For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler, skilfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form may be rendered “After all, the artist probably wanted to please his ruler, so he would use his skill to make the likeness better looking than the king himself.”

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.