Much labor was created for every man: The Greek noun at the beginning of this verse does not mean labor, but lack of leisure. In this context it is not referring to “work,” as Good News Translation puts it. It is speaking about uneasiness of mind, anxiety, dread, worry, and fear. The reason for this anxiety is given in verse 2: we know that we must die.

And a heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam: The heavy yoke is a figure of speech, which is well translated “heavy burden” in Good News Translation. The sons of Adam refers to every human being, rendered “all of us” in Good News Translation. We may translate the first two lines as follows: “There is a real fear that every human being must face, a heavy burden that lies on all of us.”

From the day they come forth from their mother’s womb till the day they return to the mother of all: Good News Translation “from the day of our birth” is natural English, but it sacrifices the effective repetition of the word mother in the verse. We could work it in by rendering the third line as “from the day our mother gives us birth [or, bears us].” The mother of all refers to the earth, which Good News Translation makes clear. The reference in the last line, of course, is to death. If this does not seem clear, the translator could say (following Good News Translation‘s use of the first person) “until the day we are buried in the earth, the mother of us all.” There are actually some Greek manuscripts that read “buried” instead of return (see the Revised Standard Version footnote), but this change can be made on translational grounds rather than textual, so no footnote is necessary. If the image of the earth as mother seems too strange, these two lines could be rendered simply “from the day we are born until the day we die,” but translators should retain the image of mother if it is possible. An alternative model for this verse that keeps the image is the following:

• There is a great fear that every human being must face, a heavy burden that lies on all of us from the day our mother gives us birth until the day we go back to the mother of us all, the earth.

Good News Translation uses the first person throughout verses 1-7. While this is certainly not necessary, the Handbook likes it, and will use it in the discussion on these verses.

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.