This volume deals with the Hebrew texts of all nine manuscripts discovered between 1896 and 1982 of the Book of Ben Sira that is reckoned among the deuterocanonical biblical wisdom literature and was written in Jerusalem about 180 BCE. In the first part of this volume the Hebrew manuscripts are offered in facsimile, i.e. presenting the real textual state of the recovered texts. The second part of this volume offers in a more convenient and functional way than in former text editions a synopsis of all Hebrew Ben Sira texts which are available in more than one manuscript.
Pancratius C. Beentjes, Ph.D. (1981) in Theology, Catholic Theological University at Amsterdam, is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the Catholic Theological University at Utrecht. He has published extensively on the Book of Ben Sira.
All those interested in Old Testament, Late biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, Wisdom Literature, Dead Sea Scrolls, textual history, as well as in the history of Masada and the Karaites.