Their perplexities and fear of heart—their anxious thought is the day of death: The second line of this verse identifies the source of the “great fear,” the “heavy burden” all people face. The first line is a parenthetical exclamation. One way to tie this verse clearly to verse 1 would be to reverse these lines by rendering verses 1-2 as follows:

• There is a great fear that every human being must face, a heavy burden that lies on all of us from the day our mother gives us birth until the day we go back to the mother of us all—the earth [or, we are buried in the earth—the mother of us all]. That heavy burden is the thought that someday we must die. It fills our hearts with such dread, such fear!

In the above model “That heavy burden” is repeated from verse 1 for clarity. “The thought that someday we must die” translates the second line of verse 2, which is literally “a thought of anticipation, a day of death.” Compare 41.1-4.

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.