No one can say, “What is this?” “Why is that?”: The author is saying that people should not ask questions about why life is the way it is or why the world is the way it is. Following a suggestion from a footnote in New Jerusalem Bible, we could say “You must not ask why things are as they are,” or even “You must not ask why the Lord has done things the way he has,” or more simply “we must not question what God has done” (Contemporary English Version). This same line occurs again in verse 21.

For in God’s time all things will be sought after: As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, in God’s time is literally “in his time,” but of course God is meant (though the Greek translator prefers “the Lord” to “God”). Good News Translation interprets this to mean “at the right time.” It can also mean “when the Lord chooses,” which the Handbook prefers. The expression all things will be sought after carries with it here the implication that these things will not only be asked, but also answered. Good News Translation correctly renders “these questions will be answered.” (Ben Sira himself will try to answer these questions at the end of the hymn in verses 32-35. This line will be repeated almost word for word in verse 34b in Greek.) In languages that do not have the passive voice, this line may be rendered “He [the Lord] will explain everything when he chooses.”

At his word the waters stood in a heap, and the reservoirs of water at the word of his mouth: Reservoirs are places where water is stored, usually in very large quantity, like behind a dam on a river. It is not clear whether ben Sira is thinking here of creation (Gen 1.6-10; Psa 33.7; 104.5-9; Isa 40.12) or of the Exodus, when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in escaping the Egyptian army (Exo 15.8; Psa 78.13). Good News Translation is so convinced it refers to the Exodus that it models its language (“great walls of water arose when he spoke”) after the description in Exo 14.22. It could just as easily have said “great seas were formed when he spoke,” echoing the language of Genesis. The language of the first line here in Greek sounds more like the Exodus (although the Hebrew word for heap is very similar to the word “bottle” used in Psa 33.7 and may reflect a scribal error); the second line sounds more like creation. The general theme of the hymn here would point toward creation, but verse 18 speaks of “saving power.” Perhaps the author meant to recall both events. The only way out of this dilemma is a literal translation, which will be very difficult to understand in most languages and cannot be recommended; the literal Revised Standard Version is certainly strange English. Translators who prefer the Exodus theme may translate with that in mind and be on good ground. Good News Translation may serve as a guide. If we had to choose, we would choose the creation theme, since (1) the similarity of this passage to Psa 33.6-9 is very strong, (2) the Hebrew of this verse, although defective, seems to point to Psa 33.7, and (3) no unmistakable Exodus imagery is present, such as waters dividing. Those who would follow us could say “He commanded, and the seas came together; the oceans were formed when he spoke.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• You must not ask why the Lord has done things the way he has.
He will explain everything when he chooses.
He commanded, and the seas came together.
When he spoke, the oceans were formed.

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.