This collection of 24 essays reflects broader trends of research on Ben Sira in the past two decades. The author is not only concerned with the complex textual problems of the book, but also with what light may be shed on it by the application of approaches from cultural and feminist studies. She examines, for example, the gender theamtic, the usage of metaphorical language, and the issue of scent and fragrance in the text of Ben Sira.