But let our might be our law of right: The thought is condensed here; translators may have to expand this into a longer sentence, as Good News Translation has done. Translators could say “If we are powerful enough to do what we want, that’s all the reason we need for doing it.” The adversative But should not be used since there is no contrast here.

For what is weak proves itself to be useless: The idiomatic rendering of Good News Translation captures the right tone. Another possibility is “We won’t gain anything by being weak.”

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.