justice

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Translation commentary on Sirach 16:22

Who will announce his acts of justice? is literally “Who will announce acts of justice?” Revised Standard Version adds the pronoun his. Good News Translation takes this line to refer to human acts of justice, saying “If I do what is right, nobody will tell the Lord about it” (similarly Contemporary English Version). It seems better to take this rhetorical question as another skeptical questioning of God’s justice. The Greek word translated announce means to carry a report of something, presumably something one has witnessed or been told. An alternative model here is “Who can say with confidence that what he [the Lord] does is righteous [or, just/fair]?”

Or who will await them?: Good News Translation captures the skeptical tone of this rhetorical question by saying “Who wants to wait for him, anyway?” Contemporary English Version has “And who has the patience to wait for him…?” Following the suggested model for the previous line, we could say “Who has the patience to wait to find out if what he does is just?”

For the covenant is far off: Good News Translation interprets covenant in the traditional way as the agreement between God and his people, so it renders this line as “He is too slow in doing what he has said he would” (Contemporary English Version “to keep his promises”). But we have seen other places in this book where the Greek translator seems to use the word in the sense of a “decree” (for example 14.12, 17). In those places the Greek word translates the Hebrew word for “decree,” as it does here. The Handbook urges translators to follow either Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Who can say with confidence that what the Lord does is fair? Who has the patience to wait and learn if what he does is just? He is too slow in keeping his promises.”

A model that uses statements instead of questions is:

• No one can say with confidence that what the Lord does is fair. No one has the patience to wait and learn if what he does is just. He is too slow in keeping his promises.”

Note that the words of the skeptic end here.

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.