Leave in good time and do not be the last: Ben Sira is again talking about manners at a banquet. So translators should make this clear; for example, Good News Translation says “Leave the party at the right time and never be the last to go.”

Go home quickly and do not linger: The Greek says nothing about lingering “at the door,” as in Good News Translation, but “linger at the door” is natural English. Revised Standard Version is a better model. Contemporary English Version has “just say good-by and go home. Don’t wait around.” However, we may slightly restructure the verse as follows:

• When you are at a dinner party [or, banquet], at the proper time say good-by and go straight home. Don’t wait around and be the last to leave.

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.