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Sirach — Chapter 49 — Hebrew–Greek comparison

Josiah, the prophets, and the restorers

Saints Translation · V2 · Hebrew–Greek working comparison

Sirach 49 · 16 source units
Hebrew–English · Literal-Smooth	Greek–English · Literal-Smooth	Classification & Notes
Hebrew 49:1 · translated Josiah’s name is like fragrant incense, blended by a perfumer’s work. His memory is sweet as honey to the palate and like a psalm at a banquet of wine. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso שם יאשיהו כקטרת סמים ]] [[ הממלח מעשה רוקח׃ בחך כדבש ימתיק זכרו ]] [[ וכמזמור על משתה היין׃ Manuscript transcription	49:1 The remembrance of Josiah is like a blend of incense prepared by a perfumer’s skill. In every mouth it will be sweet as honey, and like music at a wine banquet.	Similar · Hebrew 49:1 — The same perfume, honey, and music comparisons occur.
Hebrew 49:2 · translated For he [uncertain: grieved] over our backsliding and ended vain abominations. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso כי נחל על משובתינו ]] [[ וישבת תועבות הבל׃ Manuscript transcription	49:2 He was rightly directed in bringing the people back, and he removed the abominations of lawlessness.	Different · Hebrew 49:2 — The difficult Hebrew נחל is rendered grieved provisionally; Greek speaks of directing the people’s return.
Hebrew 49:3 · translated He made his heart whole toward God, and in days of violence he practiced faithfulness. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso ויתם אל אל לבו ]] [[ ובימי חמס עשה חסד׃ Manuscript transcription	49:3 He directed his heart toward the Lord; in days of lawless people he strengthened godliness.	Similar · Hebrew 49:3 — Both describe devotion amid wrongdoing.
Hebrew 49:4 · translated Apart from David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, they all acted corruptly. The kings of Judah abandoned the Most High’s law, until their end. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso לבד מדויד יחזקיהו ]] [[ ויאשיהו כלם השחיתו׃ ויעזבו תורת עליון ]] [[ מלכי יהודה עד תמם׃ Manuscript transcription	49:4 Except for David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, they all committed offenses. For they abandoned the law of the Most High; the kings of Judah came to an end.	Similar · Hebrew 49:4 — The three exceptions and abandoned law agree.
Hebrew 49:5 · translated He turned their horn backward, and their glory to a foolish foreign nation. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso ויתן קרנם לאחור ]] [[ וכבודם לגוי נבל נכרי׃ Manuscript transcription	49:5 For they gave their horn to others and their glory to a foreign nation.	Different · Hebrew 49:5 — Hebrew has He turning their horn backward; Greek they gave it to others.
Hebrew 49:6 · translated They set the holy city on fire and desolated its streets. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso ויציתו קרית קדש ]] [[ וישמו ארחתיה׃ Manuscript transcription	49:6 They burned the chosen city of the sanctuary and made its streets desolate,	Similar · Hebrew 49:6 — The destruction agrees. Inherited Greek note 49:6 The implied agents of burning are not explicitly named in this clause.
Hebrew 49:7 · translated By Jeremiah’s hand—for they afflicted him, though from the womb he was formed a prophet—to uproot, tear down, destroy, demolish, and also to build, plant, and restore. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso ביד ירמיהו כי ענוהו ]] [[ והוא מרחם נוצר נביא׃ לנתוש ולנתוץ ולהאביד להרס וכן לבנת לנטע ולהשׄ יׄב֯ ׃ Manuscript transcription	49:7 by Jeremiah’s hand. For they mistreated him, though he was sanctified in the womb as a prophet to uproot, afflict, and destroy, and likewise to build and plant.	Similar · Hebrew 49:7 — Hebrew has additional demolish and restore verbs. Inherited Greek note 49:7 “By Jeremiah’s hand” is kept at its source boundary with the preceding destruction. The verse does not say that Jeremiah physically set the city on fire; his prophetic commission explains the literary association.
Hebrew 49:8 · translated Ezekiel saw a vision and declared the kinds of the chariot. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso יחזקאל ראה מראה ]] [[ ויגד זני מרכבה׃ Manuscript transcription	49:8 Ezekiel saw a vision of glory, which He showed him upon a chariot of cherubim.	Different · Hebrew 49:8 — Hebrew kinds of the chariot differs from Greek vision of glory on a cherubim chariot.
Hebrew 49:9 · fragmentary He also mentioned Job, a [prophet] who maintained all the [ways of righteousness]. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso וגם הזכיר את איובׄ נ֯ ]ב[י֯א֯ ]] [[ המכלכל כל ד֯ ]רכי צ[דׄ ק׃ Manuscript transcription	49:9 For He remembered the enemies in a rainstorm, and to do good to those who make their ways straight.	Divergent · Hebrew 49:9 — Hebrew Job, a prophet contrasts substantively with the inherited Greek-English enemies in a rainstorm; partly restored letters are marked in the transcription. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. Inherited Greek note 49:9 The accessed Greek reads “enemies in a rainstorm,” τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐν ὄμβρῳ. No unprinted reference to Job is substituted. The infinitive in the second clause is syntactically compressed and remains a review question.
Hebrew 49:10 · fragmentary And the twelve prophets also—may their bones [blossom from their resting places]! They healed Jacob and saved him with […]. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso וגם שנים עשר הנביׄאׄ יׄם ]] [[ תהי עצמתׄ ם פרׄ ]חות מתח[תׄ ם׃ ֯אשר החלימו את יעקב ]] [[ וישעׄ והו ב [– ] [ — ] [ — ] Manuscript transcription	49:10 May the bones of the twelve prophets flourish again from their place! For they comforted Jacob and redeemed them with the faithfulness of hope.	Similar · Hebrew 49:10 — Hebrew healed contrasts with Greek comforted; the final phrase is lost. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. Inherited Greek note 49:10 The shift from singular Jacob to plural “them” is retained. “Faithfulness of hope” renders πίστει ἐλπίδος without replacing hope by another noun.
Hebrew 49:11 · blocked [The line is lost in this Hebrew witness.] Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso ל [ — ] [ — ] [ — ] Manuscript transcription	49:11 How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? He too was like a seal upon the right hand.	Not classified · Hebrew 49:11 — Only an isolated letter and lacunae remain; Zerubbabel’s praise is not back-translated.
Hebrew 49:12 · fragmentary […] and they raised a holy sanctuary, established for everlasting glory. Hebrew witness B · B XVIII Verso; B XIX Recto [ — ] וירימו היכל קדש ]] [[ המכונן לכבוד עולם׃ Manuscript transcription Additional folio transcriptions: 2	49:12 So was Joshua son of Jozadak. In their days they built a house and raised up a holy sanctuary for the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory.	Similar · Hebrew 49:12 — The names and opening construction are lost; the closing sanctuary clause survives. Classification assesses only the surviving/readable wording, not lost portions. Inherited Greek note 49:12 The Greek name Ἰησοῦς is rendered Joshua here in the returning high-priest context, distinct from the author’s Jesus at 50:27.
Hebrew 49:13 · translated Nehemiah—may his memory be majestic—who raised our ruins, repaired our breaches, and set up doors and a bar. Hebrew witness B · B XIX Recto נחמיה יאדר זכרו ]] [[ המקים את חרבתינו׃ וירפא את הׄ רׄ יסתינו ]] [[ ויצב דלתים ובריח׃ Manuscript transcription	49:13 Great also is the remembrance of Nehemiah, who raised our fallen walls, set up gates and bars, and rebuilt our home sites.	Similar · Hebrew 49:13 — The same rebuilding work is expressed with a different sequence and terms.
Hebrew 49:14 · translated Few were formed on earth like Enoch, and he too was taken into the Presence. Hebrew witness B · B XIX Recto מעט נוצר על הארץ כהניך ]] [[ וגם הוא נלקח פנים׃ Manuscript transcription	49:14 No one was created on earth like Enoch, for he was taken up from the earth.	Different · Hebrew 49:14 — Hebrew few and Presence differ from Greek no one and taken from earth.
Hebrew 49:15 · translated Was a man ever born like Joseph? His body also was attended to. Hebrew witness B · B XIX Recto כיוסף אם נולד גבר ]] [[ וגם גויתו נפקדה׃ Manuscript transcription	49:15 Nor was a man born like Joseph, a leader of his brothers, a support for the people; and his bones were cared for.	Different · Hebrew 49:15 — Hebrew lacks the Greek leader-of-brothers and support-of-people clauses and has body rather than bones. Inherited Greek note 49:15 The final passive says the bones were visited or attended to; it is not expanded into the details of their transport from another book.
Hebrew 49:16 · translated Shem, Seth, and Enosh were remembered, and above every living being was Adam’s splendor. Hebrew witness B · B XIX Recto ושם ושת ואנוש נפקדו ]] [[ ועל כל חי תפארת אדם׃ Manuscript transcription	49:16 Shem and Seth were glorified among people, and Adam above every living creature in creation.	Different · Hebrew 49:16 — Hebrew includes Enosh, absent from the aligned Greek.

Source and numbering

Hebrew English is newly translated from the manuscript-specific transcriptions in The Book of Ben Sira portal. Each translated unit identifies its selected witness and folio. This is a selected-witness working edition, not an exhaustive collation of every manuscript or a reconstruction of lost Hebrew. Brackets and fragmentary status identify uncertainty; no Greek text has been back-translated to fill Hebrew gaps.

The Greek-source English and its notes are inherited from the existing Sirach edition. The comparison categories are provisional editorial assessments against that English; this update is not a fresh verification of every Greek reading or its apparatus.

Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.

The translator’s prologue is separate from the 51 chapters. Its eight source units map to publisher labels 1, 1a–1g; main-text 1:1 maps to 1h. Source 5:15 includes material often numbered 6:1, so chapter 6 begins at 6:2. Source label gaps are preserved; no text is invented.