But the idol made with hands is accursed, and so is he who made it: Accursed means “under God’s curse,” “God will curse,” or “… cause bad things to happen to” (see 3.13a). Continuing the model from verse 7, translators could say “but there is a curse on an idol that someone makes, as well as on the one who made it” or “but God will curse [or, cause bad things to happen to] an idol that someone makes and will punish the one who made it.”

Because he did the work, and the perishable thing was named a god: We prefer an interpretation of this line other than that chosen by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The line is giving the reason why the maker of the idol is cursed, and then the reason the idol itself is cursed. One possible rendering is “This will happen to the maker because he did the work on it, and to the perishable thing he made, because he called it a god.”

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.