Led him out of the camp into the plain: The translation here must be consistent with the translation of 3.9-10 (see the note there). Those verses tell us where Holofernes is camped, somewhere in the Plain of Esdraelon (Jezreel Valley in Good News Translation). Good News Translation has Holofernes’ men taking Achior “into the valley,” since 3.9 in Good News Translation speaks of Jezreel Valley. For plain see 1.8.

From the plain they went up into the hill country: The translator faces a small problem here which will recur in verses 12 and 13. The Greek can be rendered equally well as “mountains” or as hill country, and “mountain” will do as well as “hill” in the next verses. Good News Translation uses “mountain” in all three verses, but refers to a “hill” once in verse 12. Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version use “hill country” and “hill” throughout. Translators are urged to follow these translations. For a comment on the translation of hill country, see 2.22.

Came to the springs below Bethulia: The word springs is plural in Greek. In chapter 7 the word is plural in verses 7 and 17, and singular in verses 3 and 12, where specific springs (or perhaps one specific spring) are referred to. Good News Translation has translated the plural word as a singular here, but, oddly, translates the singular as a plural in 7.12. Most likely, the author is thinking of several water sources outside Bethulia, and will use the singular (7.3, 12; 12.7-8) when one is meant. It is best to follow the author in this. The springs are important for narrative reasons. In dry areas or on small flat islands in the ocean, springs may not exist. In such cases translators will need to use a descriptive phrase; for example, “a place where water flows out of the ground [or, rock].” This final clause may be expressed “and came to the places where water poured out of the rock downhill from the town of Bethulia.”

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.