Because God did not make death: The logical connector because does not fit here grammatically, so it should not be used. For this line see 2.23-24. The Good News Translation choice of “invent death” happens to work well in English. “God did not create us for death” (Contemporary English Version) is also possible. Or we may say something like “God did not create us to let us die.”

And he does not delight in the death of the living: As Good News Translation indicates, the living probably refers here to all living creatures, not just to humans. Compare Ezek 33.11. Since the only things that can die are living things, the phrase of the living may serve no other function than to fill out a poetic line. Alternative renderings for this verse are “God did not make death, and death gives him no pleasure” and “God did not make death, and when any living creature dies it doesn’t make God glad.”

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.