Translation commentary on Sirach 48:4

How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!: Compare 47.14. Good News Translation combines How glorious you were and your wondrous deeds in saying “your miracles were marvelous!” However, it is more likely that glorious here means “famous, widely known.” Perhaps a better rendering for this line is “Elijah! How famous you were for your miracles [or, for the marvelous things you did].”

And who has the right to boast which you have?: The implied answer to this rhetorical question is “No one.” Good News Translation translates the question as an exclamation, saying “No one else can boast of such deeds!”

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.