And there are some who have no memorial: This refers to men who have not left a name. Good News Translation says “There are others who are not remembered.” Another possible rendering is “There are other men who people do not remember.”

Who have perished as though they had not lived; they have become as though they had not been born: These two lines say substantially the same thing. They could be combined into one line, although Good News Translation does well in translating with two lines that do not sound repetitious: “as if they had never lived, who died and were forgotten.” If we combine these two lines with the next line, we may say “It’s as if they and their children had never lived; when they died, everyone forgot them.”

And so have their children after them: Not only were these men forgotten, but they had no famous descendants. Children refers generally to descendants, not to the young children of one generation.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• There are other men whom people do not remember.
It’s as if they and their children had never lived.
When they died, everyone forgot them.

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.