What an attractive thing is judgment in gray-haired men, and for the aged to possess good counsel!: These two lines are parallel, saying substantially the same thing, although judgment and good counsel are somewhat different. Good News Translation combines the two lines into one statement, but does not combine these two expressions since it has “sound judgment” and “good advice.” Contemporary English Version does the same by rendering the whole verse as follows: “Good sense and sound advice are beautiful in those whose hair is now gray.” Since, however, “good advice” can be given only by a person with “sound judgment,” the two can be expressed by one expression. A possible way to do this is:

• It is a splendid thing when people old enough to be gray-haired have sound judgment.

Translators may choose between the models given by Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version or follow the model provided above.

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.