The Torah likened with nurturing water of rivers in Sirach 24:23-34 : eco-theological significance

Abstract

Sirach 24:23-34 is not about water, but uses water-related metaphors to depict the Torah and its wisdom. Previous studies do acknowledge the relevance of Ben Sira’s use of water images, but none has devoted thoroughly its focus on the retrieval of their ecological significance. This article explores ecological insights that might have informed Ben Sira’s use of water-related metaphors in his attempt to describe the significance of the Torah. In addition to elements of socio-historical approaches and agricultural features of the text, this study is enabled by a hermeneutics of suspicion and retrieval as well as the Earth Bible principle of intrinsic.