Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord: It is possible to interpret the heights of the Lord here as the mountains, so that the image is that of the sun rising over the mountains (so New Jerusalem Bible), but far more likely the phrase refers to the sky. This is clearer in 43.9. Good News Translation understands it this way, and interprets the heights to refer to the highest part of the sky, that is, “the noonday sun.” This is possible, but since 43.9 does not seem to demand that the heights of the Lord be interpreted that way, sunrise can be intended, so for this whole line New English Bible says “As beautiful as the sunrise in the Lord’s heaven.” Translators can decide which image, noonday or sunrise, is best for them; the comparison is effective either way.

So is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home: Good News Translation reverses the lines of the verse, bringing this line forward. New English Bible renders this whole verse well with “As beautiful as the sunrise in the Lord’s heaven is a good wife in a well-ordered home.” Another possible model is:

• A good wife in a well-kept home is as beautiful as the noonday sun shining in the Lord’s sky [or, as sunrise in the Lord’s sky].

Contemporary English Version has a helpful model:

• She has organized her home,
and her beauty there
is like the sun as it rises
in the Lord’s heaven.

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.