O that a guard were set over my mouth…! is literally “Who will set a guard over my mouth…?” (New Revised Standard Version; see the Revised Standard Version footnote). Although this verse is expressed as a question, it is in effect a wish—not quite a prayer. It will become a prayer in the next verse (23.1). Good News Translation translates it as a wish, and offers a good model for this line. However, in many other languages the metaphor of a guard will be difficult to express. For one thing a guard normally refers to a sentry. In such cases this line may be rendered “I hope that I will be careful in what I say.”

And a seal of prudence upon my lips: A seal of prudence is better translated “an effective seal,” as in New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). This is also closer to the Greek than Good News Translation “be wisely sealed.” The first two lines of this verse are almost identical in meaning, and in languages that cannot use the metaphors of guard or seal, translators may combine these lines and not lose any meaning; for example, “I hope that I will be very careful in everything I say.”

That it may keep me from falling is literally “so that I may not fall because of them” (New Revised Standard Version). It refers to the guard. Falling does not mean, as Good News Translation expresses it, “making mistakes.” It refers to personal ruin. The same idiom is used in the next verse, where Good News Translation translates it correctly.

So that my tongue may not destroy me!: The Good News Translation phrase “with my own tongue” could also be expressed as “with my own words.” It will be helpful in a number of languages to combine the two final lines of this verse; for example, “so that my mouth [or, my words] will not cause my destruction.”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• I hope that I will be very careful in everything I say, so that my mouth [or, my words] will not cause my destruction.

• I wish that my mouth could be guarded in some way to keep me from slipping up and saying the wrong thing. Then I couldn’t say something that might lead me to disaster.

• I wish there were some way I could guard my tongue, to keep me….

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.