Wine is like life to men, if you drink it in moderation: Wine is praised here as a good thing. Wine is like life to men may prove difficult to translate. Modern versions have used different approaches: “Wine gives life” (New Jerusalem Bible), “Wine can put new life into you” (Good News Translation), “Wine puts life into a man” (New English Bible), “Wine is very life to man” (New American Bible), and “Wine makes you feel good.” Take your choice. If you drink it in moderation may be rendered “if you drink only a little wine.”

What is life to a man who is without wine?: The implied answer to this rhetorical question is “Not worth much.” Good News Translation has a good approach to it: “What would life be like without it?” New Jerusalem Bible is similar with “What is life worth without wine?” If the question form does not seem to work (or even if it does), translators may say “Life does not mean much without wine,” or even “to live without wine is hardly living at all” (Contemporary English Version).

It has been created to make men glad: Good News Translation says “Wine was created to make us happy.” The active voice form of this would be “God created wine to make us happy” (Contemporary English Version). Compare Psa 104.14-15.

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.