Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good: Disciplined refers to earthly suffering, which the author describes as discipline. People may think of their fate as punishment (verse 4), but God is using their suffering only to teach (compare Pro 3.11; 2Macc 6.12-17). We may also translate “Their sufferings were minor [or, small] compared to the great reward God will give them,” or even “God disciplined [or, tested] them, but that suffering is small compared to the great reward he will give them.”

Because God tested them and found them worthy of himself: Compare Psa 26.2; Sir 2.1-5. Good News Translation reverses the order of this line and the next one, thus combining the two verses. This conveys the meaning correctly, because it associates the testing by God in verse 5 with the testing of gold in verse 6, but we should also recognize that the two lines of verse 5 are parallel. The testing is the discipline of line one, and the great good of line one is being found worthy of God. A possible translation for the last part of this line is “worthy to be with him.”

Like gold in the furnace he tried them: A furnace is a place where a very hot fire is made to melt metals. This line refers to a means of separating pure gold from impurities by melting it at a high temperature. The testing that the righteous suffer only serves to make them pure, worthy of God. See Psa 66.10; Zech 13.9; Mal 3.3. Compare the picture of the ungodly as impure metal in 2.16.

And like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them: The picture here is of the sacrifice that was burned completely on the altar for God (see Lev 1).

Perhaps the material in the two verses can be arranged this way:

• God allowed them to suffer a little as a means of discipline [or, as a way of disciplining them]. He tested them like gold in a furnace, and found them worthy to be with him. He has accepted them as he accepts the sacrifices people burn on the altar. That is their great reward.

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.