But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things, are the men: Good News Translation “the most miserable people of all” is not correct; it is contradicted in 15.14, where we really do find the most miserable people of all. We need to ask why idol worshipers are miserable or “wretched” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “really degraded” (New English Bible). It must be because they are suffering under illusions, not necessarily suffering physically. Dead is rendered “lifeless” in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version, since dead could imply that something once lived, which is not the case here. This line may be rendered “But there are people [whom] we must really pity; they are the ones who put their hopes on lifeless objects.”

Who give the name “gods” to the works of men’s hands: The Good News Translation verb “worship” implies that people give the name “gods” to what they have made. Another approach, following the suggested model above, might be: “These are the people who take things made by human hands and call them gods.”

Gold and silver fashioned with skill, and likenesses of animals: Good News Translation joins these two lines to come up with “images of animals artistically made from gold and silver,” but the two lines are really separate.

Or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand: Whether old or newly-made, idols are equally useless.

Here is an alternative model for the verse:

• But there are people who are truly pathetic [or, should be truly pitied]; they are the ones who put their hopes on lifeless objects. These are the people who take things made by human hands and call them gods. They worship things that people have artistically crafted [or, made] from gold and silver, images of animals, or even a useless stone that was carved by someone long ago.

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.