Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up …: “The men” (Good News Translation) are not specifically mentioned, but they clearly are meant by the people (compare verse 5). In the Hebrew Bible the word translated “people” often specifically refers to the body of fighting men. So Contemporary English Version translates “Uzziah then ordered the men to go back to their guard posts on the town walls and in the watchtowers.” The posts (Good News Translation “guard posts”) were places on the town walls and the high towers where the men could clearly see the enemy approaching. One may translate “returned to their positions on the walls and watchtowers to guard the town.”

The women and children he sent home: The women and children do not just decide to go home, as in Good News Translation. They are sent home. The usual Greek text is literally “they sent the women and children to their homes.” This implies that the men sent their families home. This is reflected in New Jerusalem Bible, Gonzáles and Alonso-Schöckel, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. He sent, however, is found in many manuscripts. It is a small difference, but if they are to be sent home, someone has to send them. If people is used here in the military sense (so Contemporary English Version above), it is more likely the men are sending the women and children home, as they themselves go to their various posts. If people refers to everyone, then it is more likely Uzziah is sending the women and children home, in which case that is their appropriate post. It is the translator’s choice, although “they sent” is preferable.

Alternative translation models following these two interpretations are:

• So Uzziah ordered the men to return to guard the town walls and the watchtowers. The men told the women and children to go back to their homes….

• So Uzziah ordered the men to return … and told the women and children to go back to their homes.

They were greatly depressed in the city may be rendered “Everyone in the town felt terribly depressed.”

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.