A new paragraph should begin here (so Good News Translation). Ben Sira has told us what not to do if we hear a rumor about someone; we should not repeat it. Now he tells us what we should do; we should go directly to the person involved and get that person’s side of the story. Compare Matt 18.15-17.

Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it: The author makes a leap in his logic here. Good News Translation fills the reader in with its conditional clause “If you hear that a friend has done something wrong.” This is not in the Greek, but it is implied in the context, and most readers will find it helpful to have it expressed. If we hear a rumor about someone, we should not pass it on, but find out the truth. Good News Translation expresses the explicit information of this line by saying “ask him about it. Maybe it isn’t true.” This is a good model.

But if he did anything, so that he may do it no more: On the other hand, maybe the rumor is true. If the person finds out that people know about it, he may decide that he shouldn’t do it again. In that case, you are questioning him so that he may not do it again. Either way, a frank, direct question is better than silence, and far better than passing on gossip. Good News Translation “If it is true, he won’t do it again” misses the idea of asking the friend so that he might not repeat the deed, but the effect is pretty much the same. New English Bible may be a bit better with “or if he did it, he will know not to do it again.”

The pattern in this verse will be repeated in verses 14, 15, and 17.

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.