For it was necessary that upon those oppressors inexorable want should come: The connector For may be omitted. Necessary may be rendered “Inevitable” (New Jerusalem Bible), “right” (New English Bible), or “appropriate.” For this line we suggest “It was [only/simply] appropriate that the oppressors should be driven to desperation [or, in a desperate situation]” or “… should find themselves in a situation with no way out.”

While to these it was merely shown how their enemies were being tormented: These refers to the Israelites. This does not mean that the Israelites looked on the suffering of the Egyptians as if watching a show. It means that they themselves suffered the same kind of thing, but just a little bit, so that they would know just how severely God must be punishing their enemies. Translators could say “while your [own] people simply were experiencing suffering for a short while.”

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.

The delusions of their magic art lay humbled: This is a reference to the Egyptian magicians trying to duplicate the plagues. In Exo 7.11, 22 and 8.7 they succeeded, but later, as described in Exo 8.18 and 9.11, they failed. This line may be rendered “The illusions that their magicians could produce were as nothing compared to this [the flashing light].”

And their boasted wisdom was scornfully rebuked: Good News Translation provides a good model for this line.

We may restructure the verse as follows:

• They had depended on the illusions that their magicians could perform, and had boasted about their great wisdom, but all of this proved useless [or, came to nothing].

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.

The experience of death touched also the righteous may be rendered “Death also came to the righteous nation” (Good News Translation) or even “Your chosen people also died.”

And a plague came upon the multitude in the desert: The word translated plague is not the usual word. It literally means “smashing,” but could be translated “epidemic” (Good News Translation), “terrible disease” (Contemporary English Version), or even “mass slaughter” (Winston; according to Num 16.49 there were 14,700 who died).

But the wrath did not long continue: The wrath refers to God’s anger in punishing them, but it is interesting that it is not described as “your wrath,” as in 16.5. Revised Standard Version translates wrath in this verse, and also in verses 22, 23, and 25; it has “anger” in verse 21. Three different Greek nouns are used for this concept of wrath/anger (the same one is used in verses 20, 23, and 25), and none of them is said to be “your wrath.” The author is dissociating the manifestation of God’s anger from God himself, and speaking of a “punisher” (verse 22) or “destroyer” (verse 25). We are impressed by New Jerusalem Bible, which translates these words “Retribution,” with capital R (in verse 22 it is “Hostility”). It is an attempt to personalize the wrath as an entity separate from God, as the author is picturing it. This device may be too subtle for most translations, but we would suggest using “disaster” or something similar, rather than referring to “your anger” as Good News Translation does. The writer does seem to be trying deliberately not to say that.

Possible models for this verse are:

• The righteous nation [or, Your chosen people] also had an experience with death when large numbers of them were struck down by an epidemic in the desert. But this disaster did not last long.

• Your chosen people also came face-to-face with [or, confronted] death when a terrible disease killed many of them in the desert. But this….

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.

Let none of us fail to share in our revelry: The noun translated revelry normally refers to “arrogance, impudence,” and probably does here too. Interpreters seem to be misled by the figures of verses 6-8, seeing this passage as simply a description of carefree indulgence in luxury. It is that, but it is more: it is an invitation to wickedness, which becomes clear in verse 10. Translators could say “Every one of us should just go out and do whatever we please.”

Those following Ziegler’s Greek text should notice that we are disregarding his emendation of Let none of us to “Let no meadow….” Some translations follow this, but we believe this is allowing the imagery of verses 7-8 to suggest a textual error where none exists.

Everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment: The writer is not thinking of rose petals in the grass, but of lives wrecked by this careless approach to life. This line may be rendered with the previous line as follows: “Every one of us should just go out and do whatever we please, no matter what harm we do or whom we hurt.”

Because this is our portion, and this our lot: The two parts of this line are saying the same thing. They may be combined, or the translator may look for two short effective ways of expressing the idea. “Life owes us that much!” (Good News Translation) is a good equivalent in idiomatic English. Many translators will find that this line is best expressed in an idiom. Other approaches are “We have every right!” “We deserve anything we can get!” and “That’s what life owes us.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Every one of us should just go out and do whatever pleases us no matter what harm we do or whom we hurt. We deserve everything we can get.

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.

Verses 1-2 repeat the thought of 3.13-15.

Better than this is childlessness with virtue: Jewish society believed children to be a great blessing, but this author claims that it would be better to have no children than to be without virtue, than to be unrighteous in terms of the Law. Compare Sir 16.1-3. Good News Translation translates the line well: “It is better to have virtue, even if it means having no children.” Contemporary English Version is also good with “Living right is better than having children.” Another possible model is “Being a good person is better than….”

For in the memory of virtue is immortality: One reason children were highly prized is that when people died, their children lived on, preserving the memory of the parents. The author argues here, as in 3.15, that when someone dies, that person’s reputation for virtue has a life of its own and perpetuates the memory of the righteous dead among the living.

Because it is known both by God and by men: But virtue assures not only immortality in the sense that people will be remembered in their community after they die, but that God, who rewards virtue, assures the righteous of eternal life with him. See 3.9.

A possible model for this verse is:

• Being a good person is better than having children. Both God and people will always remember the good things [or, the goodness] that such people have done.

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.

So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be: This is spoken, of course, by the ungodly after their death, after confronting the blessed situation of the righteous people who have died. Good News Translation expresses it well: “It is the same with us—we were born, and then we ceased to be.” This has happened in the same way as the shadow, the messenger, the ship, the bird, and the arrow come and are quickly gone (compare Sir 44.9).

And we had no sign of virtue to show: Good News Translation has “We left no sign of virtue behind us,” while Contemporary English Version has “and left behind no traces of anything good.” The ungodly leave no trace of goodness just like the ship, the bird, and the arrow leave no sign of their passing. Contrast this with 4.1.

But were consumed in our wickedness: Consumed is so misleading as to be wrong. It misleads Good News Translation into translating “destroyed,” which is completely and utterly wrong. The word means “squander,” “use up wastefully.” (The Greek lexicon by Liddell and Scott gives “consume” as a meaning, but the example it gives from Xenophon’s k Anabasisk* [II.2.11] is instructive. There one general tells another general that their army cannot live off the country any longer. As they passed through, they found nothing, and what little they did find they consumed it. Nothing was destroyed. The King James Version, and the Geneva Bible before it, translated “consumed,” probably relying on the Latin, consumpti sumus, which does correctly represent the Greek.) The meaning of the line is correctly expressed in New Jerusalem Bible: “we have spent ourselves in our own wickedness!” New English Bible also expresses it correctly but more effectively: “and in our wickedness we frittered our lives away.” Translators could say “We wasted our whole lives in wickedness,” “We threw our lives away with our wickedness,” or “We were wicked, and we [just] threw our lives away [or, wasted our lives].” The translation should convey a mood of resignation, one that recognizes the inevitable with a sense of hopeless despair.

An alternative model for the verse is:

• It is the same with us—first we were born, and then we ceased to exist. We left no sign of any virtue [or, goodness] behind us. We were wicked, and we threw our lives away [or, wasted our lives].

Notice that this verse closes the quotation begun in verse 4.

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.

I will tell you what wisdom is and how she came to be: In the author’s day there were a number of religions in the Mediterranean world known as “mystery religions.” They claimed to have secret mysterious knowledge about the gods, which was revealed in secret ceremonies to those who joined these cults. Our author here is functioning like one of the leaders of these secret societies, about to reveal divine mysteries, but in contrast to them, everything here is public and open. In the opening line (identical in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation), Solomon announces his intention to reveal the nature of Wisdom and its origin.

And I will hide no secrets from you: Nothing will be left unrevealed. Solomon will leave no mystery, no secret, unexplained. This is knowledge open to everyone. The Good News Translation model may be expanded to “I will not keep anything about Wisdom secret,” or we may translate “I will tell you everything about her [Wisdom].”

But I will trace her course from the beginning of creation: The Greek does not actually say creation, although this could be meant. It could just as easily refer to Wisdom’s own beginning, and some translators take it that way (for example, Winston “but will track her from her first beginnings”). We believe that the beginning of creation is intended. For one thing, the wisdom literature often speaks of wisdom in connection with creation; compare Job 28.20-23; Pro 8.22-31; Sir 1.4, 9; 24.8-9. For another thing, the final section of this division will begin by speaking of Wisdom in connection with Adam (10.1). A better rendering than Good News Translation would be “I will trace her history [or, path] from the creation of the world [or, from the beginning of creation],” or this clause may be combined with the former one as follows: “I will tell you everything about her from the very creation of the world [or, right from the time that God made the world].”

And make the knowledge of her clear may be rendered “I will make knowledge of Wisdom available to everyone” or “and explain it clearly so that everyone may know her.”

And I will not pass by the truth: Good News Translation expresses it well with “I will not ignore any part of the truth.” Translators could also say “I will not leave out [or, omit] any part of the truth.”

An alternative model for the whole verse is:

• I will tell you clearly what Wisdom is and how she came to be. I will tell you everything about her from the time that God created the world, and explain these things clearly so that everyone may know her [Wisdom]. I will not leave out [or, omit] any part of the truth.

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.

For it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail: Light is not as good as Wisdom, because daylight is always followed by darkness, but “evil never overcomes Wisdom” (Good News Translation).

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.