Do not trust in their survival, and do not rely on their multitude: Obviously Do not trust and do not rely have the same meaning. The interpretive question here is whether their survival (literally “their life”) and their multitude are synonymous. In Revised Standard Version they are not. In Good News Translation, and in Hebrew, they are. It is true that the Greek noun translated multitude can refer as well to length of time. Since Good News Translation has no textual footnote for these lines referring to the Hebrew, we may assume it understands the noun in that way. The Handbook believes, however, that the better course here is to follow Revised Standard Version. Ben Sira tells his reader that what matters is not the number of children one has nor how long they may live, but whether they are religious, giving due honor to the Lord. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with wishing one’s children a long life, and nothing wrong with wishing to have many children. The translation must avoid saying that there is (as Good News Translation seems to say). We would therefore suggest that translators build in a guard against that, and link this verse with the previous verse in some such way as this:

• No matter how many children you have, don’t look on them with pride unless they honor the Lord. That is what is important—not how many there are or how long they live.

For one is better than a thousand: The Revised Standard Version footnote tells us that the Greek text of this line is uncertain. It is, but it is not uncertain enough to make a footnote necessary. Good News Translation is reading the Hebrew text, but freely; the Hebrew does not literally say everything Good News Translation does. Most scholars believe that scribes added some words to the Hebrew text, and that the Greek represents the correct text. We shall follow the Greek here. But what does it mean? Most parents would agree that given a choice of one child or a thousand children, one would be better. But ben Sira assumes that the one in question fears the Lord, and that the thousand do not. Some versions solve this by saying “for one [son] can be better than a thousand” (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New English Bible, Revised English Bible, Shekan), but that leaves unanswered the question of how one can be better. We suggest another approach, combining this line with the next one. See the model below.

And to die childless is better than to have ungodly children: We take one to be parallel to die childless and a thousand to be parallel to have ungodly children. Combining the last two lines of this verse would yield the following: “It is better to have only one child who honors the Lord or even none at all than to have a thousand who are ungodly.”

An alternative translation model for verses 2-3 is:

• No matter how many children you have, don’t look on them with pride unless they honor the Lord. That is what is important—not how many there are or how long they live. It is better to have only one child who honors the Lord or even none at all than to have a thousand who do not honor him.

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.