How wise you became in your youth!: Solomon is being addressed here. It is important that the reader know this. Translators should follow Good News Translation by inserting his name. In some languages a statement will be more natural style; for example, “Solomon, you were very wise from the time you were young.”

You overflowed like a river with understanding: We do not recommend following Good News Translation in reading the Hebrew, which has “the Nile” instead of a river. A better rendering for this line is “Your knowledge was like a river in flood [or, overflowing its banks].” Another possibility is “You overflowed with knowledge, like a river in flood.”

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.