A woman will accept any man: This is not saying that women have no morals and will have sex with any man who comes along. This is a statement of what for ben Sira’s time was a simple truth. A woman had little choice in who married her. She simply had to accept whatever marriage arrangements were worked out for her. So we may say “A woman cannot choose the man she will marry” (Contemporary English Version).

But one daughter is better than another: A man, however, had a choice concerning whom he married, therefore he could be choosy. Among the girls who were available, some would be better than others, and he could pick the one he liked best.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• A woman has to accept any man as her husband, but a man can choose the girl that he thinks is best.

Note the similarity of this verse to verse 18.

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.