Do not forget a friend in your heart, and be not unmindful of him in your wealth: The Hebrew text here can be understood as meaning in your heart or “in battle.” The Greek translator understood it the first way, as did at least one of the medieval Hebrew scribes, who wrote it to be pronounced as in your heart. Good News Translation (and New Revised Standard Version) understands it the second way. The fact that the second line in Hebrew speaks of the spoils taken after battle seems to support this. The Greek translator rendered this your wealth. We cannot quite bring ourselves to support Good News Translation wholeheartedly here. It may be the coward’s way out, but we offer here a model that can be read as a translation of either the Greek or the Hebrew, and requires no footnote. It refers back to the “real friend” of the previous verse. Our alternative model is:

• Do not forget such friends; share with them any wealth you get.

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.