Verses 11-15 are one long complex sentence in Greek. It begins with an “If” clause; the main clause does not appear until the last line of verse 14. Even Revised Standard Version restructures it into two sentences. The Handbook will assume that most translators will want to reduce the length of sentences even more.
A skilled woodcutter may saw down a tree easy to handle: Woodcutter is probably better rendered “woodworker” (Good News Translation). The Greek word literally refers to cutting wood, but a craftsperson works with wood by cutting it, and woodworkers have a more exacting skill than woodcutters, who simply cut down trees. The woodcutter is offered as an example, and translators could say so: “For example, a skilled woodworker….” Good News Translation expresses this with “A skilled woodworker may saw down…”; New English Bible has “Suppose some skilled woodworker fells with his saw…” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Take a woodcutter. He fells….” The adjective translated easy to handle is variously interpreted as “convenient” (New English Bible), “suitable” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), “handy” (Reider), or “easy to move” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Pliade). The idea seems to be that it is not a particularly impressive tree; it is one that can be cut down without trouble and moved easily enough. Revised Standard Version is probably pretty close, but if a language has a word to describe a tree just about that size, it could be described in terms of size—big enough to make things from, but not so big as to be a problem to move around and work with. The author is speaking scornfully of the woodworker as well as the tree. One way to express this scorn in the whole line is “Any ordinary woodworker with enough skill to do it can [go out and] saw down some little tree.”
And skilfully strip off all its bark: Skilfully may be ironic. No great skill is required to strip bark off a tree, but it can be done “deftly” (New English Bible), “neatly” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “expertly.”
And then with pleasing workmanship make a useful vessel that serves life’s needs: We can better approach these two lines as An American Translation does with “And shaping it nicely makes a dish suited to the uses of life.” A problem here is the sense of the adverb translated “nicely.” If this is what the author intends, it is surely to be taken as ironic. However, the word can mean, in some contexts, “plausibly, with good excuse.” The meaning seems to be that the woodworker almost casually makes something that will pass for the purpose, which is making some useful household object. (He will take much more care in making his idol in verses 13-15.) The vessel refers to any kind of object with practical use around the house, not necessarily a “dish.” That serves life’s needs is another way of saying the object is “practical.” The author will make a contrast between the casualness with which the woodworker makes a useful object and the great care he takes with making a useless one, the idol. New English Bible translates a useful vessel that serves life’s needs as “some vessel suitable for everyday use.” For the whole line we suggest “He works the wood into a shape suitable to make an object that will serve some useful purpose.”
An alternative model for this verse is:
• Suppose a skilled woodworker saws down a suitable [or, small] tree. He carefully peels off the bark. Then he works the wood into a shape suitable to make an object that will serve some useful purpose.
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.