A friend or a companion never meets one amiss: New Revised Standard Version expresses this better with “A friend or companion is always welcome.” Good News Translation employs an English idiom, saying “You can’t go wrong with a good friend or neighbor,” while Contemporary English Version has “Having friends and neighbors is important.” Companion expresses the Greek better than “neighbor.” The Greek word here refers to someone who is a very good friend or a close co-worker.

But a wife with her husband is better than both: We could say “but a married couple is better than either,” “but being married is even better” (Contemporary English Version), or even “but having your own wife or husband is better than either.” Or we could follow Good News Translation‘s reading of the Hebrew, which is “but an intelligent wife is better than either.” The Handbook prefers Good News Translation here, but it is the translator’s choice.

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.