The wickedness of a wife changes her appearance, and darkens her face like that of a bear: The wickedness of a wife must be translated in the light of verses 13 and 16; see the comments there. Good News Translation‘s rendering, “When a wife is in a bad mood,” misunderstands what the author is saying. He’s not talking about an occasional bad mood; he’s talking about spite, hatefulness. He is not talking about sin. It is not an offense against God, but anger at a person, presumably her husband. Good News Translation does much better with changes her appearance, and darkens her face like that of a bear, which it combines into “her expression changes until she looks like an angry bear.” The adjective “angry,” describing “bear,” builds in the idea in the verb darkens. In cultures where bears are unknown, we may render a bear as “a wild animal.” An alternative model for this verse is:

• A woman’s spitefulness changes her expression [or, face] until she looks like an angry bear [or, wild animal].

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.