She seems very harsh to the uninstructed: This does not mean that Wisdom is harsh on people who are uninstructed; it means uninstructed people think that Wisdom is harsh. “Undisciplined people find Wisdom’s demands too hard” (Good News Translation) is a good translation here; we could even say “People with no self-discipline find Wisdom’s demands too hard” or “… find that Wisdom demands too much of them.”

A weakling will not remain with her: Weakling translates a Greek word literally meaning “with no heart.” This word probably means “with no understanding [or, without good sense].” Good News Translation conveys the meaning of this line well: “and don’t have enough determination to meet them.” A lack of determination is what will keep people from finding Wisdom, if, as the English idiom has it, they have no “stomach” for it. This second line could be translated “They will not stay at it [the task] very long.”

Alternative models for this verse are:

• People with no self-discipline find Wisdom’s demands [or, work] too hard, and so they will not stay at it [the task] very long.

• People with no self-discipline find that the path to learning the Lord’s commandments is too difficult to walk on. So they soon leave it [the path].

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.