In his commandments he gave him authority in statutes and judgments: Statutes and judgments is literally “covenants of judgments,” but this same phrase is used in 38.33 to refer to decisions made by courts of law (see the comments there). There is no need to refer to the Hebrew, as in Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation handles these lines well by saying “He entrusted the commandments to Aaron’s keeping and gave him the authority to make legal decisions.” One of the functions of Israel’s priesthood was to interpret the Law, to make decisions about the proper way to apply the commandments of the Law.

To teach Jacob the testimonies, and to enlighten Israel with his law: These two lines are parallel and synonymous. Good News Translation combines them. We could express them a bit more fully as follows: “and to bring light to the people of Israel by teaching them the Law.”

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.