For if the righteous man is God’s son: In the writings of the church fathers and traditional Catholic writers, 2.12-20 was taken as a prediction of the suffering of Jesus, so for them God’s son refers to Jesus (compare Matt 27.43). Today few scholars think this is the original reference, so Good News Translation is justified in switching to the plural “God’s children.” If for any reason translators wish to preserve a possible connection to Jesus, the singular form may be kept. This Handbook, however, prefers the plural rendering in Good News Translation. The connector for may be rendered as “because.”

He will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries: Notice that Good News Translation does not use confusing pronouns here. Since the two lines have essentially the same meaning, they may be combined and rendered “Because, if those so-called righteous people really are God’s children, God will save them from their enemies.”

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.