smooth

In Gbaya, the notion of a smooth surface is emphasized in the referenced verses with the ideophone kpɛ́ɗɛ́-kpɛ́ɗɛ́

In both Psalm 144:12 and Sirach 26:17, the smoothness refers to the female body.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

red

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “red” in English is translated in Silimo with a local reference: “the colour of the red rocks used to dye nets” (source: Buzz and Myrna Maxey ).

Translation commentary on Wisdom 13:14

Or makes it like some worthless animal: Compare the use of the word worthless in 11.15. The useless image the man is working so hard to produce is of some animal that would be of no use if it were real. Translators could say “or like some animal that no one can use for anything.”

Giving it a coat of red paint and coloring its surface red and covering every blemish in it with paint: The red paint here refers to a reddish substance made from earth. These two lines can be compressed, somewhat as Good News Translation has done: “He paints it red all over, covering up every flaw [with paint].” There is irony here in that the man has made an imperfect piece, but he hides every imperfection. He thus knows that the thing he is going to worship is imperfect.

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.