In verses 17-20 the author argues that even though God could have punished the Egyptians for the silly worship of reptiles and beetles by overwhelming them with huge, savage animals, he chose the punishment to fit the sin.

For thy all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter: Good News Translation translates these lines as a separate sentence, which many translators will find a more natural style. The connector For introduces these lines as the reason for the last line. This relationship can be indicated by beginning the last line with “So” (see our model below). Hand is here a symbol of God’s activity in creation. For thy all-powerful hand, Good News Translation has “Your almighty power,” which is a good model; but if a language can use hand as a metaphor for “power,” the translator should use that word picture. The insertion of “Lord” by Good News Translation is helpful; it signals that the argument is about to take a new direction. Formless matter recalls Gen 1.2. An alternative model for this line is “Lord, you used your power to make the world out of material that had no form.”

Did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions: Multitude translates the same word as in verse 15, where Good News Translation translated “millions.” That was appropriate there, but here “an invasion of bears” (Good News Translation) is more appropriate for a multitude of bears. Winston translates “an army of bears.” Translators could also say “thousands of bears.” The bears referred to are the large, brown, dish-faced, humpbacked bears that once lived throughout Europe and northern Asia. In North America they are called grizzly bears. The lions are described as bold or “fearless,” but “savage” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “fierce” (New American Bible) are other possible renderings.

An alternative model for the verse is:

• Lord, you used your power to create the world out of material that had no form. So with this same power you could have sent thousands of bears or savage lions.

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.