In the treasuries of wisdom are wise sayings: Just as Wisdom has a house in verse 17, here she has treasuries, places for keeping valuable goods. Those valuables are wise sayings (literally “sayings [or, parables/proverbs] of knowledge”). It was through the learning of such sayings or proverbs that learning was handed down in ancient Israel. A wise saying was a lesson to be learned, a thing of value. Alternative models for wise sayings are “sayings [or, proverbs] full of knowledge” and “sayings from which we learn many things,” so the whole line may be translated “People who are truly wise know many sayings full of knowledge.”

But godliness is an abomination to a sinner: The Greek noun used here for godliness is rather rare; it is used a few times in the Greek Old Testament to translate “fear of God.” It comes close to meaning “religion”; Contemporary English Version has “faithfulness to God.” The Greek word for abomination describes something loathsome and detestable. It is sometimes used of idols. Good News Translation expresses it as “contempt.” The author is saying that sinners have the same hateful contempt for religion that religious people have for sin. It may seem that the second clause of this verse does not follow from the first one, but to this writer, godliness is practically the same thing as wisdom. Sinful people have a loathing for the learning in Wisdom’s treasury. So we may translate “Sinful people loathe people who are faithful to God.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.