My children, observe instruction and be at peace: My children is an affectionate way for ben Sira the teacher to address his students, the readers (see 23.7). Observe instruction and be at peace is literally “observe instruction in peace,” where “in peace” describes how someone should “observe instruction.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation only shift the focus slightly to say “observe instruction and as a result you will live in peace.” This is not precisely what ben Sira said, but he would not disagree. Good News Translation translates observe instruction as “do as I teach you,” since by instruction the author means his own instruction. We could say “live as I have taught you.” An alternative rendering for this line is “My children [or, students], you must live as I have taught you, and be at peace.”

Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure, what advantage is there in either of them?: If the reader does not put the author’s sound teaching into practice, it is like being wise without anyone knowing it. Unexpressed wisdom does no one any good. It is like a “treasure that has been hidden” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation expresses the point of the rhetorical question as a statement: “both are useless.” An alternative model for this question is “If you do not express [or, use] wisdom, it is useless; just like a treasure that is buried is of no use to you.” “It is useless” and “is of no use to you” convey the idea of what advantage is there in either of them?

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.