A hasty quarrel kindles fire, and urgent strife sheds blood: These two lines are closely parallel. A hasty quarrel and urgent strife are synonymous. In Greek the parallel is made closer because the verbs for kindles and sheds look and sound much alike. Starting a fire is thus a metaphor for shedding blood (Good News Translation “violence,” Contemporary English Version “murder”). Good News Translation attempts to keep the imagery of fire by describing the argument as one that “blazes out.” In some languages it will be necessary to use a simile; for example, the whole verse may be rendered as follows:

• When an argument arises suddenly, it’s like a fire that blazes up quickly. It can lead to violence [or, murder].

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.