A patient man will endure until the right moment: When someone is faced with a situation that makes him angry, he should not just explode, but be patient (New Jerusalem Bible “puts up with things”), and wait for an appropriate time to express himself. The idea here may be expressed in the present tense as well as the future; Good News Translation shifts into the second person and expresses both the verb endure and its subject (a patient man) as imperative verbs: “Wait and be patient” (Contemporary English Version “Just be patient and stay calm”). This leaves out the idea of until the right moment, but this is expressed again in the next verse, where Good News Translation makes it quite clear.

And then joy will burst forth for him: Revised Standard Version does not do well here. In this context Good News Translation‘s literal “later” is better than then. Joy is not a good choice of words. Both the Greek noun used here and the context support the idea of “cheerfulness” (New English Bible) or “contentment” (New American Bible). Burst forth is not quite appropriate either; the Greek verb here does not necessarily imply suddenness. The idea is rather that cheer [or, good humor/gladness/contentment] will return or be restored. Good News Translation is not bad, but it may shift the focus a bit too much with “and later you will be glad you did.” The idea seems to be that if you are patient and wait until the right time comes to say what you have to say, you will then be able to return to a state of calm, of not being upset. In such a situation, a person may indeed be glad that he waited and was patient, as Good News Translation suggests, but it is probably not quite what the author had in mind. Contemporary English Version is better with “until your anger fades,” or we may say “until you stop being angry.”

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.