And if any one longs for wide experience: If translators choose to begin these verses with a statement, here they could say “We all want to have wide experience” or “We all want to experience many things [or, all sorts of things].” The next four lines spell out what wide experience includes.

She knows the things of old, and infers the things to come: Good News Translation is exceptionally good in expressing the meaning of this line, and relating it to the previous one. Another possible model is “Wisdom knows what has happened in the past and anticipates what will happen in the future.”

She understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles: Turns of speech could mean “tricks of language” (An American Translation) or “subtleties of argument” (New English Bible). Probably it is the second of these; Wisdom can help a person get behind what people say to understand what they mean. Good News Translation comes close to this with “She knows how to interpret what people say.” We might also translate “she helps us understand what other people are saying [or, the true meaning of peoples’ words].” Riddle may mean what the word means in current English, that is, “a puzzling question or statement that challenges hearers to work out its meaning.” Riddles were a common way of expressing wise thoughts in ancient times, and many languages will have suitable expressions for these forms of wordplay. For the solutions of riddles, Contemporary English Version has “the answers to riddles.” “How to solve problems” (Good News Translation) is possible, and certainly appealing, but it is not precise enough. Revised English Bible “the solving of hard questions” is also possible. Other alternatives for the whole line are “She knows how to interpret what people say, and how to answer hard questions” and “She helps us understand what people are saying [or, the true meaning of peoples’ words], and gives us the answer to riddles.”

She has foreknowledge of signs and wonders: Scholars have two interpretations of signs and wonders. Some believe it has reference to God’s miraculous actions in history, especially the events of the Exodus (so Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version “miracles”; compare 10.16). The problem is that this would make the line speak of predicting past events. Others believe it refers to natural events such as earthquakes, eclipses, and storms, which ancient people believed happened before or accompanied important events. Translators may choose whichever they prefer, but we frankly prefer the second interpretation. Some of these natural phenomena can be predicted, and it took wisdom or knowledge to do this (compare 7.17-20). We think this interpretation fits in much better with the context, especially with the next line. So translators might say something like “She knows how the sun, moon, and stars will move, and when strange things will happen in the weather” or “Wisdom knows in advance when strange things will happen with the sun, moon, stars, or the weather.”

And of the outcome of seasons and times: Good News Translation expresses this about as well as it can be expressed in modern terms. We could also say “and [she knows] where history is moving [or, heading].” Revised English Bible has “and foretell what the different times and seasons will bring about.” Possible approaches based on this are “and she knows what will happen with the passing years, as time goes on” and “… what will happen when the seasons change, or the years pass by.”

An alternative model for the whole verse is:

• We all want to understand many things. Wisdom knows what has happened in the past and anticipates what will happen in the future. She helps us understand what people are saying and gives us the answer to riddles. She knows how the sun, moon, and stars will move, and when strange things will happen in the weather. She also knows what will happen when the seasons change, or the years pass by.

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.