page_title: Alphabet of Sirach
hierarchical_section_title: Alphabet of Sirach
context_page_description: The Alphabet of ben Sirach is an anonymous text of the Middle Ages inspired by the Hellenistic work known as the Sirach. Its date of authorship is estimated to have been anywhere between 700 and 1000 CE. It is a compilation of two lists of proverbs, 22 in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and 22 in Mishnaic Hebrew, both arranged as alphabetic acrostics. Each proverb is followed by a Haggadic commentary. The work has been characterized as satire, and it contains references to masturbation, incest and flatulence. The text has been translated into Latin, Yiddish, Judaeo-Spanish, French and German. A partial English translation appeared in Stern and Mirsky.
context_section_description: The Alphabet of ben Sirach (Alphabetum Siracidis, Otijot ben Sira, Alpha Beta la-Ben Sira) is an anonymous text of the Middle Ages inspired by the Hellenistic work known as the Sirach. Its date of authorship is estimated to have been anywhere between 700 and 1000 CE. It is a compilation of two lists of proverbs, 22 in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and 22 in Mishnaic Hebrew, both arranged as alphabetic acrostics. Each proverb is followed by a Haggadic commentary. The work has been characterized as satire, and it contains references to masturbation, incest and flatulence. The text has been translated into Latin, Yiddish, Judaeo-Spanish, French and German. A partial English translation appeared in Stern and Mirsky (1998).
caption: Adam clutches a child in the presence of the child-snatcher Lilith.
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