It will not be master over the godly, and they will not be burned in its flame: The pronoun It refers back to “the tongue” of verse 18. Ben Sira began this section describing how innocent people have been ruined by vicious talk; it is surprising to find him now saying that devout people cannot be hurt by it. Technically he is not contradicting himself, since he never said that the innocent people of verses 13-15 were godly or devout, but it is still unexpected. His argument grew in intensity until, at the end of verse 21, he took it to extremes. Now he seems to feel that he must back off a little; he cannot allow devout people, who honor the Lord, to suffer that kind of fate, even if they are the subject of vicious talk. He does not say that devout people will never be the subject of vicious talk; he says that they will not suffer the same consequences as other people. Good News Translation is helpful here in beginning a new paragraph, and introducing the conjunction “however.” It signals a break in the thinking, and indicates that this verse is the beginning of a new idea, and not the conclusion of the previous line of thought.
Possible alternative models for this verse are:
• Vicious [or, Cruel] talk cannot overcome people who honor the Lord. They cannot be burned by its flames.
• Cruel words are like fiery flames. But they cannot overcome people who honor the Lord.
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.
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