04_Reymond_224_246 15/07/14 12:18 Pagina 245 THE WISDOM OF WORDS 245 xky “she/it is not right/justified by many”, which reflects the asser- tion that a bond is not something that many people would find jus- tifiable. Note also that the characterization of Wisdom in this verse is echoed in Sir 4,17-18, which describes how Wisdom disguises herself in order to test her disciples, before revealing her true iden- tity to them. The four examples of passages containing or reflecting the He- brew equivalent to “like its name” demonstrate that Ben Sira appre- ciates links between etymologically and/or phonetically similar words; furthermore, it is clear that he finds it important to highlight these links. The obvious way that Ben Sira does this is not found in other wisdom texts. (In the Bible, the phrase “like its name” appears clearly in a similar kind of wordplay only in relation to Nabal [1 Sam 25,25]) 49. In particular, the first two examples (Sir 43,8 and 46,1) demonstrate a consciousness of a common meaning between differ- ent words, while the last two examples (from Sir 2,18 and 6,22) pro- voke the reader to find such connections on their own, in part by providing an enigmatic text that can be interpreted in multiple ways. VI. Conclusion: Ben Sira and the Ambiguity of Language The preceding pages have demonstrated that Ben Sira was cog- nizant of the imprecision inherent in human communication. Specifically, Ben Sira seeks to explicitly warn his readers of the flexibility of meaning due to shifting contexts. If the same words are uttered by different people and/or at different times, their import can be quite distinct. This, in general, fits in with the implicit recog- nition elsewhere in Sirach that humans hold different biases, opin- ions, and perspectives. Ben Sira also wishes to communicate to his readers the variety of ways that words can have different meanings due to their phonology, morphology, and syntax. He does not offer specific warnings in relation to these factors but communicates this dimension of language variability through example. The idea that he would want to highlight these dimensions of language to his stu- dents is suggested by the emphasis he places on his students study- 49 A similar phrase ($mXk) also appears in Ps 48,11a, though it is likely not part of a similar comparison.