So he takes thought for it, that it may not fall: Good News Translation is good with “He is careful to keep it from falling,” or we may say “He does this to keep it from falling.” This verse continues the irony. Someone reading this aloud would want to read it in such a way as to make the listeners smile or even laugh. A good translation should be consistent with that, and perhaps suggest it to the reader.

Because he knows that it cannot help itself, for it is only an image and has need of help: The way Good News Translation rearranges the material here is effective, but image should not be translated by a word meaning “idol.” The Greek word means “a likeness of something.” We could say “picture” except that it is a carved object. These two line may be rendered “because he knows that it is not real [or, is only the likeness of something] and needs help” or even “because he knows that it is only the helpless image [or, likeness] of something.”

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.