Set your slave to work, and you will find rest: The idea here is that if you keep your slave busy, you can relax, not because the slave is doing your work for you, but because you don’t have to worry about him escaping as long as he is working hard. Good News Translation renders this well with “If you make your slave work, you can set your mind at ease.”

Instead of Set your slave to work, Ziegler’s Greek text reads “Work [him] with discipline.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates this text. The Greek text is not clear here. There are several variants and the Greek text read by most versions, including Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, is a bit odd, but the Hebrew is clear and shows that the translation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is correct. The Handbook urges translators to ignore Ziegler and follow the majority.

Leave his hands idle, and he will seek liberty may be rendered “If you don’t keep him busy, he will be looking for freedom.”

For this verse we think translators should follow the Greek, as found in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Contemporary English Version has a good model following the Greek:

• If you don’t want trouble,
keep your slaves busy;
otherwise, they will have time
to think about becoming free.

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.