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Acquire Money and Fear of God

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Kuf

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published March 15, 2026

<p>"Acquire for yourself money, and a good wife, fear of God, and accumulate sons for yourself, even a hundred of them."</p>

<p>The letter Kuf (ק) in the Alphabet of Ben Sira delivers a proverb that reads like an ancient life-goals checklist. Get money. Find a good wife. Fear God. And have as many sons as possible -- a hundred, if you can manage it.</p>

<p>What's striking is the order. Money comes first. Then a wife. Then God. The Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, has a reputation for being irreverent, and this ordering might be part of that. Most rabbinic texts would put the fear of God at the top of any list. Pirkei Avot 2:12 says that a "good heart" is the best path a person can follow. But Ben Sira's priorities here are material and practical.</p>

<p>Or maybe the order isn't hierarchical at all. Maybe it's just a list. The Alphabet is, after all, a text that delights in piling up ideas. The mention of "a hundred sons" is almost certainly hyperbolic -- an echo of the biblical value placed on large families and God's promise to Abraham of descendants beyond counting (Genesis 15:5). But the sheer ambition of the number gives the proverb its flavor. Ben Sira doesn't want a comfortable life. He wants everything.</p>

<p>It's the ancient equivalent of dreaming big.</p>

Themes

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