Translation commentary on Sirach 22:9

Children who are brought up in a good life, conceal the lowly birth of their parents: Brought up in a good life means raised to know right from wrong, raised to be responsible, “brought up well” (Good News Translation; similarly Contemporary English Version). Parents in lower classes of society can raise their children in this way, and no one would know from the children’s behavior that they were of “humble origin” (Good News Translation). An alternative model for this verse is:

• If parents bring up their children well, no one will know that they [the parents] were once poor.

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.

Translation commentary on Sirach 22:9 (a)

This verse and the next one should be numbered 9 and 10, as in New Revised Standard Version.

He who teaches a fool is like one who glues potsherds together: For fool see 8.17. Potsherds are broken pieces of pottery. Modern ceramics can often be repaired by modern adhesives, but even now it would seldom be worth the effort. The clay pottery of antiquity would be much more difficult to repair—but no more difficult than “Trying to teach a fool” (Good News Translation). An alternative model for this line is “Trying to teach a fool is as difficult as trying to glue a broken pot back together.”

Or who rouses a sleeper from deep slumber: If a person is sound asleep, waking him up can be very hard to do. It is like “Trying to teach a fool” (Good News Translation).

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.