Wisdom was created before all things: The preexistence of Wisdom is expressed vividly in Pro 8.22-31; see also Job 28.12-23; Bar 3.20-32; John 1.2. Revised Standard Version‘s literal translation retains the internal contradiction of the original text, because all things would include Wisdom. Good News Translation solves the problem with “before anything else” (similarly Contemporary English Version). New Revised Standard Version solves it with “before all other things.” New English Bible goes another route, saying “Wisdom was first of all created things.” Another possible model in the active voice is “The Lord created Wisdom before all other things.”

And prudent understanding from eternity: Prudent understanding is literally “understanding of prudence.” This is very likely the use of two words to express the same idea. The wisdom writers had a rich vocabulary of synonyms for “wisdom,” and ben Sira may use here two words for no other reason than to round out a line of poetry. Good News Translation understands it this way, and the phrase is legitimately reduced to “understanding.” New English Bible is unwilling to leave it at that, and has the striking line “intelligent purpose has been there from the beginning.” “Intelligent purpose” effectively links the idea of wisdom to God’s creative activity. If a translator does not need two terms here for a balanced line, one term will be sufficient. If the line would be too short without a second term, two words can be used, either as adjective and noun (prudent understanding, “intelligent purpose”) or as two nouns (“understanding [or, insight] and intelligence”). A model with two nouns for this line is “The Lord created understanding and intelligence long before he created anything else.”

Some manuscripts add verse 5. It should be included in a footnote at the end of verse 4 (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).

The source of wisdom is God’s word in the highest heaven: Source is literally a “spring”; Wisdom flows from God’s word like water from the rocks or the ground. (Shekan “The wellspring of wisdom is the word of God in the heights”). In the highest heaven is literally “in the highest,” as in Luke 2.14, but heaven is what is meant. The Greek is not at all clear as to whether it is God’s word that is in heaven or whether it is God who is in heaven. Revised Standard Version clearly sees it as the former; Good News Translation seems to indicate it is the latter. Since rabbinic tradition says the Torah existed long before God created the world, it is probably fair to say the author intends God’s word to be coming from heaven. An alternative model for this first line is “Wisdom flows from God’s word in heaven like water flows from a spring [or, out of the rocks/ground].”

And her ways are the eternal commandments: The ways of Wisdom are revealed in the Torah; consequently a person who is wise is one who lives according to the commandments revealed there. The Greek word translated ways is not the word usually used for this. The usual word denotes a path. This word indicates either a manner of walking (slow, fast, confident, stumbling, swaggering) or the route a person takes. Notice that Wisdom is referred to by the feminine pronoun in this line. Alternative models are “The paths to understanding God are his eternal commands” and “God’s eternal commands are like paths that lead us to understand him.”

Shekan’s translation of this verse is a striking example of following through with an image, in this case the image of wisdom as a spring: “The wellspring of wisdom is the word of God in the heights, and its runlets are the ageless commandments.” The vocabulary is odd, but there is an internal consistency. The picture is of a mountain (“the heights”) with a spring bubbling out of it and the water running downhill in little streams (“runlets”). The spring is the word of God and the streams are the commandments in his word. The adjective “ageless” is well chosen to fit the picture of a mountain as well as the divine law. In pressing ways to mean streams of water, however, Shekan may be going farther than the Greek really allows. The Handbook does not recommend using Shekan for a model here, but his method is instructive. For those translators who will be translating this verse as prose, it will be helpful to combine source of wisdom and her ways as follows:

• The wisdom in God’s eternal commands flows from his word in heaven like streams flowing from a spring.

• The wise instructions in God’s eternal commands flow from his word….

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.