So too is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet: For So too, see verse 27. Since the potter sits at his wheel to do his work, Good News Translation omits the phrase at his work as unnecessary. Turning the wheel with his feet does not mean the potter touches the wheel with his feet. The feet work a mechanism beneath the horizontal wheel, which is connected to the wheel. Good News Translation has a good model here.

He is always deeply concerned over his work: Good News Translation “always concentrating on his work” and Contemporary English Version “He keeps his mind on his work” are good models, since they imply that he has no opportunity to think about anything else—such as studying to gain knowledge.

And all his output is by number is literally “all his work is counted.” This is taken to mean either (a) that he must have his work done by a certain time, or (b) that he is concerned with the measurements of his pieces, or (c) that he is concerned with how many objects he can produce. New Jerusalem Bible translates “each flick of the finger premeditated,” taking “work” to mean not his output but his technique, and “counted” to mean “carefully considered.” This is imaginative and tempting, but we believe the best course here is to take option (c), as in Good News Translation with “concerned with how many objects he can produce.”

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.