Whoever keeps the law controls his thoughts: The problem here is that the Greek word translated his may refer to the Law rather than to the person keeping the Law; this is the reason for Good News Translation‘s interpretation. To “learn what the Law means” is to master the thoughts, the ideas in the Law. A good case can be made for this, but the Handbook suggests that translators follow the majority of scholars who interpret this as a reference to self-control, to keeping our own evil tendencies in check. The Syriac version of this verse supports the idea that this was the meaning of the lost Hebrew text here. Compare 15.14 and the comments there. A possible approach to this line is “To keep the Law of the Lord you must control your thoughts” or “Control your thoughts and you can obey the Lord’s Law.”

And wisdom is the fulfilment of the fear of the Lord: There are two interpretations of this line, which is literally “and perfection of the fear of the Lord [is] wisdom.” Some take it to mean “if you fear the Lord completely, perfectly, you will be wise” (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New American Bible). Others take it to mean “the end result of fearing the Lord is wisdom” (so New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The Handbook prefers the second interpretation, and suggests this model: “If you always sincerely honor the Lord, you will be [or, become] wise.”

The two lines of this verse may be reordered as follows:

• If you always sincerely honor the Lord, you will become wise. Control your thoughts, and you can obey 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.