Now call them in raises the question of just how they are going to do this. Perhaps simply by shouting. New American Bible‘s “summon” is not well chosen; the Israelites are in no position to be summoning anyone. New English Bible simply omits the word and says simply “Surrender to them.” The translation must make clear that the proposed action is that of an inferior acknowledging submission to a superior force. Moore’s “Contact them at once” fits the context without raising questions about how the contact is to be made. Contemporary English Version is similar with “Tell the Assyrians that you have decided to surrender.”

Surrender the whole city: Good News Translation expresses the idea of surrender twice with “surrender to … let … take the town.” However, one may say “let … take [or, capture] our town.”

To the army of Holofernes and to all his forces: Army and forces refer to the same people and may be combined; for example, “the whole army of Holofernes” or “all his soldiers.”

To be plundered may be rendered “let them forcibly take all our possessions.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Call the Assyrians now and let Holofernes and his whole army capture our town and loot 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.