Before falling ill, humble yourself: In contrast with verse 19, here falling ill is not assumed; there is something we can do to prevent it. Verse 19 speaks of having medicine at hand to use once we are sick, so as to get well. Here the focus is on not getting sick in the first place. Ben Sira thinks of sickness as punishment, as Good News Translation makes clear (compare 38.9-10); it can be avoided by humbling ourselves before God. In 2.17 and 7.16-17 the author talks of humbling ourselves to avoid God’s punishment. In languages that do not have the passive voice, this line may be rendered “Before the Lord punishes you with sickness, humble yourself before him.”

And when you are on the point of sinning, turn back: Revised Standard Version‘s translation is hard to justify; New Revised Standard Version is better with “and when you have sinned, repent” (similarly Good News Translation). This line is literally “and at time of sins, show return.” “Return” clearly refers to repentance, and “at time of sins” is much more likely to mean “as soon as you commit a sin” than when you are on the point of sinning. Good News Translation “show repentance” is potentially misleading; repentance must be sincere. We must not just show repentance; we must actually repent. An alternative rendering for this line is “When you commit a sin, repent of it immediately” or “… tell the Lord immediately that you are sorry.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Before the Lord punishes you with sickness, humble yourself before him. When you commit a sin, tell the Lord immediately that you are sorry.

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.