And give good heed to your paths: As the footnotes in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation indicate, the Greek text says “and beware of your children.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both read the Hebrew. But actually, the Hebrew is more complicated than the notes indicate. The Hebrew of verses 21-22, which are longer than in Greek, appears to read “Do not be confident on the road, because of robbers, and beware of what is behind you; do not be confident on the road of the wicked, and be careful of your paths.” This seems to be a caution against being robbed while traveling, warning us to make sure no one is following us, or sneaking up behind us. The Hebrew words translated here “what is behind you” and “your paths” are confusingly similar. The versions that claim to read the Hebrew for this verse are actually reading a shortened and emended Hebrew text. However, the Hebrew phrase rendered “beware of what is behind you” can also be interpreted as “beware of your children.” (A similar problem occurs in 11.28.) This almost surely accounts for the Greek text, but we doubt it is what the author had in mind. We think he meant “beware of what is behind you,” and as in verse 20, is using the imagery of travel in a figurative sense.

Neither the Greek nor the Hebrew of verses 21-22 can be used with confidence. The Greek meaning is unclear and the Hebrew text may have suffered changes. The following suggested model is an approach that fits the context, and is as close to the Greek and Hebrew as anything else:

• Always be alert when you are in unfamiliar territory; guard yourself against unexpected surprises—there are robbers out there.*
* Hebrew guard … out there; verses 21 and 22 are unclear in both Greek and Hebrew.

The translation of verse 22 is essentially a translation of the first half of the verse in Hebrew, without emendation. (The second half is merely a less colorful repetition of the first half.) We are translating “what is behind you” as “unexpected surprises.” The clause “there are robbers out there” translates a single Hebrew word, which is itself a bit of a problem. Translators who wish may omit the clause, but our feeling is that if we use the Hebrew for the line we may as well use all of it. We believe that in English, readers could easily understand the translation offered here as travel imagery with figurative meaning. Translators who feel they must choose between the imagery and the meaning should abandon the imagery in these verses and express the meaning as follows:

• When you are doing something you have never done before, always be alert, and guard yourself against unexpected surprises—there are many dangers out there.

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.