Let us now praise famous men: In Hebrew the men to be praised here are described by the same term used in 43.33 of the devout people to whom God granted wisdom (see the Good News Translation footnote). This section then goes on to give examples of the kind of person the author was thinking of in 43.33. In Greek, however, different terms are used in the two verses and the connection is less clear. The clearest way to make the connection (following on the suggested model given in 43.33) would be to read the Hebrew of this line as follows: “So let us now praise those devout people” or “… those people who faithfully obeyed [or, worshiped] the Lord.”

On the other hand, ben Sira’s grandson and translator must have had reasons for saying famous, and ignoring the obvious connection in Hebrew between this verse and the preceding one. The Greek actually makes a different connection, with 44.7, where the idea of fame appears. Further, verses 3-9 appear to be talking about great men who were not necessarily Israelites, whom ben Sira would not have considered “devout.” Nevertheless they receive praise, and this makes the word famous more appropriate.

The decision to be made here, whether to choose “devout” or famous, is a difficult one. Translators may go either way. The Handbook prefers the Greek, but will not argue with any who wish to go with the Hebrew. For the Greek, Revised Standard Version offers a simple and adequate model. (Translators may even say famous men rather than “famous people,” since every person singled out for praise here is in fact a man. Even New Revised Standard Version says “famous men.”)

And our fathers in their generations: A separate group of people is not being singled out here; our fathers refers to the famous men of the last line. Good News Translation identifies the two as being the same group by placing only a comma with no “and” between the two lines. New English Bible offers the bold translation, “the heroes of our nation’s history.” This is tempting, and it is surely what ben Sira has in mind, but Good News Translation is closer to what he actually said with “our ancestors of generations past.” However, we may also say “our ancestors who lived long ago” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

Alternative models for this verse are:

• So let us now praise those devout men,
our ancestors who lived long ago.

• So let us now praise famous men,
our ancestors….

We may also reorder the verse as follows:

• So let us now praise our ancestors,
those famous men who lived long ago.

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.