Sirach 25:24 (WEB)
The beginning of sin came from a woman. Because of her, we all die.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Sirach 25:24 (KJV)
Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
Key words
- ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἀρχὴ ἁμαρτίαςapo gynaikos archē hamartias · Greek
- 'of the woman came the beginning of sin.'
- δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἀποθνῄσκομεν πάντεςdi' autēn apothnēskomen pantes · Greek
- 'through her we all die' — the whole human race dies because of Eve.
Why it matters
Two centuries before Christ, Ben Sira states that sin began with a woman and that through her all die. Pitre uses this to show that Jewish tradition already read Eve as the one through whom death entered the world. The New Eve reverses the pattern: through a woman's obedience life comes into the world, matching Paul's contrast between the disobedient Adam and the obedient Christ.