He will lean on her and will not fall, and he will rely on her and will not be put to shame: Again, these are two synonymous lines. Good News Translation combines He will lean on her and he will rely on her into “Rely on her for support,” and combines will not fall and will not be put to shame into “you will never know the disgrace of failure.”

Translators must not lose sight of the subject here. The pronoun He refers to “The man who fears the Lord” in verse 1. Translators who are following Good News Translation in rendering this as second person should consider repeating that information here by saying “If you have reverence for the Lord, you can rely on Wisdom for support and no one will disgrace you” or “If you honor the Lord, you can be sure that you will become wise….”

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.