Among the great do not act as their equal may be rendered “Don’t pretend to be the equal of any important people who are present.”

And when another is speaking, do not babble: Good News Translation here follows the Hebrew, which literally reads “Do not rise up among elders, and do not press yourself on important people.” Ziegler’s Greek text is emended in this second line to follow the Hebrew and Latin: “where there are elders, do not make a nuisance of yourself.” So Contemporary English Version has “and don’t chatter on and on if someone older is talking.” The Handbook suggests following the traditional Greek text (in Rahlfs) translated in Revised Standard Version, and using the Good News Translation footnote as a model: “and don’t keep talking when someone else is speaking.”

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.