Was not the sun held back by his hand? And did not one day become as long as two?: See Josh 10.13. Good News Translation is not a good model here. By his hand is not to be taken literally; it simply refers to Joshua causing the sun to stop. An alternative model for this verse is:

• Did he not stop the sun in the sky? Did he not make one day as long as two?

Another approach would be to use exclamations rather than rhetorical questions as follows:

• He stopped the sun from moving across the sky! He made one day as long as two!

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.