wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Kako: “heart thinking” (source: Reyburn 2002, p. 190)

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group):


“Wisdom” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

Translation commentary on Sirach 23:2

O that whips were set over my thoughts…! is literally “Who will set whips over my thoughts…?” (New Revised Standard Version; see the Revised Standard Version footnote). As in 22.27, this is a rhetorical question that expresses a wish. Good News Translation has “I wish I could be whipped for my thoughts,” but the Greek does not necessarily say this. The intent of the Greek could be the threat of punishment, so a better rendering is “I wish someone could threaten to punish me with a whip for my thoughts.”

And the discipline of wisdom [were set] over my mind!: Good News Translation expresses this line as the result of the first line. This is not misleading, although in Greek it is an additional wish, which may be rendered “I wish Wisdom could discipline my mind.” It may also be interpreted “I wish my mind could be disciplined so as to become wise” or “I wish someone could discipline me so that I become wise.” Discipline here refers to control that makes instruction possible. The writer is really talking about self-discipline, controlling his own actions so as to be able to learn.

That they may not spare me in my errors, and that it may not pass by my sins: In Greek these two lines are result clauses, the desired results of whips (they) being set over thoughts, and discipline (it) being set over the mind. Good News Translation expresses the two lines as wishes. This is not misleading, and works well in this context. The Greek noun translated errors is more fully translated by An American Translation as “errors of ignorance.” Pass by here means “ignore,” not “overtake.” Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for these two lines by reversing them as follows: “to tell me when I have sinned, and to correct me when I am wrong.”

There is a problem in the last line. As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, the Greek says “their sins” rather than my sins. Presumably “their” refers back to errors, that is, “the sins of my ignorant errors.” (A few ancient witnesses omit this line.)

For a suggested approach to this verse and the first two lines of the next verse, see the model for the next verse.

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.