The works of the Lord have existed from the beginning by his creation: The Greek manuscripts read “judgment” instead of creation, which is the Hebrew, and surely correct. The difference between the two words in Greek is that of one letter. Even New Jerusalem Bible follows the Hebrew here. Some versions (New Revised Standard Version, New English Bible) translate this line and the next one as clauses subordinate to a main verb in verse 27. This is a bit difficult to get from the Greek, but the Hebrew would point in that direction. Good News Translation‘s translation could well be based on that understanding, but presenting the four lines of verses 26-27 as independent clauses makes the passage simpler. Good News Translation‘s opening phrase “In the beginning” recalls the first verse of Genesis, which is probably intended by the author. Translators would do well to echo their own version of Gen 1.1 here; for example, “In the beginning, when the Lord created the world” (Contemporary English Version) or “When the Lord began to create the world.”

And when he made them, he determined their divisions: Instead of determined their divisions, New Revised Standard Version has “determined their boundaries,” which is an improvement. This is reflected in Good News Translation “gave everything a place of its own” (Contemporary English Version “he gave each thing its proper place”), although Good News Translation simply allows when he made them to be understood. For the whole line New Jerusalem Bible has “he assigned them their places as soon as they were made.” This is good, and its insight can be worked into Good News Translation‘s structure in some way like this: “and he assigned everything a place of its own as soon as he had made it.”

The idea in this verse is that when God created the universe, everything he made had a place and a function from the beginning. An alternative model for this verse is:

• When the Lord began to create the world,
he assigned everything a place of its own as soon as he had made it.

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.