For whoever despises wisdom and instruction is miserable: The word translated despises means literally “count as nothing,” “count as worthless.” The Good News Translation translation captures the meaning well: “A man who has no use for wisdom or education [or, discipline] has a miserable life in store for him.” Translators could reword it as “… will live a miserable life” or “… has an unhappy future [ahead of him].” In this case “A man” is proper, since verse 12 will speak of wives. Some translators, however, may find it easier to retain the plural here through verse 13a: “People who have no use for wisdom have a miserable life ahead of them” or “People who look down on wisdom will have miserable [or, unhappy] lives.”

Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable, and their works are useless: Vain is literally “empty.” Good News Translation may be misleading. It sounds like the ungodly recognize their own hopelessness, which is not what the text means. The ungodly do indeed have their hopes, but they are empty; they will come to nothing, unlike the hope of the righteous in 2.22. Translators could, however, say “His future is hopeless,” “They have only empty hopes,” or even “Whatever they hope for will come to nothing.” The last two of these clauses are close in meaning and could be combined as Contemporary English Version does with “everything they do is completely useless.” However, the repetition of the idea increases the sense of futility expressed here. Translators may want to consider reordering the clauses, so that the first one comes last as a climax: “Everything he does is completely useless, and he will never accomplish anything [worthwhile]. His future is hopeless.” This may of course be expressed in the plural: “Everything they do….”

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.