Who will sing praises to the Most High in Hades, as do those who are alive and give thanks?: Most translators will probably find that reversing these two lines, as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version, makes the verse easier to understand. Hades is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol, referring to “the world of the dead” (Good News Translation) or “the place where dead people stay” (see the comments on 14.16). The implied answer to the question here is “No one,” since ben Sira does not look for a meaningful life after death; compare 14.16; 17.27-28; 41.4, and see the comments on 2.9. This means that the question can be translated as a statement:

• Those who are alive can give thanks to the Most High, but in the world of the dead no one can sing his praises.

The added word “can” helps bring out the meaning (also in Good News Translation).

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.