Fodder and a stick and burdens for an ass: Fodder is food the farmer gives livestock, as opposed to grass they might find for themselves in the pasture. Ben Sira says here that you do three things with a donkey (ass). You give it food. You whip it when it will not obey. And you put loads on its back. That’s just what you do with donkeys.

Bread and discipline and work for a servant: In this context ben Sira is not talking about a servant who works for wages. He is referring to a “slave” (Good News Translation). There are three things you do with a slave. You give him food (bread). You whip him when he will not obey. And you give him work to do. That’s just what you do with slaves.

Notice that the terms in the two lines of this verse are closely parallel. Good News Translation‘s restructuring involves more words and a more complicated grammar, but it is clear, and the parallel structure is preserved. Keeping the parallel structure is desirable here, since it clearly shows that ben Sira thinks of slaves in the same way he thinks of donkeys. An alternative model is:

• You feed your donkey, you beat it with a stick, and you place a load on its back. Slaves are like that—you should feed them, discipline [or, punish] them, and give them work to do.

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.

Fill Zion with the celebration of thy wondrous deeds, and thy temple with thy glory: For Zion see the comments on 24.10. The phrase the celebration of … wondrous deeds translates a single Greek noun, which refers to the recitation or recounting of a god’s virtues, and the word may be rendered “the telling about … marvelous deeds.” Instead of this word, the Hebrew reads “majesty,” which New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible prefer. It is possible here to translate the Greek as “majesty,” in light of the Hebrew; the Greek translator could have seen fit to translate the Hebrew word with this Greek word. However, Good News Translation “hymns of praise” is a possible translation for either word. We regard this as a translational matter. For the whole verse we could say:

• Fill your Temple on Mount Zion with people singing songs of praise, telling of your marvelous deeds.

None of the Greek manuscripts, as the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation indicate, read temple; they all read “people.” Temple is obviously correct, however. It involves one mistaken letter in Greek, and it is the reading of the Hebrew. This is so certain that the Handbook does not think a textual footnote is necessary.

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.

For grace was not given him by the Lord, since he is lacking in all wisdom: These are two reasons why a good speaker, a potentially good teacher, might starve to death (verse 20). The two reasons should be thought of as parallel. The second line does not give the reason why the Lord gave this person no grace. It gives a second reason why the good speaker might starve. Grace here is well translated “tact” by Good News Translation. The author seems to be talking about sensitivity in dealing with people effectively, without causing offense.

This verse in Greek is a continuation of the sentence begun in verse 20, but Good News Translation does well to make it a separate sentence. The connection is made with “This may happen if….” Good News Translation reverses the two lines of this verse; this is certainly possible but not necessary. Good News Translation‘s rendering is good, but other possibilities are “This may happen if the Lord has not given him tact, or if he has no wisdom at all,” “… because they did not receive the ability from the Lord to talk tactfully to others, and they do not have wisdom,” and even “… because the Lord did not give them the ability to speak without offending others, and….”

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.

When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance cease: Good News Translation words the references to the dead person here as plural (“the dead have been … them”), which is especially fitting as a summary statement at the end of the section. In languages that do not have the passive voice, we may say “When they have buried the dead people and they are at rest, stop thinking about them.”

And be comforted for him when his spirit has departed: The meaning here is that after a loved one dies, you should allow yourself to be comforted, you should accept the comfort that people offer. So we may say “Once they are gone, let others comfort you.”

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.

Both New Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation add a stanza break here, which is appropriate.

His blessing covers the dry land like a river, and drenches it like a flood: Good News Translation is reading the Hebrew here. The Handbook suggests that translators follow the Greek text translated by Revised Standard Version and by Good News Translation‘s footnote. The Greek can be translated “His blessing covers and soaks the dry land like a river, like a flood.” In most parts of the world floods are destructive, and people there would not compare God’s blessing to a flood, but the author is thinking here of the Nile River in Egypt (the Hebrew specifically names the Nile). Until modern times, when a dam was built across the Nile, the river would flood each year, watering and fertilizing the farmland along the river. So the author is thinking of a flood as a good thing, and this may be hard to deal with in translation. It may help to change the image somewhat, and picture dry, parched ground in a desert area, which, after a good rainfall or after being briefly soaked by a flash flood, is soon covered with plant life. Let us look at the next verse before trying to solve this problem.

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.

The flute and the harp make pleasant melody, but a pleasant voice is better than both is literally “Flute and harp sweeten songs, and more than both, a pleasant tongue.” The flute is a long, thin, hollow musical instrument. The sound is produced by blowing into or over a hole at one end; the tune is made by fingering holes along its length. Many cultures have instruments similar to the flute, and translators should not have any difficulty finding a suitable term. The harp is a stringed instrument; the musician plucks the strings by hand. Some cultures may have several stringed instruments of various sizes; a large one with a number of strings should be used (see the illustration). However, where such stringed instruments are unknown or not used, we may say something like “large musical instrument with strings for plucking.” Contemporary English Version reverses the order of the lines as follows:

• A pleasant voice is sweeter
than the music
of flutes and harps.

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.