Give place, stranger, to an honored person: There is a nice effect in Greek here that may be impossible to translate precisely, but a translator can try to create the effect. Give place translates a Greek word that is the exact opposite of the word rendered “Come here” in verse 26. This gives the effect of having the poor man being ordered about here and there: Do this! Do that! Good News Translation does well with “Go away, stranger!” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). To an honored person is literally “from the face of honor.” In a number of languages this will be rendered as “for a person with much face.” Good News Translation‘s rendering here is good since it reflects impatience: “I’ve got an important guest!” New English Bible spells it out with “Make way for a more important guest.”

My brother has come to stay with me: Probably brother here refers to the host’s actual brother; it certainly works well as a translation. Good News Translation “is coming to visit” is a natural English idiom.

I need my house: Actually, the Greek just says “need of house,” with “need” as a noun. It sounds abrupt and rude, like it would sound in English to leave off the subject: “[I] need the house!” We could even say “No room for you!”

The series of rude commands or remarks in verses 26-27 are not a continuous discourse. The author is simply giving examples of the rude remarks a freeloader is going to have to endure. Each line in these verses is a separate example. The translator may wish to try inserting “or” at the end of verses 26a, 26b, and 27a. It may look clumsy in print, but it may actually help the reader, and will almost certainly help the hearer. However, to show that the remarks in this verse are from the host, we may restructure it as follows:

• Or that the host will say, “Go away, stranger! I need the room for a more important guest. My brother is coming to visit, so there is no room for you.”

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.