Among brothers their leader is worthy of honor, and those who fear the Lord are worthy of honor in his eyes: This verse is difficult for several reasons: (1) It is not clear whether his eyes refers to the Lord or to the leader. (2) If it refers to the Lord, as most people take it, a very strange comparison is made. In the first line the leader is singled out from the others as worthy of honor, but in the second the Lord honors the others. (3) The Hebrew is of no help. It is defective at this point, and has been emended to say (a) those who fear the Lord are even more worthy of honor [than their leader] or (b) those who fear the Lord are worthy of honor among their people. Either emendation makes sense, and either one could be mistaken by a scribe for the Hebrew for “in his eyes,” but neither is more than a wild guess.

So we rule out help from the Hebrew. New English Bible best exhibits the problem when his eyes is taken as referring to the Lord since it follows this interpretation by saying “As the members of the family honour their head, so the Lord honours those who fear him.” The Lord is being compared to the members of a family who honor their superior. This is very strange. The second clause simply does not follow from the first one. Good News Translation is similar with “A leader should be honored by those who follow him, and the Lord honors those who fear him.” However, if his eyes refers to the worthy leader’s eyes, a different sense emerges. Among a group of people more or less equal (brothers), the leader should be honored, because he is the leader. So, among that group, those who serve the Lord are worthy of the leader’s honor. Compare Psa 15.1-2, 4:

O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right …
who honor those who fear the LORD … (New Revised Standard Version).

If his eyes is understood as referring to the leader, the following alternative models emerge for this verse:

• A leader should be honored by those who follow him,
and he in turn should honor those who serve the Lord.

• Those who follow a leader should honor him,
and he in turn should honor….

The Handbook has no argument with those who do not like this solution, and refers them to Good News Translation for a practical model. In any case, we think a note is in order, to the effect that this verse is unclear in both Greek and Hebrew.

Some manuscripts add verse 21. It should be included in a footnote at the end of verse 20 (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of acceptance: This means that serving the Lord is the first step to being accepted by the Lord. An alternative model is “When a person reveres the Lord, the Lord begins to accept him.”

Obduracy and pride are the beginning of rejection: This means that being stubborn and arrogant is the first step to being rejected by the Lord.

Good News Translation appears to miss the point in this verse by using the words “Success” and “failure.” A better model is:

• If you want the Lord to accept you, you must first [or, the first step is to] serve and honor him. If you want him to reject you, you must first [or, the first step is to] be stubborn and arrogant.

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.