doctors “shall ask the LORD to prosper them in diagnosis and in healing for the maintenance of life.” The Second Temple text suggests that there is an ongoing relationship between the one who is sick, the one who works to heal, and the God who oversees all creation.
Ben Sira argues that nothing is owed to us in life. Even good health and physicians who are capable of helping us are gifts from God, not privileges. That is why Ben Sira says that we should pray for the LORD to heal us, cleanse our hearts from sin, offer gifts on the altar, and honor God first and foremost. This process of personal repentance and prayer before God is part of a system of healing in which Sirach includes the physician as an integral component: communication with God is paramount, but one must also give what is due to the earthly physician. Indeed, for Ben Sira, our honoring of a skillful and comforting doctor is reflective of the honor we should all give to God, the ultimate Physician.
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