O daughter: Judith is not Uzziah’s daughter; this was the ordinary way of fond address to a young woman by an older person. While it expresses fondness, it carries respect with it, and does not sound condescending. The translator’s problem is to catch that nuance. Good News Translation runs the danger of sounding condescending with “my dear.” Perhaps “Judith, dear Judith, you are…” would not be overdoing it. But this is a problem translators must solve for the individual languages with which they work.
You are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God: Most High God may also be expressed as “God who is greater than [or, above] all other gods.” Blessed is used in two different senses in this verse, as in Melchizedek’s blessing on Abraham in Gen 14.19-20 (see the note on 13.17 and Tob 3.11). The first use of blessed in this verse refers to God’s blessing on Judith. He favors her. You are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth sounds like “Blessed are you among women” in Luke 1.42, but the Greek wording is quite different. Blessed in this context means “God has favored you more than…” or “God has been kinder to you than….” See also the blessing on Ruth (Ruth 3.10) and Jael (Jdg 5.24). The second use of blessed in this verse refers to praise given to God, as in the previous verse. Blessed be the Lord God may be rendered “may people praise the Lord God.”
Who created the heavens and the earth: Heavens here refers to the sky along with the heavenly bodies (see Gen 1.1). So created the heavens and the earth may also be rendered “created the sky with the sun, moon, and stars in it, and the earth” or “created the universe.”
Who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies: The Greek uses an understatement with to strike the head. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version abandon the figure and simply say “you cut off the head.” Good News Translation interprets the leader of our enemies figuratively as “our deadliest enemy,” rather than literally as “the commander of our enemies,” that is, the Assyrians. Most translations take it in the latter sense, but this Handbook recommends Good News Translation‘s interpretation.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Then Uzziah said, “Dear Judith, the Most High God has favored you more than all the other women in the world. May people praise the Lord God who created the sun, moon, and stars, and the earth. He guided you as you cut off the head of our deadliest [or, cruelest] enemy.”
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.