A man may for shame make promises to a friend: This seems to refer to making promises that you are really not comfortable with, but you just can’t tell your friend no. “Bashful” (Good News Translation) may also be expressed as “ashamed.” But for the whole line we may also say “If you make a promise to a friend because you are afraid you will lose face [or, receive shame].”

And needlessly make him an enemy: If you make such a promise against your better judgment, and things go wrong, your friend is going to hold you responsible since people tend not to hold themselves responsible. It is better to speak up now and offend him rather than turn him into an enemy.

An alternative model that reorders the clauses in this verse is:

• When you break promises, you can turn friends into enemies. So don’t make promises to friends just because you are too ashamed to say no.

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.