When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes: It refers to the “spark” of verse 2. When our reason or consciousness vanishes, the body dies. Good News Translation chooses the verb “crumble” as more striking than turn. We may also say “When that spark is extinguished, our bodies will crumble….”

And the spirit will dissolve like empty air: The spirit here is identical to “the breath” in verse 2. The idea is that our breath (or spirit) will disperse or dissolve into nothing more than air. Good News Translation expresses this by saying that it “will become part of the empty air.” Reider and Contemporary English Version render empty air as “thin air,” an English idiom. Many languages will have similar idioms.

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.