There is no venom worse than a snake’s venom: Revised Standard Version has footnotes indicating that in both cases, the word venom is literally “head” in Greek. It is obvious that someone mistook the Hebrew word for “poison” for a very similar word meaning “head.” We recommend translating “poison” without a footnote, as in Good News Translation, which renders this line as “No poison is deadlier than the poison of a snake.” Another possible rendering is “No poison can kill a person faster than the poison of a snake.”

And no wrath worse than an enemy’s wrath: As Good News Translation‘s footnote indicates, the ancient translations read “woman” rather than enemy. This reading is also found in one Greek manuscript. Most scholars believe “woman” is the correct reading, and we urge translators to follow Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version in adopting it. Good News Translation translated each line in verses 13-14 as a separate short sentence. In this verse, however, it joins the two lines into one sentence, with the connector “and” joining the clauses. This has the effect of calling special attention to the last line, which is where ben Sira wants the emphasis.

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.