A wise man will be silent until the right moment: The phrase the right moment translates the same Greek word rendered “when to speak” in verse 6b. This line and the previous one can be combined as follows: “6b others keep quiet because they know the right time to speak, 7 and are wise enough to wait for that moment.”

But a braggart and fool goes beyond the right moment: The braggart and the fool are the same person, namely, a fool who is always talking about himself. So Good News Translation says “a bragging fool” (New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible “a boasting fool”). For fool see the comments at 8.17. Even though the Greek word for fool is different here, it has the same meaning as there. To go beyond the right moment apparently means to have no idea that there even is a right moment, or if there is, when it comes. In New English Bible this person “is always speaking out of turn.” This is because, in New Jerusalem Bible‘s words, he “will always misjudge it [the right moment].” The person spoken of here is the person of verse 5b, who never knows when to stop talking. Such people tend to brag, and are certainly foolish. For the whole line we could say “but a bragging fool has no idea of the right time to speak.” Compare Pro 15.23; 29.11.

An alternative model for verses 6b and 7 is:

• others keep quiet because they know the right time to speak, and are wise enough to wait for that moment. But a bragging fool has no idea of the right time to speak.

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.