The vapor and smoke of the furnace precede the fire; so insults precede bloodshed: A furnace is a place where a very hot fire is made to melt metals (see Dan 3.6). Good News Translation omits the reference to the furnace. None of the meaning is lost, but for this line we could say “Fumes and smoke come from a furnace before flames can be seen.”

So insults precede bloodshed: Bloodshed often refers to “murder,” but Good News Translation interprets it more broadly here as “violence,” which seems better in this context. Compare 27.15; Matt 5.21-22.

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Fumes and smoke come from a furnace before we see fire. In the same way insults appear first and then violence follows.

• Just as fumes and smoke come from a furnace before flames can be seen, so where there are insults, violence may follow.

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.