A new paragraph may be started at this point, possibly starting with the words “It happened like this. All the….”

Chieftains … leaders … commanders: There is no practical distinction among these terms that we can be sure of. Good News Translation combines the first two as “leaders of the Edomite and Moabite forces” and separates these from the “commanders of the troops from the Mediterranean coast” since Edom and Moab were not on the coast. Contemporary English Version uses “commanders” for all three terms. If translators have several words in the language that mean “leaders,” they may be used here, as Revised Standard Version has done; otherwise one or two terms will be sufficient.

The people of Esau are the Edomites (Gen 36). This is the first time they are mentioned among the allies Holofernes gathered. They, like the Moabites, were longtime enemies of Israel (see Obadiah). For “Moab” see 5.2.

Commanders of the coastland may be rendered “commanders [or, leaders] of the soldiers from the Mediterranean coast.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.