He exalted Aaron, the brother of Moses: At the beginning of this new section the reader should be reminded that the Lord is the subject of the verb. Here exalted means that the Lord gave Aaron a position of great importance. So we may translate “The Lord gave Aaron, the brother of Moses, a position of great importance.” The brother of Moses is literally “his brother,” which Revised Standard Version spells out for clarity. This is appropriate since a new section begins here.

A holy man like him, of the tribe of Levi: By him, Moses is meant. Good News Translation does well to combine parts of the two lines of this verse into “a holy man like his brother Moses.” The tribe of Levi was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe that supplied Israel with its priests.

Alternative models for this verse are:

• The Lord gave a position of great importance to Aaron, a holy [or, consecrated] man from the tribe of Levi, like his brother Moses.

• Aaron the brother of Moses was also a consecrated man [or, a man set apart for the Lord] from the tribe of Levi. The Lord gave him a position of great importance.

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.