I have often been in danger of death may be rendered “My life was often in danger” (Contemporary English Version), or even “I was often in danger of losing my life [or, being killed].”

But have escaped because of these experiences: These experiences is literally “these [things].” There is an interesting ambiguity here. “These [things]” can grammatically refer to the preceding verses, that is, what ben Sira has learned in his travels has saved his life on more than one occasion. But “these [things]” can also be understood to refer to what follows, in which case the author says he has often escaped death because he fears the Lord (verse 13). New Jerusalem Bible understands it this way, and translates verses 12b-13 as follows: “but I have been spared, and this is why: 13 the spirit of those who fear the Lord can survive, for their hope is in someone with power to save them.” Since New Jerusalem Bible handles these verses in this way, it does not make a section break until the end of verse 17. It does not even end a sentence at the end of verse 12. Luís Alonso Schökel understands it this way also, but does make a section break. Luís Alonso Schökel translates verse 12 as follows: “how many times I have gone through deadly danger and what follows has saved me.” The next section is entitled “Fear of the Lord.” This approach makes good sense and can be defended grammatically. Nonetheless, the Handbook prefers to understand “these [things]” as referring to the previous verses. Good News Translation‘s wording “past experience” expresses this meaning without using the ambiguous word “these.” For the last line of verse 12 we may also say “but what I had learned always helped me escape” (Contemporary English Version).

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.