Better is the God-fearing man who lacks intelligence, than the highly prudent man who transgresses the law: The God-fearing man is a person who is sincerely devout and religious (assuming that the person worships the true God). Good News Translation “better off” is an English idiom meaning “in a better position,” although it is often understood to mean “in a better financial position,” which is not the sense here. Ben Sira tells us here that someone who is devout, even if not very smart, is a better person than the most intelligent sinners. It is somewhat surprising to find ben Sira willing to refer to a transgressor of God’s Law as prudent, since to the author being prudent, being wise, means observing God’s Law. For the expression highly prudent, the translator should avoid any word that will automatically have a positive connotation. For instance, a word generally used to translate “wise/wisdom” should be avoided; for ben Sira wisdom is a positive good. Good News Translation chooses “cleverest” (Contemporary English Version “very smart”). This works well because the English word “clever” is often used to describe a smart person who does bad things. (Good News Translation also used this word in the previous verse and will use it again in the next verse; the Greek word in this verse is different, but Good News Translation‘s choice of words is still appropriate.) New Revised Standard Version “highly intelligent” also works since a person can be intelligent and evil at the same time.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• It is better to revere [or, worship] the Lord and not be very intelligent, than to be very smart and break his Law.

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.