This is the first of several verses in chapters 19–20 which have the same form in Greek. Most of these verses begin in Revised Standard Version with There is …. All of these may be literally translated “There is such a thing as….” These verses are listed here for reference (note that the There is form occurs twice in the verses followed by an asterisk [*]): 19.23*, 25*, 26; 20.1*, 5*, 6*, 9*, 10*, 11*, 12, 21, 22, 23.

There is a cleverness which is abominable: A rendering that is closer to the Greek than Good News Translation is “There is such a thing as cleverness that is detestable.” But the reason such cleverness is loathsome is that it is put to wicked purposes; Good News Translation‘s rendering expresses the idea quite well, or we may follow Contemporary English Version‘s model: “Some people are clever in doing disgusting things.” For abominable see the comments on “abomination” at 1.25.

But there is a fool who merely lacks wisdom: Good News Translation expresses this exceptionally well in English, but it is too idiomatic to serve as a model. A possible model is “On the other hand, some people simply don’t have any good sense at all.”

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.