He who acquires a wife gets his best possession: Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are reading the Hebrew here. The Greek can be interpreted to mean “The man who wins a wife has the beginnings of a fortune” (New English Bible; similarly New Jerusalem Bible), but we prefer the Hebrew. New American Bible translates the Hebrew as “A wife is her husband’s richest treasure.” In cases where the metaphor “treasure” will seem strange and even inappropriate, Revised Standard Version possession or even “thing” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) is possible; for example, the whole line may be rendered “When a man takes a wife, he gains the most important possession he will ever have.”

A helper fit for him and a pillar of support: There are textual problems here also. The first Greek phrase rendered a helper fit for him reflects Gen 2.18. There are two different Hebrew readings for this phrase. One says “a help and a fortification” and another says “a fortified town.” We recommend following the Greek. The second phrase in Greek reads “pillar of rest,” which we believe is a translation of the same Hebrew text translated by Revised Standard Version as pillar of support. We recommend this, but believe it to be a translational matter rather than textual, and so there is no need for a footnote.

All in all, the Handbook thinks Good News Translation has done well with this verse and recommends it. Translators might consider, however, saying “the most important thing” instead of “the finest thing.”

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.