Instead of this punishment thou didst show kindness to thy people: Instead of this punishment may be rendered “But you did not punish your people in this way” (similarly Good News Translation). Thou didst show kindness may be expressed as “instead, you showed them kindness” (Good News Translation) or “you treated them with kindness [or, were kind to them].”

And thou didst prepare quails to eat: This is actually the third line of the verse in Greek. The reference is to Exo 16.9-13; Num 11.18-20, 31-33; compare Psa 78.26-29; 105.40. In cultures where quails are unknown, we may say something like “birds named quails or even “special birds,” since the exact type of bird is not important here. There is a danger for translators here, illustrated by Revised Standard Version, which sounds like God was going to eat the quails. Possible alternative models are “You provided quails for them to eat” and “You sent them quails to eat.”

A delicacy to satisfy the desire of appetite: This line and the previous one are translated more literally in An American Translation, which has “And to satisfy the desire of their appetite, you prepared something with a strange taste—Quails for food.” “Strange taste” is always interpreted as meaning what Good News Translation says with “a rare, delicious food.” This line may be combined with the previous line: “You provided [them with] quails, a rare, delicious food, to satisfy their hunger.” But in some languages translators may prefer to use two sentences: “You provided [or, sent] them quails to satisfy their hunger. These were a rare and delicious food.”

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.