A paragraph break here will help separate the two introductory verses from the following discussion of oaths.

Do not accustom your mouth to oaths: Ben Sira is talking here about casual oaths or strong promises in which a person vouched for the truth of what he was saying, or guaranteed that he would do something, by calling on the name of God, using God as his witness. This is “swearing,” and New Jerusalem Bible uses it to good effect in its rendering of this line by saying “Do not get into the habit of swearing.” See Exo 20.7; Lev 19.12; Matt 5.33-37.

And do not habitually utter the name of the Holy One: For the Holy One, see the comments on 4.14. The Holy One is of course God, and Good News Translation, in making this clear (“God’s holy name”), is in the odd position of having the author violate his own advice by bringing in the word “God” where the author carefully avoided it. Indeed, the author (or at least the author’s grandson, translating into Greek) very seldom uses the word “God,” preferring to say “the Lord,” but here saying neither. The best thing the translator today can do is respect the ancient translator’s wishes, and stay as close as possible to the literal Greek, not using “God” or “the Lord.” But if it will not be clear to the intended audience that the Holy One is in fact God, then it must be said, and Good News Translation provides a good model. To be consistent with the writer’s practice, however, it would be better render this line as “don’t use the Lord’s name too freely.”

The two lines of this verse are parallel in meaning, both referring to promises (or, oaths) using the Lord’s name. It is possible to combine the two lines and say the following:

• Don’t get into the habit of using the Lord’s name when you make promises.

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.