Then the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian: One of the basic problems of a formal rendering, such as Revised Standard Version, is that it pays little regard to the total discourse structure. For example, there is absolutely no need for readers to further identify Ebedmelech as the Ethiopian. Translators should be constantly aware of what readers and hearers expect within their own language.

Three is in most versions, but the standard Hebrew text has “thirty,” which is the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and is followed by New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, and Bible en français courant.

With you is literally “in your hand.” However, even the most literal translations attempt to improve here.

Jeremiah the prophet: Once again, in view of the total discourse, it is unnecessary to identify Jeremiah as the prophet.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .