Basic to all the needs of man’s life are …: Here the author lists the things that he considers basic to all human civilization. In the next verse he will show that, like all of God’s ways (verse 24), they prove good for the devout, but are obstacles for sinners. Good News Translation begins with “The basic needs of life are these: …,” which makes for easier understanding of the verse. Contemporary English Version, however, turns this into a question: “What do we need for daily life?” This also is a possible translation.

Water and fire and iron and salt and wheat flour and milk and honey, the blood of the grape, and oil and clothing: Good News Translation lists these items, separating them with commas rather than the repeated and. The Greek says literally wheat flour; Good News Translation translates simply “flour” because in English “flour” is always wheat flour unless specified otherwise. However, in some languages “rice” or some other grain will be the general term to use here. Blood of the grape is a Hebrew idiom for wine. Oil refers to olive oil, used in cooking and bread making. Translators may wish to separate the items into three groups; for example, the whole verse may be rendered:

• What we need for daily life are:
water, fire and iron tools;
salt, flour, milk, honey, wine, and olive oil;
and finally clothing.”

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.