John Chrysostom's use of the Book of Sirach in his homilies on the New Testament

Abstract

This article examines how and why John Chrysostom (347-407 AD) cites from the apocryphal book of Sirach in his homilies on the New Testament, and illustrates how he incorporates these citations in his construction of popular, fourth-century monastic rhetoric and identity, which was very critical of the classical virtues of patronage and benefaction as practised in civic society. The nature of the quotations from Sirach in the homilies are discussed and then delineated into the motifs of: a) almsgiving, good speech and benefaction; and b) the sin of pride. The motifs of almsgiving, good speech and benefaction, as well as the pitfalls of the sin of pride, are keystone features of the monastic rhetoric John utilises; this rhetoric represents a small part in the significant shift, in late ancient Christianity, from traditional and classical civic values (based on patronage and benefaction) to a system based on an economic dichotomy that emphasises the rich and the poor, and the moral requirement that the rich treat the poor with compassion