Translation commentary on Sirach 37:8

Be wary of a counselor: Good News Translation renders this well with “Be careful when somebody offers you advice,” or we may say “Think very carefully when somebody suggests what you should do in a certain matter.”

And learn first what is his interest: This means that before you take a person’s advice, determine what he has to gain by giving that advice. So Good News Translation says “Find out first what his interest in the matter is.”

For he will take thought for himself: Good News Translation adds the words “you can be sure.” This insertion is a natural English idiom that helps convey the author’s attitude here, which is subtly cynical. For the first three lines of this verse Contemporary English Version has “Before you do what they say [what they advise you to do], see if they are looking out for themselves.”

Lest he cast the lot against you: This means that the adviser may give you advice that is in his favor but not yours. New English Bible uses a different metaphor here with “and may tip the scales against you.” Good News Translation reads the Hebrew, but we believe that the Greek itself is a fair translation of the Hebrew, which is literally “Why should this come out in his favor?” The verb “come out” is used in Hebrew for casting lots, and the Greek translator must have taken it that way. A better model than Good News Translation is “Why should this work to his advantage?” We believe that this model is only understanding the Greek in the light of the Hebrew, and no textual footnote is necessary.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Think very carefully when somebody suggests what you should do in a certain matter. Before you do what he suggests, see if he is primarily thinking of himself. Why should his advice work to his advantage?

The rhetorical question in this model can be rephrased as a statement by saying “Do not let him use his advice to you as a way to gain an advantage for himself.”

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.

Translation commentary on Sirach 38:7 - 37:8

Good News Translation reverses verses 7 and 8a to put things in logical order. First the druggist makes the medicine (verse 8a) and then the doctor uses it (verse 7). We suggest translators follow this. We reverse these two lines in the discussion just below.

The pharmacist makes of them a compound: Even with the help of the parentheses around verses 5-6, readers will need to be reminded that we are talking about medicine here. Good News Translation translates “The druggist mixes these medicines,” translating them as “these medicines,” and makes … a compound as “mixes.”

By them he heals and takes away pain: Here he is the doctor, who takes the pharmacist’s mixture and uses it “to cure diseases and ease pain” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation observes here a distinction often made in English, where one speaks of God healing diseases, but doctors curing them.

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation introduce the role of the pharmacist or “druggist” as separate from that of the doctor or physician. Such a distinction would not have been likely in ben Sira’s time. The doctor would have both mixed the medicines or herbs and administered them to his patients. This will still be true in many modern cultures. In such a case we may translate verses 7-8a as “Doctors mix the medicinal herbs and use them to cure diseases and ease pain” or “Doctors use the medicines mixed from these herbs to….”

His works will never be finished; and from him health is upon the face of the earth: The pronouns His and him refer to God. The Greek literally says “peace” rather than health (see the Revised Standard Version footnote) Most scholars believe health is the meaning in this context, since it seems that the activity of the Lord referred to here is his healing power. New Jerusalem Bible has “well-being.” So we may translate these two lines as “The Lord will always be at work bringing health to the people of the world.”

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.