They journeyed through an uninhabited wilderness: By wilderness is meant an area “where no one lived” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). It was usually dry and rocky, unfit for cultivation of crops, but with occasional patches of vegetation. Translations have often used the term “desert” for wilderness, meaning that it had only sand; but this is not accurate since the area of the Sinai Peninsula did have vegetation of various kinds. In cultures where very dry areas like this are unknown, we may translate wilderness with a descriptive phrase; for example, “a rocky region with little vegetation” or “a place where people don’t settle.”

Since this line opens not only a new section, but a major division of the book, it may be good to insert a few words from the wider context to help orient the reader: “O God, your righteous people traveled across an empty, desolate area.”

And pitched their tents in untrodden places: Tents are dwellings made of animal skins or cloth. They are held up by poles and fastened to the ground by cords and pegs. If such a dwelling is unknown, a descriptive phrase may be used; for example, “a house made of cloth [or, animal skins]” or “a moveable house.” To “pitch a tent” is to set a tent up in some particular place after traveling with it folded up. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version express the idea in the verb “camped”; but in many languages something like “set up their tents” will be a more natural expression. Good News Translation “places where no human being had ever been” is a good equivalent for untrodden places. Some translators might also say, more literally but still idiomatically, “places where no human had ever set foot.”

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.