There was one who pleased God and was loved by him, and while living among sinners he was taken up is literally “Having pleased God he was loved, and living among sinners he was taken away.” It is clear that the language used here is the language used in Gen 5.24 to speak of Enoch (compare Sir 44.16; Heb 11.5). It is not clear, however, that the author is actually discussing Enoch, in spite of Good News Translation (or Revised Standard Version, for that matter). Rather, the author is continuing to speak of any righteous person who dies prematurely, the person spoken of in verse 7. He simply chooses his words so that the reader familiar with the Bible will be reminded of Enoch.

In our opinion, Enoch should not be mentioned by name here (the name does not occur in the Greek). New Revised Standard Version, which has cast verse 8 in the plural, continues here as follows: “There were some who pleased God and were loved by him, and while living among sinners were taken up.” The plural continues through verse 15. Another possible model is “Some of the people God loved and who pleased him were living among sinners. But God took them away.” New Jerusalem Bible does not use the plural, but the interpretation is similar. The Handbook believes this is the proper approach. We will recommend this, and further suggest that the present tense be used, to help indicate that we are not talking about particular people, much less one, but about any righteous people who die before their time. We will continue this in the following verses. Translators could say here:

• There are people who please God, and he shows his love for them by taking them from among sinners to be with him.

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.