Sirach is Positive for Pharmakon

Sirach uses pharmakon twice—and found positive each time.

The Book of Sirach—aka The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, aka The Wisdom of Sirach (or The Wisdom of Ben Sira), aka Ecclesiasticus—was written in the 2^nd century BC.¹ In Protestant tradition Sirach is considered a part of writings known as the (Old Testament²) Apocrypha. Roman Catholicism and Orthodox traditions include this work in their respective Deuterocanons (second canon).

In comparison with Sirach’s use, the term pharmakon occurs only once in the entire New Testament (NT). But the context indicates a negative sense: “And they did not repent of their murders, their pharmakōn_[pl]…” (Revelation 9:21).³ Looking at usages outside and predating the NT, the term can mean (see pharmakon in the LSJ)⁴ “a drug, whether healing or noxious”, “remedy, medicine”, “enchanted potion”, or “poison”. As with most any word, context will determine the connotation. But context may not provide enough to define fully.

Following are the two instances in Sirach:

Sirach 6:16: A faithful friend is a pharmakon of life, and those who fear the Lord shall find one.

Sirach 38:4: The Lord created pharmakōn_[pl] from the earth, and a prudent man shall not despise them.

Verse 6:16 seems best rendered medicine. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) translates the usage and associated clause “an elixir of life”, while the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) renders it “life-saving medicine”. However one prefers to translate, it speaks of the importance of a faithful friend!

Both the RSV and NRSV translate Sirach 38:4 simply “medicines”. We would probably all do well by seeking natural, God-made “pharmakōn_[pl] from the earth” when appropriate.

Valuable as they may be, these contexts in Sirach cannot shed any light on exactly what John the Revelator meant in 9:21.

[Research for this post is adapted from previous work on a for-now put aside conclusion to my earlier series “By Your Pharmakeia Were All the Nations Misled” (Revelation 18:23). See part I and part II.]

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¹ See David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), p 153.

² This is to differentiate from New Testament Apocrypha, which is a completely different, and less known, body of works. See, e.g., the two volume set by Wilhelm Schneemelcher,  New Testament Apocrypha, Rev. ed. English transl. edited by R. McL. Wilson (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991).

³ The subscripted _[pl] indicates plural over against singular.

⁴ LSJ refers to the Liddell, Scott and Jones lexicon, now available online. From the home page: “The Liddell, Scott, Jones Ancient Greek Lexicon (LSJ) is perhaps the best known Ancient Greek-English dictionary.”