He who speaks wisely will advance himself is literally “He who is wise in words will advance himself.” Good News Translation “get ahead in the world” is an English idiom meaning “be successful.” For the whole line we could say “Speak wisely, and you will be successful in life.”

Translators with Ziegler’s Greek text must take notice that he has emended the text here in the same way he did in verse 13, but with less justification. The emended text appears to read “He who is wise in a few things will get ahead,” which is a strange idea. The Syriac speaks of showing oneself small [humble], and this is apparently the basis of the textual change (“few” comes from “small”). Translators should follow the Greek manuscripts here, all of which say “He who is wise in words [or, word] ….”

And a sensible man will please great men: Good News Translation interprets this as an observation that people who have good sense make a good impression on people who have influence (and are in a position to help others toward success in life). We believe, however, that ben Sira is giving realistic, practical advice, saying “If you are smart, you will try to please influential people.” This is consistent with the next two verses.

These two lines are practically synonymous in meaning. We can follow Contemporary English Version‘s model and say something like:

• If you are wise
and want to succeed in life,
you will try to please
those in power.

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.