For what was not destroyed by fire was melted when simply warmed by a fleeting ray of the sun: The connector For may be omitted since the author is beginning a new thought here. He is still referring to the manna, but drawing a different lesson from it (see Exo 16.21). Why should something that fire could not destroy melt in sunlight? It happened in order to teach a lesson, which follows in verse 28. Good News Translation does well here, but translators could approach this verse differently, by putting it in a question form: “Why should this food [or, manna] melt when the sun warmed it, while fire could not destroy it?”

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.