The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the godly: This means that people who are religious, devout, obey the Lord faithfully, will be blessed by the Lord. To be blessed by the Lord means to be in good standing with the Lord, to have the Lord regard you with favor. It does not necessarily mean simply receiving material benefits, although it does include that. This line may be worded “Devout people can look forward to the Lord’s blessing [or, treating them well],” “People who obey the Lord faithfully can look forward to him treating them well,” or even “If you are faithful to the Lord, you can be sure that he will treat you well.” The footnote in Revised Standard Version says that the Greek reads “in the reward” instead of the reward, but this does not change the meaning of the whole line.

And quickly God causes his blessing to flourish is literally “and in a quick hour he will cause his well-wishing to spring up.” “In a quick hour” is a distinctive poetic phrase on the Greek translator’s part; quickly is good enough. Good News Translation‘s translation, “in a moment,” may not be well chosen. To be sure, if the Lord wished, he could make a poor person rich in a moment, but that is not way it usually works, and ben Sira knows that. He is only saying that the Lord can do this quickly—much more quickly than a person could do it on his own. God does not appear in the text. God is intended, to be sure, but in supplying the word Revised Standard Version has chosen a term that ben Sira’s Greek translator deliberately avoids. He prefers “the Lord.” The Greek noun translated blessing is a word used to wish someone a safe journey, like the French expression bon voyage. In some languages translators must show the content of the blessing. It seems to refer to the Lord making the poor person rich quickly, as in verse 21. So this line may be translated “And he will quickly cause you to prosper.” The Greek verb rendered causes … to flourish refers to a plant springing up from the ground; it was used of “peace and perfect health” in 1.18. Good News Translation makes no attempt to preserve the figure of the plant coming from the ground, but to be more consistent with the image, the Good News Translation rendering “that blessing can be given” could be reworded to say “that blessing can appear”.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• If you are faithful to the Lord, you can be sure that he will treat you well. And he will quickly cause you to prosper.

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.