To remind them of thy oracles they were bitten: Oracles are messages from God. The Greek verb for bitten does not really mean “bite,” but “goad” or “prod.” The bites were the goads, of course, but the idea could be expressed in the line as follows: “The snakebites were intended to force them to remember your Law [or, commands],” “The purpose of [or, reason for] the snakebites was to force…,” or even “The purpose of the snakes biting your people was to force….”

And then were quickly delivered: “Healed” or “cured” may be used here rather than delivered or “rescued” (Good News Translation). The question here is whether this second line is a parenthetical expression between the first and third lines (which would mean “they were bitten lest they should fall…”) or whether lest they should fall refers back to delivered as well as to bitten. We believe it is best interpreted as a parenthesis, and will suggest a model below.

Lest they should fall into deep forgetfulness and become unresponsive to thy kindness: There are difficult problems here, mainly centering around the meaning of deep forgetfulness and of the obscure word translated unresponsive. Does forgetfulness refer to death (see Psa 88.12) or to spiritual insensitivity? Could unresponsive be rendered “unconcerned about” or should a change be made so it reads “cut off from” (New Jerusalem Bible similarly Reider)? We doubt that death is intended by forgetfulness, and believe that the meaning of the two lines is “to keep them from becoming so insensitive or oblivious to you that they would be incapable of responding to your kindness.”

We suggest these models for the verse:

• You intended the snakebites to force your people to remember your Law, so that they would not completely forget you, and become unable to recognize your kindness. But you quickly healed those bites.

• You decided to have the snakes bite your people to force them to remember your Law [or, commands]. In this way they would not completely forget you and become unable to recognize how kind you were to them….

Bringing the parenthetical second line and then were quickly delivered to the end allows the thought of the rest of the verse to flow freely and uninterrupted, and also leads smoothly into the next verse.

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.