The memory of Josiah is like a blending of incense prepared by the art of the perfumer: Good News Translation specifies how The memory of Josiah is like incense; it is “sweet.” For incense see the comments on 45.16. A perfumer was a person who prepared sweet-smelling ointments, perfumes, and incense by blending different substances. For the last part of these lines Good News Translation translates “expertly blended incense,” that is, incense prepared by an expert. In languages that do not have a passive voice, we may express these lines as “When people remember Josiah, the memory is pleasant [or, sweet] just like incense that an expert has skillfully mixed.”

It is sweet as honey to every mouth: There is no need to read the Hebrew here with Good News Translation. We can say “it is sweet as honey to everyone.”

And like music at a banquet of wine may be translated “it is like music and wine at a banquet.”

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.