Solomon has been describing Wisdom as if she were a spiritual being, which raises the question of just how she relates to God. Verses 25-26 answer that question. Here Wisdom herself is the subject, not the spirit within Wisdom (verse 22). While in verses 22b-23 the spirit of Wisdom was described by a chain of adjectives, in verses 24-26 she is described by a series of nouns (breath, emanation, “reflection,” “mirror,” “image”). This is a good place for a paragraph break.

For she is a breath of the power of God: If this begins a new paragraph, it is appropriate to delete the connector For and to name “Wisdom” as the subject, as Contemporary English Version does with “Wisdom is the breath….” The word translated breath describes a mist or vapor, such as steam, or a person’s breath when the weather is cold. Compare Sir 24.3, where, however, another noun is used. The Good News Translation translation, “a breath of God’s power,” may leave the mistaken impression that Wisdom is being described as a hint of God’s power, which is not the case. Perhaps translators may say “Wisdom is the power of God, breathed into this world” or “Wisdom is the power of God, covering the world like the air itself.”

And a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty: The word translated emanation refers to something, such as light or water, flowing from a source. Here light is surely intended. The philosophers would speak of light emanating from the sun, without making the sun less. So an emanation from God did not make God less. In the Old Testament Good News Translation usually translates glory as “the dazzling light of God’s presence”; see, for example, Exo 33.18, 22; 40.34. A possible way of handling this line is “She is a stream of purest light coming from the dazzling presence of God Almighty [or, God who is over all things].”

Therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her: Since Wisdom participates in the power and glory of God, nothing can contaminate her. The verb translated gains entrance has to do with entering by stealth—sneaking in. So Good News Translation has “Nothing that is defiled can ever steal its way into Wisdom.” The figure of “gaining entrance into” does not have to be retained, and should not be if it would be taken in a literal sense. To avoid it, translators might say “Nothing can ever find a way to contaminate [or, corrupt] her [purity].”

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.