Who then can fail to know that they are not gods?: This is the refrain again, but in a rather different form. This time the Greek text is not certain (see Revised Standard Version footnote). There are two forms of text for this verse, which are literally “By what is it [not] to be known that they are not gods?” and “To whom is it [not] known that they are not gods?” The negative word in square brackets is in doubt; the rest of the difference between the two forms is due simply to the presence or absence of a single letter. Scholars prefer the second form, with the negative. This form lies behind both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Good News Translation, however, expresses the question as a statement. It also joins this verse to the previous one, an approach that we argued against in the comments on verse 51. It is certainly legitimate, however, to express the meaning of the rhetorical question as a statement. This can be retained by translating this verse as a separate sentence. Contemporary English Version is a good model: “Everyone will realize that they are not gods.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.