And at another time even in the midst of water it burned more intensely than fire: It refers to fire, a fire burning more intensely than fire normally does; that is, “the flames burned more fiercely than fire had ever burned before.” The interpretation of Good News Translation is correct.

To destroy the crops of the unrighteous land: The unrighteous land is a figure of speech for “the land where those unrighteous [or, wicked] people lived.”

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.