Divinations and omens and dreams are folly: Divinations are attempts to determine the future, usually by some physical means, such as examining the shape of clouds or lines in the palm of the hand. Omens are occurrences that people think show what the future holds; the Greek word for omens actually refers to determining the future by reading meaning into the flight of birds. All of this, says ben Sira, is “nonsense” (Good News Translation). Many languages will have terms that equal the meaning of Divinations and omens, but in some languages it will be necessary to explain these terms; for example, the line may be rendered “Dreams are nonsense, just like other attempts to learn what the future holds for you.”

And like a woman in travail the mind has fancies: The textual emendation adopted by Good News Translation is supported by good reasoning and certainly makes sense, but the Handbook thinks it is altogether too speculative and suggests that translators follow Revised Standard Version. The idea is that dreams, or any other attempts to foretell the future, have no more substance than the fevered illusions of a woman during a difficult birth. We could translate “They are illusions, like those of a woman giving birth” or “All these attempts to find out what the future holds are illusions, like the illusions a woman can have while giving birth.”

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.