Get instruction with a large sum of silver, and you will gain by it much gold: At first this seems to contradict verse 26, but it is really only a restatement of verse 27, using a figure of speech. Silver, though valuable, is worth less than gold. Ben Sira is saying you will get much more out of your search for Wisdom than you put into it. A better model than Good News Translation would be “Whatever you spend in acquiring Wisdom will be small in comparison with what you will receive,” or even “You too will get far more out of studying Wisdom than you ever put in.”

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.