Ben Sira divided the curriculum of the scribe into law, wisdom, and prophecies. This classification reflects the ancient distinction between priest, sage, and prophet. Four hundred years before Ben Sira, the Israelites rejected Jeremiah’s prophecies of doom and insisted that life would proceed normally: “For instruction [Torah] shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet” (Jer. 18:18).
