Do not disdain a man when he is old: To disdain is to look on someone with scorn or contempt, with the implication that you are superior. Good alternative models here are “Never think less of someone because he is old” (Good News Translation) and “Do not look down on [or, show contempt toward] people because they are old.” These renderings appropriately warn against feeling superior because of one’s youth. The translator should beware of making this line refer to only old men. The language here includes any old person, male or female.

For some of us are growing old: We are not to scorn people who have reached old age, because some of us are growing old. The writer says this, no doubt, with a sly twinkle in his eye. Obviously, all of us are growing older. The addition of “too” in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version (“as well” in New English Bible) helps make this point, but this word is also in the Greek. New Revised Standard Version says “for some of us are also growing old.”

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.