They will speak to one another in repentance, and in anguish of spirit they will groan, and say: The phrase translated in anguish of spirit can very well mean “with shortness of breath,” and several translations take this approach. New English Bible, for instance, reads “Filled with remorse, groaning and gasping for breath, they will say among themselves.” New Jerusalem Bible has “Stricken with remorse, they will say to one another with groans and labouring breath.” (A similar usage is found in 4Macc 11.11.) This is the translator’s choice. If translators likes this approach, they could say “Then they will regret what they did, and will say to each other, while groaning and gasping for breath.” If translators prefer the customary interpretation, Good News Translation provides an adequate model.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.