His heart is ashes, his hope is cheaper than dirt, and his life is of less worth than clay: His heart is ashes is a clause used in the Greek of Isa 44.20, where it again describes a person who makes idols. Heart is probably used here in the Hebrew sense of “mind,” so it means that his thoughts and ideas are worth no more than ashes. The common element in ashes, dirt, and clay is that all are cheap. The translator’s aim is to convey the idea of a futile, worthless life. For the whole verse we could say:

• His mind is a heap of ashes, he can hope for nothing more valuable than dirt, and his [whole] life is worth less than [or, is not worth more than] his clay.

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.