Verses 3-6 repeat, with emphasis, the thought of 3.16-19. They deal with the destiny of the ungodly (compare 3.10-13a; 4.16-19). Some translators may wish to make this more obvious by setting off 4.3-6 as a separate section entitled “The destiny of the ungodly.” We do not recommend doing this, since to us the parallels to 3.16-19 in this section are more obvious.

But the prolific brood of the ungodly will be of no use: The adversative But may also be rendered “On the other hand.” While the author probably refers here to children “born of a forbidden union” (Good News Translation), he doesn’t actually say that here, and translators are urged to stay with ungodly, “unreligious,” “wicked,” or such. An alternative model for this line is “Unreligious people [or, People who do not worship God] may have many children, but it will do them no good.”

And none of their illegitimate seedlings will strike a deep root or take a firm hold: The writer returns to the tree imagery used in 3.15 (of the righteous). Seedlings are young plants just coming up from seed. For the most part, Good News Translation avoids the metaphor in this verse, using it in verses 4-5. It does this because, in English at any rate, it is easier to introduce the simile “Like trees” at the beginning of verse 4 rather than here. We could say, however, “If they were trees, none of their seedlings would ever develop deep roots, because they are illegitimate.”

That suggestion combines will strike a deep root or take a firm hold into one expression, “develop deep roots.” “Illegitimate” is applied in English to children born to an unmarried mother. Here the reference would be as well to children born to one Jewish parent and one Gentile parent; in the author’s thinking, those children would be illegitimate, since such a union was forbidden.

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.