Most of this verse is a long list of people from whom we should not ask advice. Readers will more easily grasp what is being said here if the items are presented on the page as a list (as in Good News Translation) rather than in paragraph form. All the instances given are cases where the person giving advice is naturally going to give an opinion that is in his or her own best interest (verses 7-8).

Do not consult with a woman about her rival: Di Lella (1987) believes this refers to women in a polygamous marriage, but this is not certain. However, the meaning of rival will need to be made clear in a number of languages. Even if it does not refer to women who are both married to the same man, it probably means that the other woman does have a romantic interest in the man. So possible alternative models are “Don’t ask a woman for advice [or, for her opinion] about a woman she is jealous of” and “Don’t ask two women in love with the same man their opinion of each other.” See the comments on 26.6.

Or with a coward about war: In many languages there will be colorful idioms for a coward, for example, “a white-hearted person” or “a spineless person.” A model for the whole line is “a coward can’t tell you how to fight [or, wage war].”

With a merchant about barter: “Prices” (New Jerusalem Bible) is better than barter. It is in the seller’s self-interest to set the price of an item as high as possible. A possible alternative for this line is “a merchant [or, store owner] won’t tell you how much a thing is really worth.”

Or with a buyer about selling: “A purchase” is better than selling. Buyers have a tendency to represent something they have bought as a great bargain. So for this line we may say “a buyer about the proper price for something.”

With a grudging man about gratitude may be rendered “a person with a grudge about gratitude” or even “someone with a grudge how to be grateful.” Good News Translation shifts the focus of this line by saying “a stingy person about gratitude.” A stingy person, who begrudges anything he has to do for someone, is not the proper person from whom to learn about gratitude.

Or with a merciless man about kindness may be translated “a cruel person about kindness” (Good News Translation) or “someone mean tell you how to be kind” (Contemporary English Version).

With an idler about any work may be rendered “a lazy person about work” (Good News Translation) or even “a lazy person can’t tell you how to work.”

Or with a man hired for a year about completing his work: The Greek expression translated a man hired for a year essentially means “a temporary worker.” It refers to a person hired for a particular job or for a limited period of time. So this line may be translated “a temporary worker about how long a job should take to finish.”

With a lazy servant about a big task: A big task could refer equally well to “a big job” or “a difficult job.” Instead of servant, Good News Translation has “slave” since a servant probably would have been a slave in ben Sira’s context (compare 7.20). Servant is an acceptable translation here, but not “employee.”

Pay no attention to these in any matter of counsel may be rendered “Pay no attention to advice that any of these people may give.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Don’t ask a woman her opinion of a woman she is jealous of,
or a coward about how to fight,
or a merchant about how much a thing is really worth,
or a buyer about the proper price for something,
or a person with a grudge about gratitude,
or a cruel person about how to be kind,
or a lazy person about how to work,
or a temporary worker about how long a job should take to finish,
or a lazy servant about a hard job.
Pay no attention to advice that any of these people may give.

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.