The Anxiety of Riches, 241

Banquets in the Ancient World, 247

Beauty and Corrupt Will, 110

The Bitterness of Death, 299

The Body Reflects the Soul, 167

Climbing from Fear to Wisdom, 57

Courting Lady Wisdom through Salvation History, 205

Created and Uncreated Wisdom, 51

Death through Eve; Life through Mary, 211

Do Not Sin Presumptuously, 86

“Do Not Surrender Me to a Shameless Soul,” 187

Enoch Walked with God, 321

The “Evil Tongue,” 227

Ezekiel Points to Christ, 347

Five Vices That Dissolve Friendship, 184

The Fool, 181

From Natural to Divine Wisdom, 53

The Garments of the High Priest, 328

The Good and Evil Inclinations, 141

Honoring God by Honoring Parents, 66
Leaving Spiritual Egypt, 324
Lodge in My House of Instruction, 362
On Discerning Dreams, 261
On Sorrow and Grief, 282
Oral Law and Apostolic Tradition, 106
The Pleasures and Dangers of Wine, 248
Pride: The Cause of All Sins, 115
The Rainbow: Sign of Covenant and Judgment, 309
Repent and Return, 156
Rescued through Almsgiving, 232
Silent until the Right Moment, 170
Sinners Are Forgotten, 319
The Speech of the Fool and of the Wise, 177
Testing the Potter’s Vessels, 220
The Torah Exalts Her Followers, 139
Torah Study and Work, 98
Training One’s Children, 237
Wisdom as Preexistent Torah, 203
Wounds of the Tongue, 228
Zeal against the Flesh, 330

In Sirach, André Villeneuve makes a lesser-known deuterocanonical book accessible to readers. Drawing connections between Sirach, ancient Jewish and Christian commentaries, the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Villeneuve demonstrates that Sirach continues to speak to every age.

“This commentary is a gift to the Church, drawing from the best scholarship but communicating Sirach’s enduring value to contemporary disciples in understandable language. Dr. Villeneuve respects Sirach as an inspired book while emphasizing that its teaching needs to be understood in light of its Christian fulfillment. He shows in very helpful ways how the enduring wisdom of Sirach is relevant for believers today. An impressive work indeed.”

—RALPH MARTIN, STD, Sacred Heart Major Seminary

“More than certainly brilliant biblical scholarship, this book is also beautiful and accessible. Reading it felt more like worship than study.”

—BARBARA NICOLOSI, columnist, National Catholic Register

“Years ago, Villeneuve taught me about the nuptial origins of the Church in the covenant with Israel. His love for Israel and for the Church is evident again in this marvelous commentary on Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, the book of the Church. From questions of liturgy (temple worship) to politics (foreign domination), Villeneuve is a trustworthy guide to Sirach’s wisdom for today.”

—FR. RAYMOND J. DE SOUZA, National Catholic Register

“The New Testament volumes in this series have served me as a constant resource: deeply scholarly, firmly in touch with the Catholic tradition, and impressively readable and teachable. But among Christians today, the Old Testament often is neglected or treated as unintelligible—with the result being a tragic impoverishment of faith. All Catholics should have these trustworthy volumes at hand.”

—MATTHEW LEVERING, Mundelein Seminary

For more information on the series, visit www.CatholicScriptureCommentary.com

ANDRÉ VILLENEUVE (PhD, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) is associate professor of Old Testament and biblical languages at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He received his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Commission in Rome. He is the author of Divine Marriage from Eden to the End of Days and the director of Catholics for Israel.

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