If you pursue justice, you will attain it: Compare Pro 15.9; 21.21; Rom 9.30-32. The keyword, justice, is rendered “virtue” by New Jerusalem Bible, “honest” by Good News Translation, and “sincerity” by Luís Alonso Schökel. None of these is wrong. The problem lies in what is said of it. It is something we can pursue, something we can “overtake” (attain), and something that once overtaken and captured, is an adornment to our character (wear it as a glorious robe). Normally, to pursue justice means to seek justice on behalf of ourselves or other people, but there is no guarantee that we will succeed. The only way we can be sure of grasping justice or righteousness is to seek to do the right thing, to be just in our dealings with other people, since the only thing we can really control is our own behavior. The character trait involved here may be called “honesty,” doing what is right and telling only the truth in speaking. This becomes clearer in the next verse, where the keyword is “truth.” Good News Translation is therefore a good model, but for this line we could also say “If you always try to do the right thing, you will succeed” or “If you always try to be just [or, honest] in dealing with other people, you will be an honest person.”

And wear it as a glorious robe: The language here is similar to, but not identical with, 6.31. Compare Job 29.14; Isa 59.17; Eph 6.14. This figure is difficult. Good News Translation expresses the meaning, but with many words. The idea is that if you are honest and do what is right, people will admire you for it, in much the same way as they admire the appearance of a well-dressed person.

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.