With a gold crown upon his turban: This is a good place to begin another sentence. Good News Translation repeats “He gave him…,” but we could say “He also wore…” or “On Aaron’s turban was a…” (Contemporary English Version). The ornament on the High Priest’s turban is described in Exo 28.36-37, where it is not exactly a crown, as the Greek text has, but rather a “plate” of pure gold. In Exo 29.6, however, it is referred to as a “holy crown.” So crown would be quite proper here, but the more general term, “ornament,” used in Good News Translation, might be preferable. A turban is a head covering made by winding a long piece of cloth around the head and fastening it. In cultures where “turbans” are worn, there will be no trouble finding a suitable term. But in cultures where turbans are not used or are unknown, there may be a suitable term that refers to anything worn around the head. In other cultures it will be necessary to render turban with an explanatory phrase; for example, “piece of cloth, wrapped around the head as a covering.” Another way to begin this verse is “The Lord also gave Aaron a turban. On this turban was a gold crown [or, strip of gold] ….”

Inscribed like a signet with “Holiness”: For signet see the previous verse. With “Holiness” is literally “with a seal of holiness,” but the reference is surely to the inscription “Holy to the Lord” mentioned in Exo 28.36. The Hebrew is defective at this point and we cannot tell if the original quoted that phrase. For this line we could simply translate “engraved with sacred words” or “upon which they had engraved sacred words.”

A distinction to be prized, the work of an expert, the delight of the eyes, richly adorned: Good News Translation translates A distinction to be prized as “it was a high honor to wear it” and the delight of the eyes, richly adorned as “a beautiful work of art.” The reordering of the phrases here in Good News Translation works well; a simpler opening would be “It was made by an expert…” or “An expert had made it….” However, if translators have included the term “expert” or “craftsman” in the previous line, it is not necessary to repeat it here. We may simply say “It was a very beautiful ornament, and it was a high honor to wear it.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The Lord also gave Aaron a turban. On this turban was a beautiful piece of gold [or, gold crown] made by an expert who had engraved sacred words on it [or, upon which they had engraved sacred words]. It was a very beautiful ornament, which was a high honor to wear.

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.