He gives little and upbraids much: This refers, of course, to the person of poor judgment spoken of in verses 13-14. As verse 14 says, when he gives he doesn’t give very much, but that doesn’t keep him from offering a great deal of criticism. Good News Translation may not be quite fair in saying “He isn’t generous with anything but criticism.” Remember, this person has no sense of what things are worth. With his own “many eyes” (see verse 14), he may think he is quite generous. He may even give quite a lot. It’s just that what he gives isn’t worth much. We could say “He doesn’t really have anything to offer except criticism.”
He opens his mouth like a herald: This means that he is open and free with his criticism. The author is using here a figure of speech called “hyperbole,” in which the point is made by clever overstatement. A herald was a man in ancient cities who shouted news and proclamations with a loud, strong voice. The force of the figure comes through in Good News Translation “which he will shout for all the world to hear.” This is effective English, but probably a poor model. Translators need to find ways of expressing this in such a way that this stupid person is made to appear foolish; Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for the first two lines of this verse with “A small gift, they think, gives them the right to criticize—loudly.”
Today he lends and tomorrow he asks it back: Good News Translation translates “If he lends you something today, he’ll want it back tomorrow,” and Contemporary English Version has “Today, they make a loan; tomorrow, they ask for their money back.” The meaning is clear enough, but it seems to change the subject. It is hard to see what connection this has with the first two lines, except that the person who isn’t generous with anything but loud criticism is likely to be the kind of person who lends something and then immediately wants it back. He’s so afraid you aren’t going to give it back that he starts reminding you as soon as he makes the loan. The real connection may be in ben Sira’s personal experience. He probably had some particular person he knew in mind here. This would certainly explain the next line.
Such a one is a hateful man: This line is not really part of the argument; it is essentially an exclamation. The author has been describing the confused values of a stupid person, and at this point just blurts out his feelings. Good News Translation appreciates that the line is parenthetical to the argument, but misses the flavor of the expression. “Don’t you hate people like that?” is a bit cute, and ben Sira is not being cute here. He is being blunt. He almost growls, almost spits the line out; for example, Contemporary English Version says “I cannot stand people like this!” Parentheses would also be helpful. The best translations are likely to be highly idiomatic, making a model hard to suggest. We could perhaps say “(People like this are_________!)” and fill in the blank with something culturally appropriate. We could say something like “People like this are dirt [or, just trash/refuse].” This is not obscene, but it may point the reader’s mind toward an obscenity. A good translation of this line will not sound formal and stilted (as any literal translation in English will), but it should not be slang, and should not actually be obscene.
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.