Renegotiating Wisdom: Tradition, Ideology, and Afterlife in Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon Open Access

Abstract

Jewish conceptions of the afterlife in the late Second Temple period exhibited considerable diversity. While certain currents within the Jewish sapiential tradition maintained a denial of postmortem life, other strands articulated a range of eschatological possibilities, from the reconstitution of the physical body to its transformation into an incorporeal or astral form. This study investigates how the social and ideological positionality of Jewish scribes informed their constructions of the afterlife and considers the ideological functions these beliefs served within their respective social contexts. The Wisdom of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon are employed as primary case studies to illuminate these dynamics. Overall, this comparative analysis demonstrates that how Jewish scribes perceived ideas like afterlife denial and resurrection largely depended on their social location. For an empowered elite like Ben Sira, the denial of an afterlife functioned ideologically as an affirmation of the existing social order and a means of preserving established status and authority, whereas a disenfranchised scribe like Pseudo-Solomon gravitated towards resurrection and immortality because it promised eschatological vindication and status reversal.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Diversity and Orthodoxy 1

I. “A Good Name Lasts Forever”: Onomastic Immortality and Divine Retribution in Sirach 7

II. Afterlife and Status Preservation: The Ideological Function of Onomastic Immortality in Sirach 27

III. “Like Sparks Through the Stubble”: Astral Immortality and Eschatological Conquest in Wisdom 47

IV. Afterlife and Status Reversal: Afterlife as Ideology in Wisdom 69

Conclusion 91

Bibliography 93

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Candler School of Theology
Department	Theological Studies
Degree	M.T.S.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, Biblical Studies
Keyword	Sirach The Wisdom of Solomon Ideology Second Temple Judaism Afterlife
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Susan E. Hylen, Emory University

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