A fool’s narration is like a burden on a journey: Good News Translation has been stumbling through the last few verses, but it recovers here, and does well. This line in Good News Translation could be improved by taking a hint from New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible, both of which refer to “A fool’s chatter.” If the verb “talk” in Good News Translation is changed to “chatter,” this will amplify the meaning of the verb and give it color. Most languages will have a way to express idle, empty, nonstop talk. So for this line we may translate “Listening to a foolish person chatter on is like traveling with a heavy load on your back.”

But delight will be found in the speech of the intelligent: Good News Translation offers a good model with “but it is a pleasure to hear what intelligent people have to say.” Another possible model is “but when we listen to what intelligent people say we feel very happy.”

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.