Give graciously to all the living: The Greek is hard to understand here. It is literally “Grace of a gift before all living.” Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version take this to mean that we should be gracious and give to everyone. Others take it to mean that every person living appreciates a gift. It is safe to rely on Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation here with the understanding that this line does not mean one should go down the street giving something to everyone he sees. The assumption is that the wise person gives to anyone in need. Good News Translation “Be generous to every living soul [person]” (similarly Contemporary English Version) would probably not be taken to mean giving rashly and indiscriminately.

And withhold not kindness from the dead: Although some have taken this to refer to offering gifts to the dead (Deut 26.14; Tob 4.17), it is better interpreted to mean “and be especially gracious when someone dies.” (The line is literally “and do not withhold kindness over a dead person.”) This fits in well with the next verse. People could show kindness to a dead person by revering the person’s memory (so Good News Translation) or by giving him or her a decent burial, and this too is a possible interpretation. Ben Sira seems to have no idea of a life after this one, so there is not a prayer for the soul of the dead person here (see 2 Macc 12.42). Some translators may wish to follow Good News Translation; others may prefer “and give the dead a decent burial.” They will be on good ground, but the Handbook believes that the emphasis here is on being kind to the relatives and friends of the deceased who are in mourning, and offers the following as a model: “and be kind to those who are mourning the death of a loved one.”

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.