The days of a good life are numbered: There is a limit to the life of anyone. Good News Translation uses an idiom with “A good life lasts only so long.” Good here probably means a “happy” or “successful” life, but even a life like that must come to an end. An alternative model for this line is “Even a successful and happy life must come to an end,” or we may simply say “Every one of us must die.”

But a good name endures for ever: This repeats the thought of verse 12 without the comparison to treasures of gold.

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.