He moulds the clay with his arm: It might sound strange at first to refer to shaping the clay with the arms rather than the hands, but it is not. Potters have strong arms. When the clay is being turned and shaped, a great deal of physical strength is required in the arms to keep the spinning mass of clay centered. It is not simply a matter of moving the fingers to shape the clay. “Shape it with his hands” (Good News Translation) is acceptable, however, since this line is describing the first stage in producing the pot. In languages where the word for “arm” includes the hand, Revised Standard Version‘s translation would make sense. But in other languages the word for “hand” should be used.

And makes it pliable with his feet: Good News Translation places this line before the previous one since the two tasks in these lines seem to be out of order. The clay has to be worked, homogenized (which could be done with the feet), or “wedged,” worked with the hands in order to remove air, before it is worked on the wheel. It may be that makes it pliable with his feet is not the meaning at all, and the two tasks are not out of order. Four stages of the potter’s work are described in the four lines of this verse, and if this line is out of order, it is the only one. The line literally says “and before/for feet he breaks its/his strength.” New English Bible takes the strength to be the potter’s: “crouching forward to apply his strength.” This is appealing. Most, however, take the strength to be that of the clay, and the potter to be breaking it by making it pliable enough to work on the wheel; in ancient times this was done with the feet (see Isa 41.25). But it takes a lot of good will to get with, “by means of,” out of the Greek preposition used here. In between the shaping of the pot on the wheel (line 1) and the glazing (line 3), there is another step. It is a delicate procedure that must be done with great care. When the pot has been shaped, the wet clay is still stuck to the wheel, and must be removed. This is done with an object such as a stiff stout cord. Deftly and quickly, the cord must be drawn through the base of the pot near the wheel. The “foot” of the pot is then trimmed by carefully removing unwanted bits of clay. We will suggest that this is what ben Sira is talking about for the first two lines: “He shapes the pot with his hands, then removes it from the wheel and forms its base.”

He sets his heart to finish the glazing, and he is careful to clean the furnace: For sets his heart and is careful, refer to the comments on verse 26. After the pot has been fired, it is glazed, if the piece is to have any decorative value. The glaze is a liquid that is applied like paint. Artistry is involved at this stage as well as in the shaping of the pot. Good News Translation “properly” is a good translation for to finish. In cultures where the glazing process is unknown, it will be helpful to render the third line as “He takes great pains to put color on the pot and bake it properly in the kiln [or, stove/furnace].” After the glazing, the pot is heated again to fix the glaze. Cleaning the kiln, or furnace, is a task that could well be done at the end of the day. There would be ashes from the wood burned, drippings from glazes, and unfortunately, some broken pots.

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.