Rose up is often translated literally, since people frequently reclined while eating, and Ishmael and his men would have to get up to kill Gedaliah. New International Version has “got up,” for example. But in the context, the expression could also indicate that they surprised Gedaliah by acting quickly. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, for example, has “Suddenly.”

Struck down … with the sword, and killed him is more naturally expressed in English as “killed him with their swords.”

Gedaliah is identified in this verse as the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan … whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. Whether all this identification is needed in a language will vary, so translators should retain only what can be done naturally. Perhaps they can say something like “Gedaliah … the man the king of Babylon had made governor of the land.”

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 .