Birds flock with their kind: This is a simple observation that birds are found in the company of birds of the same species. The Greek verb here is well translated “roost” by Good News Translation, but in languages that will use a more general word similar to flock, this line may be rendered “Just as birds of the same kind flock together [or, come together in a flock].”

So truth returns to those who practice it: Good News Translation seems to miss the point here, as it does in verse 10. It is not a matter of getting into the habit of honesty or of finding opportunity to sin (verse 10). A better rendering for this line is “If you are honest with people, they will be honest with you” or “so people will be honest with you if you are honest with them.”

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.