Polyglot Bible: Sirach: Sirach 44

This is a parallel-text scholarly presentation of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) chapter 44, displaying three versions side by side: an English Apocrypha translation, the Greek Septuagint, and the Latin Vulgate. The passage opens the famous "Praise of Famous Men" section, a wisdom poem cataloguing the righteous ancestors of Israel across different roles — kings, prophets, musicians, teachers, and wealthy men of peace. Its central argument is that faithfulness to God produces lasting legacy: some men are remembered and praised by generations, while those without righteousness perish from memory entirely. The text then moves from this general principle to specific patriarchs — Enoch (taken by God as a model of repentance), Noah (preserved through the flood under an eternal covenant), and Abraham (whose obedience earned him a sworn divine promise that his descendants would inherit the land from sea to sea) — with the covenant passing through Isaac and Jacob to the twelve tribes. The trilingual format signals a text-critical or academic purpose, inviting comparison of how the Greek and Latin traditions render the Hebrew original, including notable divergences such as the Vulgate's placement of verse breaks and the Septuagint's slightly different framing of Noah's role as "ransom" for the earth.

Polyglot Bible: Sirach: Sirach 44

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