The word “Cush” (New English Bible, New International Version), translated Ethiopia in Revised Standard Version, refers to the Upper Nile region, which included most of modern “Sudan” (Good News Translation) and part of Ethiopia. The expression beyond the rivers of Ethiopia emphasizes that this area was at the borders of the known world, so Good News Translation renders “distant Sudan.” See also comments on 1.1; 2.12; and Nahum 3.9. “Sudan” may not be very “distant” from the locations of some modern Bible translators, but it was distant from the point of view of someone living in Judah, and the translator must represent this viewpoint. “Distant Sudan” may also be expressed as “Sudan which is very far away” or “The country of Sudan which is….”
The difficulties in this verse arise from the phrases rendered my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed ones in Revised Standard Version. The Hebrew word translated my suppliants comes from a well-known verb meaning “pray, entreat, worship,” but the form of it occurring here is found nowhere else. The meaning is clear enough, but it is not so easy to decide who the suppliants are. They seem to be explained by the next phrase, the daughter of my dispersed ones. This is again an expression that occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and for this reason some scholars have suggested changing it (see, for instance, Moffatt and New American Bible), while others omit it, following the Septuagint (Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible). Most modern English versions retain the phrase and understand my suppliants and the daughter of my dispersed ones to refer to Jews scattered outside the promised land, in this case in Ethiopia (Sudan).
The meaning of the verse is then that those Jews living in Ethiopia (Sudan) will pray to the LORD and bring offerings to him. This is the meaning expressed in Good News Translation: “Even from distant Sudan my scattered people will bring offerings to me.” However, Good News Translation seems to have omitted the element of meaning carried by the words my suppliants, so a more complete translation may be “… my scattered people will pray to me and bring me offerings.” “My scattered people” may be expressed as “my people who are living in far-off places.”
The difficulty with this interpretation is that verse 10 is then speaking of a different group of people from verse 9, where converted heathen were the subject. If the phrase the daughter of my dispersed ones is omitted with Bible de Jérusalem and Jerusalem Bible, then my suppliants will refer to the same group of converted heathen as verse 9.
Another approach to the problem is found in the Revised Version margin. This takes my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed ones as object rather than subject of the verb bring. The whole verse is then translated “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia shall they bring my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, for an offering unto me.” Thus the converted heathen are regarded as showing their new respect for the LORD by returning to their homeland those of his people who lived among them (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
None of these possibilities is without difficulty, but the majority of modern English versions (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version) adopt the first one, and translators are recommended to do the same. If they do take the first approach mentioned above, the clause bring my offering may also be expressed in some languages as “bring things (or, objects) to offer to me.” Another translation model, then, for this verse is “My people who are living in far-off lands will come even from distant Sudan, to pray to me and bring things to offer to me.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .