He who keeps the law makes many offerings: This line may be interpreted two ways: (1) if you keep the Law, you will make lots of offerings; and (2) keeping the Law is the equivalent of making lots of offerings. We prefer the latter interpretation. Each of the next three lines says that doing a particular good deed is the equivalent of a particular kind of offering. This interpretation is expressed in Good News Translation (and New English Bible) as “Keeping the Law is worth many offerings” and Contemporary English Version as “Obeying the Law of the Lord is the same as bringing him many gifts.”

He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering: “Fellowship offering” is Good News Translation‘s translation of the Greek term rendered peace offering. Peace offering refers to an animal offering of which only certain parts were burned. The remaining meat was divided among the priests and worshipers. The purpose of the offering was to restore fellowship (shalom in Hebrew) with someone else. So we may translate peace offering as “offering to restore fellowship with other people.” See Lev 3. Good News Translation takes heeds the commandments as identical with keeps the law, so it renders this line as “it [heeding the commandments or keeping the Law] is a fellowship offering in itself.” We may also say “it is like an offering to restore fellowship with other people.”

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.