As soon as morning comes and the sun rises: The opening clause is literally “And it will be, as soon as morning dawns and the sun comes out upon the earth.” Good News Translation simply has “at sunrise” here since it places “in the morning” in the previous verse. The writer must have wanted to put some emphasis on this. The town is on an elevation, and the rising sun will hit the town walls well before it shines into the valley where the Assyrian sentries are posted. Judith wants the enemy to observe the preparations just as soon as daylight makes it possible. As Moore points out, Judith is now more than Jael the assassin; she is also Deborah the military strategist. An alternative translation model is “Then as soon as the sun rises tomorrow morning and its rays hit the earth….”

Let every valiant man take his weapons: For valiant Good News Translation has “able-bodied” and Contemporary English Version has “strong.”

Set a captain over them: Good News Translation has Judith advise the men to “Appoint a leader for yourselves” before mentioning the other morning activities. In the Greek it sounds almost like an afterthought, though it is obviously part of Judith’s plan. Bringing it forward makes her scheme somewhat clearer. Good News Translation is correct in having all the assembled men, both young and old, pick a leader for the soldiers. Only some of the men would have been able-bodied soldiers. Contemporary English Version is wrong here with “all of you strong men choose a leader.”

Assyrian outpost: This refers to the enemy camp out on the plain (7.18), where Holofernes’ soldiers are still unaware of their commander’s death.

The Greek says only do not go down at the end of the verse. The idea “pretend” could be added to the previous clause if this final clause is too prominent; for example, “pretending that you/they were going down….” Good News Translation assumes that “as if they were going down…” will take care of this, and it may. Part of the problem is that the Israelites actually do go down, but not at this time. They allow time for the Assyrians to discover Holofernes’ body and panic. Perhaps it would not be too much to have Judith say here “But they are not actually to go down just yet.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Then as soon as the sun rises tomorrow morning, and its rays hit the earth, all your men should choose a leader for yourselves. Then take your weapons and go out of the town, pretending that you are going down into the valley to attack the Assyrian guards there.

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.