Translation introduction to Wisdom of Solomon

The name, the language, and the author of the book

In its Latin translation, this book is titled simply “The Book of Wisdom,” and most Catholic sources call it by that name. In Greek, it is entitled “The Wisdom of Solomon,” and this title is usually used in Protestant versions of the Apocrypha. Either title is acceptable.

It is almost universally agreed today that Greek is the original language of this book. There is less agreement about its date. Estimates are made from about 200 B.C. to about A.D. 50. Recent opinion seems to be moving toward a date at the late end of this time span.

King Solomon is never mentioned by name in the book, although it is clear from 9.7-12 that the author is writing as if he were King Solomon, at least in the central section, 6.22–11.1. (It is not clear that the author speaks as Solomon in the rest of the book.) The fact that the book is in Greek is reason enough to suppose Solomon himself is not the author, since Greece never developed a literature until several centuries after Solomon. Moreover, this particular style of Greek (200 B.C.–A.D. 50) is even later. At the time of writing, however, it was a common literary practice for authors to write books in the name of men of the past. This was no attempt at falsehood, but rather a tribute to the memory of those men. Today a writer might dedicate a book to the memory of a revered teacher. In those days a writer would write the book in the teacher’s name. The author of The Wisdom of Solomon wishes to identify the book with the wisdom tradition of Israel, which is represented by Solomon in the same way as the legal tradition is represented by Moses.

The author was certainly a Jewish scholar, very likely a resident of the city of Alexandria, in Egypt. Although he is familiar with Greek philosophy and has been influenced by it, his primary concern is to make other Jews proud of their own faith, and to show its superiority over Gentile religions.

Problems in translating The Wisdom of Solomon

Mystery religions: At a number of places in the book (for example, 14.22-31 and 17.3), the writer refers to the practices of certain religions practiced in the Mediterranean world of his day. These religions are known to scholars as the mystery religions. They might be called cults by some today. Most of these religions had their origins in Egypt or the Near East, although they were practiced over much of the Greek and Roman world. They had secret rites (“mysteries”) that were not to be made known to outsiders. Among these were secret rites of initiation which a person went through in order to become a member. Sometimes there were sacred meals. A few of these religions had ceremonies that struck outsiders, particularly Jews and Christians, as horrible, involving sexual immorality or drunkenness. It was widely believed that babies were sometimes killed and even eaten, but this is probably more imagination than reality. Translators will not need a general term such as “mysteries,” but they will need to be aware of the background against which the author is speaking.

Meaning of the term “wisdom”: The wisdom writers of the Old Testament had a number of terms to use for wisdom. Sometimes these terms have distinctive meanings, but sometimes for practical purposes they have essentially the same meaning. The principal term is “wisdom.” It refers to the quality possessed by a person who is perceptive about people and about situations. He has insight into them, whether from experience or intuition. A person with wisdom will exercise good judgment. Wisdom also includes knowledge of facts. Often in this book a Greek term is used (paideia) which is often translated by such terms as “instruction,” “discipline,” and “education.” In this book it usually has the meaning “instruction,” and seems at times to refer to the content of instruction, that is, knowledge or information (see 6.17). In some languages it will be impossible to use an abstract noun for “wisdom,” but translators will use a verbal phrase; for example, “thinking and acting as God would have you do.”

Figure of Wisdom: Like the books of Proverbs and Sirach, this book often speaks of Wisdom as if it were a person, a woman. This is most obvious in the central section, 6.12–9.18, but there are other places where “wisdom” may be considered a concept or a person. The Good News Translation (GNT) consistently treats Wisdom as a person, capitalizing the noun and referring to it as “she.” The term Wisdom in Hebrew is grammatically feminine, but this will be impossible to show in many languages, especially through pronouns. Also the writer is not thinking of Wisdom as a real person, much less as a goddess. It is a figure of speech. For some translators, especially in cultures where women are never considered wise, handling this will be among the most difficult problems in the book. It will be especially difficult in those languages where a verbal phrase must be used for Wisdom as it is described as being able to call, invite, or warn people. This will require in many instances a clause containing a comparison; for example, “Thinking and acting as God would have us do is like [the comparison] a woman who is radiant and unfading” (6.12). While the Handbook cannot anticipate every problem particular translators may face, it will try to be helpful in offering suggestions for translators who find difficulty in treating Wisdom as a person.

Spirit: The word “spirit” (pneuma in Greek) is used several times in this book in close connection with “wisdom.” There are six occurrences that are likely to bother the careful translator, and we list them here, literally translated, for convenience.

1.5 “A holy spirit of instruction.” The word “instruction” seems to have virtually the same meaning as “wisdom” here. The word “spirit” does not indicate any being or thing separate from instruction or wisdom. It simply calls attention to the importance of what instruction really means.
1.6 “Wisdom is a spirit that is kindly disposed toward people.” Here wisdom is a spirit. But again, it is nothing separate from wisdom; the words call attention to the importance of what wisdom really involves. There is a textual variant on this line which reads “A/The spirit of wisdom is kindly disposed….”
1.7 “A/The spirit of the Lord has filled the world.” This does not say that the spirit of the Lord is Wisdom, but it functions in much the same way.
7.7 “A spirit of wisdom came to me.” Here again, the author is talking of wisdom itself/herself, not of anything separate from wisdom.
7.22-23 “There is in [Wisdom] a spirit that is intelligent, holy … kindly disposed to people….” Here Wisdom is pictured as having a spirit, one that is holy (1.5) and kindly disposed to people (1.6). But as 7.24 makes rather clear, speaking of the spirit of Wisdom is the same as speaking of Wisdom itself/herself. In that verse Wisdom is directly spoken of.
9.17 “Who has learned…. unless you have given Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” Here Wisdom and God’s spirit are, for all practical purposes, the same. This, by the way, is the only one of these passages where the definite article is used with the word “spirit” in Greek.

It is helpful to compare these usages with Isa 11.2, where “the spirit of the LORD” is identified with “the spirit of wisdom and understanding …” (New Revised Standard Version). We may draw the conclusion that the author of our book uses these terms with some fluidity and flexibility, and had no intention of being precise and consistent in his use of poetic imagery. It follows that translators also may use some fluidity. Some translators may find a word ready at hand that seems to correspond nicely to “spirit” in these passages. Others may find that they express the meaning of some of these passages best by not representing the word at all. More specific suggestions will be found at the appropriate places in the commentary.

Finally, we should note that where God’s spirit is spoken of, even in 9.17, the author is not referring to the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity. It is closer to the Old Testament usage found in Isa 63.10, or Psa 51.11. Some versions (for instance, Revised Standard Version and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) capitalize these references, but most (including New Revised Standard Version) do not. Capitalization practice will vary from language to language, of course, but in this Handbook we advise translators not to adopt any practice that would unnecessarily suggest an identification with the Holy Spirit of Christian theology.

Immortality: The word “immortality” means “deathlessness.” At 1.15 righteousness is said to be immortal; that is, it never dies. At 12.1 God’s spirit is described as deathless. These places are not big problems; however, the abstract noun “immortality” is used seven times in 3.4; 4.1; 6.18, 19; 8.13, 17; 15.3. The translator may work with this book in the secure knowledge that the writer believes that there is something about a human being that survives death, at least, for a person who knows God.

The ancient Greeks believed that the body was mortal and the soul was immortal; this was to them a statement about the physical world. The sky is blue, rocks are hard, and souls are immortal. Our writer is using the Greek term (it is never used in the books of the Hebrew Old Testament), but is not giving it the usual Greek sense. In Wisdom, immortality is a gift from God, which God gives to the righteous.

We will give suggestions at the relevant places in the commentary concerning how translators might deal with each occurrence of “immortality.” There are ways to express the idea without using an abstract noun.

Proper names: At a number of points in the book the author refers to particular individuals and peoples in biblical history (see especially chapter 10), but never uses their names. Apart from God and Wisdom, there are no proper names in the book. The reader deserves to know who these people are, but the author’s preference for leaving people nameless should be honored by the translator if possible. In this Handbook we will suggest that translators leave any identification of particular people to the section headings (or footnotes, if they so choose) and not work this into the translation itself. Translators will save time by deciding in advance how this problem will be solved, whether by following the suggestions in the Handbook, by using footnotes, or by following GNT in working the names into the translation.

The connector “For”: In this book there are numerous instances of the connector “For” (gar in Greek). In some cases this connector serves no clear grammatical purpose and may be omitted. In other cases it may be rendered as “Because,” “Therefore,” “So,” or even “Yes” to indicate a stress. In each case we will try to help translators understand the linguistic purpose of the connector.

Outline of the book

In the following outline the words and phrases in italics are intended for the translator’s help only and should not be included in the translation. Along with the indentation patterns, these are intended to help visualize the way the book is organized. The phrases not in italics are the actual section headings used in the commentary.

Part One. Wisdom and immortality (1.1–6.21)
1A. Rulers and justice (1.1-15)
1A-1. The search for justice (1.1-5)
1A-2. God is aware of what we say (1.6-11)
1A-3. God’s justice does not die (1.12-15)
1B. Rejecting justice is rejecting life (the ungodly speak) (1.16–2.24)
1C. The destiny of the righteous who suffer (3.1-9)
1D. The destiny of the ungodly (3.10-13a)
1E. The destiny of the righteous who have no children (3.13b–4.6)
1F. The reward of the righteous who die young (4.7-15)
1G. The destiny of the ungodly (4.16-20)
1H. The regrets of the ungodly (the ungodly speak) (5.1-23)
1I. Rulers and Wisdom (6.1-21)
1I-1. The responsibility of rulers (6.1-11)
1I-2. Searching for Wisdom (6.12-21)

Part Two. Solomon praises Wisdom (6.22–11.1)
2A. Introduction to Solomon’s discussion (transitional passage) (6.22-25)
2B. Kings are only human (7.1-6)
2C. Solomon tells of his love for Wisdom (7.7-14)
2D. God is the source of Wisdom (prayer) (7.15-22a)
2E. Solomon describes Wisdom (7.22b–8.1)
2F. Solomon tells of his love for Wisdom (8.2-21)
2G. Solomon prays for Wisdom (9.1-18)
2G-1. God is the source of Wisdom (9.1-12)
2G-2. Wisdom is the only hope for human beings (9.13-18)
2H. Wisdom protected the ancestors of Israel (transitional passage) (10.1–11.1)
2H-1. Wisdom protected Adam (10.1-2)
2H-2. Cain abandoned Wisdom (10.3)
2H-3. Wisdom protected Noah (10.4)
2H-4. Wisdom helped Abraham (10.5)
2H-5. Wisdom rescued Lot (10.6-9)
2H-6. Wisdom protected Jacob (10.10-12)
2H-7. Wisdom rescued Joseph (10.13-14)
2H-8. Wisdom led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt (10.15–11.1)

Part Three. God revealed his justice as the Israelites left Egypt (11.2–19.22)
3A. First comparison: The Nile River turned to blood; water flowed from the rock (11.2-14)
3B. First digression: God gave warnings to various Gentile nations (11.15–12.27)
3B-1. God’s warnings to the Egyptians (11.15-20)
3B-2. God’s mercy (11.21–12.2)
3B-3. God’s warnings to the Canaanites (12.3-11)
3B-4. God’s mercy (12.12-18)
3B-5. God’s warnings to the Israelites and his mercy (12.19-22)
3B-6. God’s punishment of the Egyptians (12.23-27)
3C. Second digression: Idolatry is foolish (13.1–15.19)
3C-1. Nature worshipers do not know God (13.1-9)
3C-2. The foolishness of woodworkers who make idols (13.10-19)
3C-3. Wooden idols compared with God’s mercy and Noah’s wooden boat (14.1-11)
3C-4. The origins of idol worship (14.12-21)
3C-5. The results of idolatry (14.22-31)
3C-6. Idols compared with God’s mercy (15.1-6)
3C-7. The foolishness of artists who make idols (15.7-13)
3C-8. The Egyptians were even worse than other idol worshipers (15.14-19)
3D. Second comparison: A plague of animals; the gift of quail as food (16.1-4)
3E. Third comparison: A plague of insects; the gift of the bronze snake (16.5-14)
3F. Fourth comparison: Storms from the sky; manna from heaven (16.15-29)
3G. Fifth comparison: Fearsome darkness; the column of fire (17.1–18.4)
3H. Sixth comparison: The death of the Egyptians; protection of the Israelites (18.5–19.5)
3H-1. The death of the Egyptian firstborn (18.5-19)
3H-2. Aaron’s prayer saved the Israelites from death (18.20-25)
3H-3. The death of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (18.25b–19.5)
3I. Conclusion (19.6-22)
3I-1. The Israelites’ miraculous journey (19.6-12)
3I-2. The Egyptians compared to the men of Sodom (19.13-17)
3I-3. A re-created world (19.18-22)

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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:1

Love righteousness: Both the noun and the verb present problems for translators. The noun translated righteousness may refer to the quality of personal goodness, to things that are right and proper, or to justice. Since the rulers called on here are literally called “judges,” “justice” is the proper sense for this word. Rulers were called on to judge people and their actions, to reward those in the right and punish those in the wrong. If they did this properly, they were administering “justice.” In some languages (and English is one of them), Love is a strange choice of a verb to go with “justice” or righteousness. The meaning is that the ruler should value justice above all other things, should take his duty to render justice more seriously than any other task, and should want to be remembered for his sense of justice. Translators could try “Make justice your goal,” “Be determined to always judge people fairly,” or even “Consider that justice is more important than all other things.”

You rulers of the earth is literally “you who judge the earth,” a phrase used in the Greek of Psa 2.10. It refers to rulers in general, whether kings, princes, chiefs, or local governors of any kind. Compare 6.1, where “kings” are addressed, and 6.21 with “monarchs.” The same people are in mind in all three references. (Having Solomon address the world’s rulers is a figure of speech; the author’s real audience is the Jewish people.) People today are accustomed to thinking of judges as distinct from rulers, but in ancient days rulers themselves functioned as judges. The ancient reader would have known this, but readers today may need to have this made clear, even at the cost of wordiness. Since the focus in this verse seems to be on rendering fair judgments, it may be better to emphasize the aspect of judging rather than ruling. We should think of a situation in which someone recognized by the community is called on to decide between two people and the cases they present, and where the decision of this person will be considered binding. (King Solomon, of course, was highly regarded for the wisdom of his legal judgments; see 1Kgs 3.16-28.)

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the Greek in placing this line, the address to the rulers, after the preceding clause. For some translators, however, it may be more natural to begin with this phrase. It may also prove helpful to insert some phrase such as “Listen to what I say.” The first phrase of the book, whatever it is, should be strong and command attention. An alternative model is “Listen to what I say, all of you everywhere that have the duty of serving as judges. Make justice your goal.”

Think of the Lord with uprightness: New Revised Standard Version is more literal with “think of the Lord in goodness.” The problem here is how to interpret the phrase “in goodness.” Good News Translation has “sincerely,” the New English Bible (New English Bible) “as is your duty,” and the Revised English Bible (Revised English Bible) “in the right way.” Any of these are possible, but none of them may be the real meaning. It is worth observing that the word translated “goodness” is a very rare word. In all of biblical literature it occurs only four times, three of them in this book. In each of these three occurrences the word refers to God’s goodness. In 12.22 it is used in a context strikingly like this one: “so that we may meditate upon thy goodness when we judge.” (The other usage is 7.26.) This suggests that the meaning here is “think of how fair the Lord is when he judges,” that is, think of how good and just God is when he judges. Lord (kurios in Greek) is the equivalent of the Hebrew word ʾadonay, which means “one who rules” or “master.” In some languages the word for Lord is also the word used to translate “chief” and so the word “God” is added to make it clear who is being referred to; for example, “the Chief God.” However, in some languages it will be better to simply use “God.”

And seek him with sincerity of heart: Good News Translation has translated the idea of “seek God” in various places as “pray to God,” “come to God,” and other expressions. Here an equivalent must be found that can be reflected in the translation of verse 2, which has “he is found” and “manifests himself.” One possibility might be “try to find his will with all sincerity” or “try, sincerely and honestly, to find out what God wants you to do [or, find out his will].” This is in keeping with the sense suggested for the preceding line.

The verse might be rendered:

• Hear what I have to say, all of you anywhere who have the duty of serving as judges: Make justice your goal. Think of how fair the Lord is when he judges, and try, sincerely and honestly, to find out what he wants you to do [or, his will].

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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:2

Because he is found by those who do not put him to the test: If “seek the Lord” means to find out his will, then he is found means that people (those who …) have succeeded in learning God’s will. Put him to the test refers to Deut 6.16, where it means trying to make the LORD do something to prove that he cared for the Israelites. In this present context it refers to setting up a situation with two possible outcomes, waiting to see what will happen, and assuming that the outcome is God’s will. This reduces God to an employee of the judge. Whenever the judge has a decision to make, he sets up a situation, and sees whether God will act as he should. In other words, he tests God, puts God to the test. In very ancient days, priests acted to determine God’s will by throwing objects (Urim and Thummim; see Exo 28.30) to see how they would fall. Our author, living much later, would probably regard that as testing God. In order to make judgments that are fair, the judge must use his own wisdom, not chance. That is the point: “You can learn God’s will if you do not try to test God” or “You can find out what God wants you to do if you do not try to test him.”

And manifests himself to those who do not distrust him: Manifests himself does not refer to a physical appearance. In this context it means that God reveals his will. One could say simply “God reveals his will to those who trust him.”

A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:

• God will let you know his will if you do not try to test him. For he reveals his will to those who trust 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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:3

For perverse thoughts separate men from God: The connector For is not needed to begin this verse (see Good News Translation). The Greek word translated perverse basically means “twisted” or “crooked.” This line is probably a reverse parallel to the preceding line. If one trusts God, God manifests himself. If one’s thinking is wrong, the opposite happens: you get separated from God. The thoughts here are “twisted” in that they are incorrect, false, wrong-headed. The reference is to judges who try to pass judgment by testing God. Perhaps we may translate as follows: “But anyone who doesn’t think straight is only separating himself from God” or “But anyone who thinks in a crooked [or, twisted] way is only….”

And when his power is tested, it convicts the foolish: This line refers back to the first line of verse 2. New Revised Standard Version is better than Revised Standard Version: “and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish.” The idea is that if you, as judge, propose to give God a test, it will only demonstrate how foolish you are being. So we may translate “If you try to test God’s power, that power is only going to put you to shame [or, make you lose face].”

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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:4

Because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin: Translators should begin this verse with a logical connector, as in Revised Standard Version (Because). This is the first mention of wisdom in the book, so it should appear in translation in some way that calls attention to it. While many lines in which the word occurs can be reworded so that the noun wisdom becomes the adjective “wise,” this should be avoided here if possible. Wisdom is thought of here as an outside force that enters a person to make that person wise.

Solomon tells us that a deceitful, sinful person can never be wise; deceit and sin cannot coexist with wisdom. The two lines are essentially saying the same thing. Soul and body together simply represent the person, who is described as deceitful and enslaved to sin. The two lines can be combined as done in the Contemporary English Version (Contemporary English Version): “because Wisdom won’t live with deceitful slaves of sin.” Two other possible ways of expressing this verse are “This is because Wisdom will never be found in a deceitful, sinful person” and “This is because deceitful, sinful people will never have wisdom [or, think and act as God would have them 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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:5

For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit: Again the connector For may be omitted. The sparse grammar of this line in Greek allows several interpretations:

a holy and disciplined spirit (also New Revised Standard Version)
“the holy spirit of discipline” (New American Bible [New American Bible], which is the most literal; similarly Revised English Bible, New English Bible, Reider)
“the holy spirit of instruction” (New Jerusalem Bible [New Jerusalem Bible])
“The holy spirit, that divine tutor” (Winston; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Pléiade)
“Everyone who is holy has learned” (Good News Translation)

The Greek word (paideia) for disciplined may be translated as “discipline” or “instruction.” In English “discipline” refers to the effort that a person puts into learning, while “instruction” refers to the content of what is learned as well as to the work of teaching. In this context the Handbook prefers “instruction,” but we must also say that the author uses it in such a way that at times it is almost equivalent to “wisdom.” Compare, for example, disciplined spirit here with “wisdom is a kindly spirit” in verse 6.

Good News Translation takes the word spirit to refer to a person, just as “soul” and “body” do in verse 4. The other approaches identify the spirit not with the person of verse 4, but with wisdom, anticipating the clear identification of the two in verse 6. We believe that this latter interpretation is right: the spirit here is wisdom, as will become clearer in verses 6-7. Deceit here in the first line and foolish thoughts in the next line represent the person. Just as wisdom enters a person in verse 4, wisdom (“the holy spirit of instruction”) keeps out of a person in this verse.

This verse does not speak of the Holy Spirit of Christian theology (although Traduction œcuménique de la Bible capitalizes “Spirit.”). The spirit here is the spirit of discipline or instruction. The claim is made that this instruction is itself holy. Since there is little doubt that the “spirit of instruction” here is to be identified with wisdom’s “kindly spirit” in verse 6, the identification with wisdom may be moved up from verse 6 to this point to make the meaning clearer. Possible models that do this are “The spirit of wisdom is holy [or, pure], and it doesn’t go near deceitful people,” “Wisdom’s pure spirit doesn’t go near deceitful people,” and perhaps “Wisdom’s spirit is too pure to go near….”

The use of the word spirit here will be a problem for some translators, and the matter will arise again. Here the word appears to be used in a casual sense to refer to the real, but unexpressed, meaning or importance of something. In English, people might speak of “a spirit of kindness” or “the spirit of the law.” Translators who find this awkward here may drop the word and say something like “Wisdom is too pure to go near deceitful people.”

And will rise and depart from foolish thoughts: Since instruction is morally pure, and doesn’t go near deceit (that is, deceitful people), it also makes itself conspicuously absent when people are expressing foolish thoughts. Translators may say “When people are thinking foolishly, instruction [or, reliable information] is nowhere to be found” or “When people are thinking foolishly, it is a sign that no one has reliable information.” This involves translating “instruction” as “Wisdom” in the first line and as “reliable information” in the second, but it may be clearer than trying to force one term to be the subject of both clauses.

And will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness: The word translated be ashamed may mean “be upset, be rebuked, be made terribly uncomfortable.” Other possible renderings for this clause are “It [Wisdom] is embarrassed at the very thought of injustice” and “And as for injustice—wisdom cannot stand even a hint of it.” This last model has the advantage of making “injustice” a more serious matter than deceit or foolish thoughts, and makes a good contrast with the mention of “justice” at the beginning of the section, in verse 1.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Wisdom is too holy [or, pure] to go near deceitful people. When people are thinking foolishly, wisdom cannot be found. Wisdom is embarrassed at even the thought of injustice.

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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:6

For wisdom is a kindly spirit: The connector For is better rendered as “Although” (Contemporary English Version). The word translated kindly is more literally translated by Good News Translation “friendly to people.” See Pro 8.17, which speaks of Wisdom “loving” people. If it is difficult to express the idea of Wisdom as a spirit, nothing essential is omitted by leaving the word untranslated: “Wisdom is friendly to people.”

And will not free a blasphemer from the guilt of his words: Commentators have often noticed that the first line of this verse appears out of context. There is no easy explanation for this, but the best way for translators to deal with the problem is to begin this second line with “but” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version) rather than and. A blasphemer is someone “who speaks against God” (Good News Translation), “speak[s] evil of God” (Contemporary English Version), or “who says bad things [or, words] against God.” Will not free … from the guilt is expressed in Good News Translation by “will not forgive” and in Contemporary English Version by “will still hold you guilty.” The meaning of words is included in the verb “speaks” in Good News Translation.

In this line Wisdom acts as a person by not forgiving the blasphemer. For this reason Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version refer back to Wisdom as “she.” This is the first time in the book that this problem arises. Here it may be possible to avoid it, and there is something to be said for doing so, since there is little in the context to prepare the reader for this figure of speech. In 6.12-9.18 it will be impossible to avoid the problem, for there Wisdom is consistently personified in a long passage.

The meaning in the first two lines appears to be that even though Wisdom is kindly disposed toward human beings and works toward the good of humanity, there is no such thing as being wise enough to avoid guilt for blasphemy. The text does not actually say, as Good News Translation does, that Wisdom will not forgive. Alternative models for these lines are:

• Wisdom is helpful [or, beneficial] to humanity, but no one can have enough wisdom to avoid guilt [or, punishment] if he speaks against God.

• Although Wisdom is helpful [or, beneficial] to humanity, she [or, it] will still hold you guilty if you speak against God.

Because God is witness of his inmost feelings, and a true observer of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue: Witness here does not say that God sees feelings, but rather that he can testify about them; that is, God is aware of our feelings. Inmost feelings is literally “kidneys,” which is thought of as the bodily source of emotions. Good News Translation simply has “feelings”; this is sufficient, although a modifier such as inmost is acceptable. Observer is roughly equivalent to witness, although it implies not only watching our actions but inspecting them for flaws; Good News Translation combines both into “knows” (so also Contemporary English Version with “are known”). In Hebrew thought, the heart is usually seen as the bodily source of thought, so Good News Translation translates “thoughts” (also Contemporary English Version). Good News Translation translates hearer by a separate word, “hears,” which is fine, but this too could be combined with witness and observer: “God knows how we really feel about things, what we think, and every word we speak.” Or one could go in the opposite direction and say “God is well aware of how we really feel about things; he judges our thoughts and hears every word we speak.”

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.

Translation commentary on Wisdom 1:7

Because the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world: Apparently the Spirit of the Lord here refers to Wisdom, the “holy and disciplined spirit” of verse 5 and the “kindly spirit” of verse 6. Here, however, the focus is on God himself. For has filled the world, translators might change the imagery and say “covers the whole world” or “is everywhere in this world” (Contemporary English Version). See Jer 23.24.

And that which holds all things together knows what is said: This thought is borrowed from the Stoics, Greek philosophers who spoke of a “world soul” that holds the universe together. Translators can use Good News Translation “and holds everything in it together” as a model, or they can say “and gives everything in the universe its proper place.” Compare the similar language in Col 1.17; Heb 1.3.

Grammatically this verse is a causal clause (Because …), which is concluded in verse 8 (“therefore…”); but this makes for a long sentence, one that is hard to follow. The Good News Translation rewording (“Since the Lord’s spirit fills … and holds … [therefore] she knows…”) is really not quite what the text says. A better approach would be “The Lord’s [or, Lord God’s] spirit covers the whole world, gives everything in it its proper place [or, holds everything in it together], and knows what [or, every word] we say. That is why….”

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.