Articles

Honor A Physician

Pinchas Shir

04 Mar 2026 • 5 min read

The Book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus or Ben Sira, is a Jewish wisdom text from the Second Temple period, written by Jesus ben Sira around 180-175 BCE in Jerusalem. It is part of the Apocrypha in many Christian traditions and is included in the Septuagint, though it is not part of the Hebrew Bible canon.

Honor a physician according to your need with the honors due to him, for truly the LORD has created him. For healing comes from the Most High, and he shall receive a gift from the king. The skill of the physician will elevate him, and he will be admired in the sight of great men. ADONAI created medicines on earth, and a prudent man should not ignore them. Wasn’t water made sweet with wood that its power might be known? He gave men skill that He might be glorified in His marvelous works. With them, He heals and takes away pain. With these, the pharmacist makes a mixture. God’s works won’t be brought to an end. From Him, peace is upon the face of the earth. My son, in your sickness, don’t be negligent, but pray to ADONAI, and He will heal you. Put away wrongdoing, and direct your hands in righteousness. Cleanse your heart from all sin. Give a sweet savor and a memorial of fine flour, and pour oil on your offering, according to your means. Then give what is due to the physician, for truly the LORD has created him. Don’t let him leave you, for you need him. There is a time when recovery is in their hands. For they also shall ask the LORD to prosper them in diagnosis and in healing for the maintenance of life. He who sins before his Maker let him fall into the hands of the physician. My son, let your tears fall over the dead, and as one who suffers grievously, begin lamentation. Wind up his body with due honor. Don’t neglect his burial. Make bitter weeping and make passionate wailing. Let your mourning be according to his merit, for one day or two, lest you be spoken evil of; and so be comforted for your sorrow. For from sorrow comes death. (Ben Sira 38, translation by P. Shir)

Ben Sira’s teachings sound a lot like Solomon’s proverbs. They are to the point and practical. The advice is almost poetic and at times almost repetitive, but such is the nature of teachers. They tend to repeat themselves. Reiteration is a technique meant to firmly ensconce an important idea, to establish it as a solid foundation. And here in the midst of giving directions to honor those who practice medicine, the wise teacher reminds his listeners that healing comes from God. Why? Because sickness comes from God as well. Surprised?

In antiquity, Jews did not think that only good things come from God. Sure, dualists believed that good comes from their gods and bad comes from some malevolent source, maybe an evil or a competing deity. And that sort of thinking worked in a polytheistic sense, but not in a system where one God is sovereign over all and nothing is outside of his purview. Isaiah 45:7 says, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.” There are no independent events or rogue actions by anyone outside of the divine will of one all-powerful God. If the Eternal is truly sovereign, then all things, good and bad, ultimately stem from him.

I realize this may not be your personal outlook on life, but ancient Jews embraced the idea that everything comes from heaven. And it's not hard to see the evidence for such thinking. It's all over the Bible. That is why Job famously proclaimed, “ADONAI gave, and ADONAI has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). The New Testament suggests that trials and hardships are actually good for us (James 1:2-3). When Apostle Paul said "...we know that in all things God works for the good" (Rom 8:28), he probably meant all things, the good and the bad. Almighty, make it work as they were meant to work.

Nothing is owed to us in life. Even good health and physicians who are capable of helping us are really gifts from God, not privileges. That is why Ben Sira suggests we should pray for the LORD to heal us, cleanse our hearts from sin, offer gifts on the altar, and honor God first and foremost. Turning to the physician is the last step. Why? Because in Ben Sira's world, healing comes from God, and even physicians and pharmacists are under his constant guidance. So, honor the physicians but look to God first, says the teacher.