Whoever uses too many words will be loathed may be rendered “No one can stand a person who talks too long” (Good News Translation), or even “People who talk too long are disliked by everyone.” This line is not referring to poor style, in which someone uses many words to say what could be said in fewer. It means simply talking too much. Compare Pro 10.19.

And whoever usurps the right to speak will be hated is literally “and he who usurps authority will be hated,” and some interpret it in that sense. New Revised Standard Version, for instance, has “and whoever pretends to authority is hated.” While “usurps authority” could be interpreted as the content of bragging (verse 7), it would surely be a sudden shift of subject matter. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have it right here; ben Sira is simply talking about one who “will not give others a chance to speak” (Good News Translation).

We may combine the two lines of this verse as follows:

• People who talk too long or don’t give others the chance to speak are disliked by everyone.

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.