The sons of Esau and the sons of Ammon: The sons of Ammon would be the remaining Ammonite soldiers, so we may translate “The Edomite soldiers and the rest of the Ammonite soldiers.”

Encamped in the hill country opposite Dothan may be rendered “set up their tents in the mountains opposite the town of Dothan.”

Toward Acraba, which is near Chusi beside the brook Mochmur: Since the two towns Acraba and Chusi as well as the Mochmur River are unknown (for conjectures see Moore’s notes), the military situation here is not clear, and translators can only translate what is set before them. Again, one might refer to the map on page 157 of k The Macmillan Bible Atlask*. It is intelligently done and is the only map one is apt to find of these movements.

Supply trains refers to the carts used to carry their supplies (food, weapons, and so on). Good News Translation simply has “equipment,” and in many languages that will be sufficient.

The remainder of verse 18 has the same purpose as verses 2-3. Before the shift is made into the town of Bethulia, we are given a bird’s-eye view of the immense forces arrayed against the little place. There is no new information here, only a reinforcement of what has already been told.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The Edomite soldiers and the rest of the Ammonite soldiers set up their tents in the mountains opposite the town of Dothan. They also sent some soldiers southeast toward Acraba, which lies near the town of Chusi beside the Mochmur River. The rest of the Assyrian soldiers set up their tents in the valley. There were so many soldiers that their tents and their supplies covered the whole countryside.

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.

Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version begin a new paragraph at this point as Judith changes the subject, urging the leaders not to do certain things. She affirms that God will help. Translators may follow Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version if they wish.

For never in our generation, nor in these present days: These two phrases may be combined into “None of us who are living today.”

Tribe or family or people or city of ours: These four nouns are used to indicate divisions of Israel, but they are not used here with any legal precision. Almost any terms designating some smaller units within Israel will work, as long as they are not anachronistic (such as “state” or “county”). New English Bible has the most reasonable equivalents to the Greek: “tribes or clans, districts or towns.” However, in some languages one will need to say “no person in any tribe or clan, district or town [or, village]” or “no person in any family group, district or town [or, village].”

Worshiped gods made with hands may be rendered “worshiped gods that people have made.”

As was done in days gone by: This clause deals with generations that are not recent. Good News Translation‘s “even though our ancestors used to do so” appears to contradict the preceding part of the verse. The meaning of the whole verse is “None of our people worship idols now [ in these present days] nor have they in recent generations [the word generation is plural]. However, this did happen in the past.” This is not a reference to polytheistic worship in the days before Abraham, but in the days of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah—more recent ancestors. In spite of the book’s setting, Judith speaks for the postexilic Jewish community. As was done days gone by must remain at the end of the verse, so as to connect with the following verse.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• There is not one person of our tribes or clans, districts or towns that worships gods made by humans, or has even done so recently—although many of our ancestors did.

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.

She rose from where she lay prostrate: Here we are reminded of Judith’s position in prayer. She had her face to the ground; we were told this in 9.1. Good News Translation trusts the reader to remember this; “she stood up” (Good News Translation) could suggest she had been sitting. Translators may want to ensure against this misunderstanding by including she lay prostrate; for example, “she rose from the floor, where she had been lying prostrate.” Good News Translation presumably is avoiding the use of what is the somewhat difficult word prostrate in English. One must also avoid a trap that New American Bible has fallen into with “she rose from the ground.” She is not on the ground. She is on her rooftop. Chapter 9 did not tell us that, but 10.2 makes it clear that she was in the rooftop shelter mentioned in 8.5.

Her maid was her “slave girl” (see the note at 8.10).

Went down into the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her feast days: Good News Translation does not have it quite right with “went down into the house as she always did on Sabbaths….” The text does not say that she would go down into the house on Sabbaths; it says she stayed downstairs on Sabbaths. Since we are not informed until this point that the praying of chapter 9 was done on the roof, the translator may want to build this information in, as inconspicuously as possible; for example, “she went down from the roof into the house, where she always stayed on Sabbaths….” For sabbath see 8.6. Her feast days refers to Israelite religious festivals [or, fiestas] that Judith observed.

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.

Their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out is more simply rendered “They are almost out of food and water” (Contemporary English Version) or “They have very little food and water left.”

They have planned to kill their cattle and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat: The reader who has even a vague knowledge of Jewish dietary law may here wonder what’s wrong with killing the livestock for food. The law doesn’t forbid eating the flesh of any clean animals, which their livestock would surely be. True, but the law does forbid the consumption of certain parts of the animals: the fat (Lev 3.14-16) and the blood (Lev 17.10-14). The verse does not have to be taken as referring to all kinds of unclean food in the clause all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. The next verse will speak of food allowed the priests but not the people. This verse refers apparently to food set aside for God: the fat and blood of their animals. The crucial word is all. If one assumes it refers to all parts of the animal, which seems natural in context, there is no problem. One way to render the last half of this verse is as follows: “They have made the decision [the Greek word implies careful deliberation] to resort to eating their cattle, and have determined to consume them completely [consume all things], which God’s Law forbids them to do.”

An alternative translation model for the whole verse is:

• They have very little food and water left, so they have decided to eat their cattle, even those parts of the animals which God’s law forbids them to eat.

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.

Judith was left alone in the tent, with Holofernes stretched out on his bed: Here the progress of the story slows as everyone has withdrawn from the stage, leaving only Judith and Holofernes. Something is obviously about to happen. But the suspense is drawn out. The action is stopped so that we can take in this situation. Nothing happens in this verse. Verse 3 just tells us something that happened earlier, so that we will know the situation offstage. Verse 4 repeats the substance of verse 2, and Judith says a brief prayer. This long pause is necessary to provide a stark contrast with the quick actions about to come.

He was overcome with wine is literally “the wine had completely soaked him.” Holofernes is not just “lying drunk on his bed” (Good News Translation). He is unconscious. He is “dead drunk,” as New English Bible and Moore have it.

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.

He opened it: “He drew the curtain aside” (Good News Translation) is an accurate description of how he opened it; the parting of curtains is implied in the Greek verb used.

And went into the bedchamber: It is not necessary for Good News Translation to mention the bedchamber at this point since Good News Translation established in verse 14 that Bagoas was standing outside the “sleeping quarters.” Consequently “went in” is all that is necessary to describe his action here.

Found him thrown down on the platform dead, with his head cut off and missing: “Sprawled” (Good News Translation) is a good translation of the verb Revised Standard Version renders thrown down. The noun translated platform or “footstool” (Good News Translation; New American Bible “on the floor”; Gonzáles and Alonso-Schöckel “at the entrance”; New Jerusalem Bible “on the threshold”) is a problem. It is a common word, meaning “turtle.” Some scholars speculate there was an actual tortoise shell, or something shaped like one, beside the bed. Perhaps it functioned as a footstool of some kind. It’s as good a guess as anything; there is obviously something here we don’t know about. The notion that it means “threshold” comes from the fourth century commentator, Hesychius, who may well have been guessing himself. If it were clear what the object was, he would not have tried to explain it. Probably “sprawled out [or, lying] on the floor” is as reasonable a solution as one could hope for. After all, in 13.9 Judith did roll the body off the bed. Good News Translation does not include the text’s statement that the body is dead. It goes without saying that a “headless body” is dead, but this would have been obvious to the ancient reader as well. The fact that the author tells us this headless body was dead is emphatic (compare Jdg 5.27), and the translator may want to go along with the author and insist on it; for example, “… found his dead body [or, corpse]—with the head missing—sprawled out on the floor” (compare verse 18). An alternative model is “he found the headless corpse of Holofernes lying on the floor.”

It is interesting that in this description (14.15-16) of the discovery of the body, there is a quick cascade of verbs as in 13.8-9, where Judith cuts the head off.

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.

For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing: This means “No sacrifice can smell sweet enough to please you” or “Sacrifices, however sweet their smell, amount to very little.”

All fat for burnt offerings becomes “all the choice meat on the altar” in Good News Translation, which is certainly the meaning of the phrase. Fat means “choice meat,” and burnt offerings is a technical term for a certain type of offering. See 4.14 for burnt offerings. But referring to a specific type of offering is not necessary to make the point here. The point is that fearing God—obeying God—is more important than any kind of sacrificial offering, and a person’s real greatness is measured not by offerings made but by that person’s fear of God. In certain languages the one who makes the sacrifice must be made clear. It is “people.”

He who fears the Lord shall be great for ever: Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version bring the third line of this verse forward to the beginning. It joins very nicely with the “obey” theme of the last line of verse 15. However, Good News Translation changes the original relationships by making the Lord the subject. Refer to Contemporary English Version below for a better model. Again fears means “obeys.” Good News Translation expresses being great for ever as earning the Lord’s pleasure. The idea is that offering sacrifices is of small importance compared to obeying the Lord. That is the greatest thing one can ever do.

Contemporary English Version provides a good model for this verse:

• It is much better
to obey the Lord
than to offer
sweet-smelling sacrifices
or the fat of choice meat.

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.

King Nebuchadnezzar made war against King Arphaxad: Good News Translation “went to war” (also Contemporary English Version) is preferable to made war, since this action takes place in Nebuchadnezzar’s twelfth year of rule, while it will not be until his seventeenth year (1.13) that the war is concluded. “Went to war” focuses on the beginning of the action and helps the reader over the difficulty at 1.13. This phrase may also be expressed as “went out to fight against.” If it sounds like Nebuchadnezzar is going alone, one may say “Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers went to fight against….”

In the great plain which is on the borders of Ragae: The spelling of Ragae in Revised Standard Version and New American Bible is the traditional spelling in English. New Revised Standard Version and New English Bible use “Ragau,” which is closer to the Greek text used here. “Rages,” as the name appears in Good News Translation, standardizes it with the form used in Tobit. One must realize that the form “Rages” is the name of an ancient city, and not the English word of the same spelling. This is supposedly the same city Rages that is mentioned in the book of Tobit (see Tob 1.14). One difference is that Judith seems to be speaking more of a region than a city. Here we have a great plain … on the borders of Ragae. It sounds odd to have an expansive plain on the city limits. Enslin translates “a plain in which Ragau lies.” Verse 15 will speak of “the mountains of Ragae,” which again sounds more like a region. Nevertheless, most commentators assume that Ragae is a city, the same as mentioned in the book of Tobit. This city is now in ruins, a few miles from modern Teheran. From a practical standpoint, however, unless translators go out of their way to identify this place as a city (as Good News Translation), the reader will probably assume it to be a region. There is good authority for this assumption, so translators are urged to designate Ragae as a region or territory rather than a city. Great plain may also be expressed as “wide flat area” (so also Tob 5.6).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• In the twelfth year that King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over the Assyrians, he led his soldiers out to fight against King Arphaxad in the large plain on the borders of the region of Ragae.

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.