place him in Alexandria; but the reference to the corn trade

in xi. 1 does not prove this to be correct; indeed, the very same section contains a reference to rain (so xii. 2). Sharpe^[1] is alone in preferring Antioch, the capital of the Greek kingdom of Syria. Kleinert's remark that 'king in Jerusalem' (i. 12) implies a foreign abode is met by the remark that Jerusalem was in the writer's time no longer a royal city. The author may have travelled, and like Sirach have had personal acquaintance with the dangers of court-life (either at Susa or at Alexandria). The references to the king do not perhaps compel this supposition; 'are not my princes altogether kings?' (Isa. x. 8) could be said of Persian satraps.

1. ↑ History of Hebrew Nation and its Literature (ed. 2), p. 344.