When the men of her city heard her voice, they hurried down to the city gate: If the men of her city refers to the general citizenry and not just to the guards, a better rendering would be “the people of her town” (New Revised Standard Version). But the ones in question hurried down to the city gate (from atop the tower); the writer is probably thinking of the guards who were posted at the gate, those to whom Judith was calling out in the previous verse. In this case the men of her city or even Good News Translation‘s “the men” is less apt to mislead. For gate see verse 11.

Called together the elders of the city: Good News Translation‘s “called for” is more appropriate for soldiers summoning their superiors than called together. The elders are the “town officials” (Good News Translation) or “town leaders” (Contemporary English Version).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• When the men of Bethulia heard Judith’s voice, they ran to the city gate and called for the town leaders to come.

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.