A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord: The words blessing and blessings used by both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation do not actually appear in the Greek. The Greek word for blessing and blessings is literally “portion”; it is used here in the sense of a good thing, something a person is fortunate to have. For fears the Lord. The best approach is going to be to combine these two lines into one straightforward statement. Good News Translation does this effectively, although its grammar is a bit complicated. We could also say:

• The Lord gives good things to men who serve him, and a good wife is one of these good gifts.

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.