He will take holiness as an invincible shield: Holiness refers to moral purity. Invincible shield is an odd phrase, since we usually associate invincibility with an offensive weapon, not a defensive shield. The ambiguous clause can also be translated “he will take his invincible holiness [or, purity] as a shield,” which relieves this problem. The next line, where “stern” surely modifies “wrath” rather than “sword,” would suggest that this is preferable to invincible shield. The Greek adjective for invincible describes holiness as “something useless to fight against.” We might describe it as “unyielding” or perhaps “solid.” A possible alternative is “His purity will be like a strong shield.” Some translators, however, will not be able to use the figure of a shield in such cases they may say something like “His purity will give him complete protection against his enemies.”

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.