For a twofold grief possessed them, and a groaning at the memory of what had occurred: The connector for may be omitted. What is meant by the twofold grief is not clear, but apparently the author refers to the Egyptians’ memory of their own suffering and their hearing of the Israelites’ success (verse 13). The biblical account of the Exodus contains nothing about the Egyptians receiving news of the Israelites’ good fortune, such as water from the rock, but our author assumes it. Some understand twofold grief to mean that not only did the Egyptians suffer, but the sufferings became worse when they realized that Israel’s God was the cause of it (verse 13). It is possible to understand what had occurred as “the ones who had departed” (New American Bible).

The verse may prove easier to deal with if the lines are reversed, and perhaps combined with the next verse. We will offer a model at the end of the discussion on the next verse.

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.