How great is he who has gained wisdom!: This is the ninth item. It is almost the climax, but not quite. Here the author again varies the form, using an exclamation. Good News Translation rewords the line in order to keep the form of the list intact and consistent. It does this by first saying “the really great one,” and then identifying who that is: “someone who is wise.”

But there is no one superior to him who fears the Lord: This is the tenth item, and the climax. Good News Translation makes effective use of the words “great … greatest” in this verse, although this does not reflect a similar usage in Greek. A person who fears the Lord is someone who gives the Lord due honor, reverence, and obedience (see verse 6).

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The person who gains wisdom is great,
but the person who fears the Lord is even greater.

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.