Overall, we know very little about the people who wrote the Old Testament. The details about people in the biblical narratives are background for stories that are not really about individual humans, but about God's relationship with Israel. As interested as we may be in knowing about the people who wrote or edited the biblical texts, this information was just not considered important in ancient times.

In deuterocanonical/apocryphal book Sirach, however, we learn a lot about the author, from his own account and from his grandson, who wrote the Foreword. For example, the grandson provides the biographical information that Sirach studied the Jewish Scriptures-"the Law, the Prophets and the other books." Much of the information has a personal feel. Perhaps it is the detail of the loyal, but unnamed grandson pleading his grandfather's case across the ages that helps the reader to see the two as individuals rather than as representative types. There is also a personal quality to many of Sirach's likes and dislikes. His hatred of dishonest businessmen (Sir 26:29), for instance, seems more the opinion of someone who has been repeatedly cheated than a statement of religious theory. His infamous distrust of women, too, seems a reflection of individual experience.

Sirach was a student and teacher of the Wisdom tradition of Israel: "I am the last in the line of the teachers of wisdom...So pay attention to what I say" (Sir 33:16-19); "If Wisdom is a subject you have never studied, then come to my school" (Sir 51:23). All of Chapter 51, in fact, is autobiographical, beginning with Sirach's praise for God's guidance in his studies (verses 1-12), through his early prayers for the gift of wisdom (13-17). He talks about how his study of the Law gave him direction for life (18-22), and gives his advice for those who also seek wisdom (23-28).

There are other clues to Sirach's life throughout the text. He valued a good relationship between husband and wife (Sir 25:16); he deplored irresponsible speech (Sir 23:7); he understood the moral value of good table manners (Sir 31:12-31); he had traveled outside Israel (Sir 34:11); he felt that doctors and medicine were a gift from God (Sir 38:4); he probably owned slaves (Sir 33:24-31); and probably had at least one daughter (Sir 42:9).

Sirach also shows us he was concerned with the elderly (Sir 3:12), the poor (Sir 4:10), proper worship in the Temple (Sir 35:4-12), and being a good parent (Sir 16:1-4; 22:3). In contrast to our ignorance about the authors of most of the Bible, we know much about the personal life and opinions of Sirach from the text he wrote.