How many will ridicule him, and how often!: How many does not introduce a question, but an exclamation. The sense of this line is “He will be ridiculed very often by many people” or “Many people ridicule him continually.” The translator’s goal is to say this effectively in a way appropriate for this last line of the section. If a word is available to call strong attention to this line, it could be used here. (English does not have such a word, except for children’s expressions—Gee!—or profanity.) Good News Translation approximates this with “And he’s right,” which corresponds directly to nothing in Greek. Good News Translation “he’s a constant [how often] joke to everyone [how many]” is acceptable. An alternative model for this verse is:

• He’s right! Everyone constantly makes fun of 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.