But if there is no transgression in their nation: The term used for transgression is specifically “lawlessness” or “violation of law.” So Good News Translation has “But if they have not disobeyed the law of their god….”

Then let my lord pass them by; for their Lord will defend them, and their God will protect them: There is irony in the use of my lord … their Lord. Good News Translation (and Contemporary English Version) loses it by deleting both my lord and their Lord. The irony should be maintained. Let my lord pass them by may also be rendered “you, my Master, should leave them alone.” Their Lord will defend them may also be expressed as “their Master will defend them.” Good News Translation (and again Contemporary English Version) appears to combine the two clauses their Lord will defend them, and their God will protect them, but in fact Revised Standard Version has expanded the text. The Greek reads literally “lest their Lord and their God put a shield over them.” If possible the original image of the “shield” should be kept in translation or an equivalent image should be used. The figure of the “shield” also can be expressed with nonfigurative language, and most translations, like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, do so. However, combining Lord and God into one term may be sacrificing some of Achior’s insistence. New American Bible reads “otherwise their Lord and God will shield them.” New Revised Standard Version has “for their Lord and God will defend them.” These first four clauses may also be expressed “But if they have not disobeyed the law of their god, then you, my Master, should leave them alone; for their Lord [or, Master] and god will protect them.”

We shall be put to shame before the whole world: For shame Good News Translation has “disgraced.” In a number of languages one may say, for example, “we will lose face.” An alternative model for this clause is “every nation in the world will make fun of us.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• But if they are innocent, you, my Master, should leave them alone, or their Lord [or, Master] and god will defend them. Then every nation in the world will make fun of us.

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.