Do not seek to become a judge, lest you be unable to remove iniquity: Instead of Do not seek, Good News Translation‘s idiomatic expression “Don’t set your heart on” will be a possible translation in a number of languages. Good News Translation‘s rendering of these first two lines is interesting. As Revised Standard Version has it, no one who is wise should try be a judge, because they might not be able to remove iniquity. But if that happened, no judge would be wise, and that is not desirable. Good News Translation phrases it “Don’t set your heart on being a judge, unless you have the strength of character to put an end to injustice.” This lets us see these lines in a new light. Good News Translation derives “strength of character” from the Greek verb that Revised Standard Version translates be unable. It can mean “be strong” and in the context of a judge’s success, it refers to strength of character rather than physical strength. Good News Translation “put an end to injustice” (also New English Bible; Contemporary English Version “do away with injustice”) translates the Greek well and makes specific reference to what judges are supposed to do. A possible alternative model for these lines is “Don’t set your heart on being a judge unless you are strong enough in your heart to do away with injustice.”
Lest you be partial to a powerful man, and thus put a blot on your integrity: In Greek these lines continue the single sentence in this verse. Good News Translation does well to begin a separate sentence here, discussing one of the dangers of being a judge, if one does not have the “strength of character” just mentioned. To be partial to a powerful man means that a judge would be influenced to decide a case in favor of this powerful man (Good News Translation “someone in a position of power”) simply because of his power and influence. If the judge decides against him, this powerful person might take revenge on the judge. But deciding legal cases on the basis of which party is most powerful is not right; it would put a blot on your integrity, that is, “your reputation for being a just [or, fair] person will be damaged.” For these two lines Good News Translation has “If you let yourself be influenced by someone in a position of power, your integrity will be damaged.” This may be rendered in the active voice as “If you let some powerful person influence you to judge unfairly, people will no longer think of you as a just person.”
An alternative model for this verse is:
• Don’t set your heart on being a judge unless you are strong enough in your heart [or, have enough strength of character] to do away with injustice. If you let some powerful person influence you to judge unfairly, your reputation for being a just [or, fair] person will be damaged.
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.