Then Nebuchadnezzar was very angry with this whole region: Then may also be rendered as “This made…” (Good News Translation) or “Their refusal made….” For a comment on “anger,” see Tob 1.18. This whole region refers to “all those people” (Good News Translation).

Swore by his throne and kingdom: Nebuchadnezzar swears by that which he holds dear and precious: his own kingdom. Throne is a symbolic reference to his rule over the kingdom. Good News Translation conveys the force of throne and kingdom with “his entire kingdom.” He is so enraged at the treatment of his messengers that he vows revenge, calling on as mighty a thing as he can think of (compare Jer 51.14; Amos 4.2; 6.8). It is interesting that he does not swear by any gods, but only by his own might. He does not actually, as Good News Translation implies, make a decision that he will risk it all to seek revenge. That would be to admit that he is “only a man,” and not omnipotent. See also the note on 2.12, where Nebuchadnezzar takes an oath in direct discourse. In languages that require direct speech for oaths, an alternative translation is “I solemnly promise, as the one that rules over this great kingdom, that I will take revenge…” or “As the greatest king on earth, I solemnly promise that I will take revenge….” The first sentence may then be rendered “Nebuchadnezzar was very angry and said, ‘As the greatest king in the world, I solemnly promise that I will….’ ”

Surely take revenge on: To take revenge is to “pay back by killing.”

Kill them by the sword: By the sword means that he will use weapons of war to kill them when taking revenge. In many languages it will be more natural to combine the two clauses take revenge and kill them by the sword; for example, “take revenge on all these people by killing everyone in Cilicia….”

The whole territory of Cilicia and Damascus and Syria … the coasts of the two seas: Once again the author reviews the map of the eastern Mediterranean from north to south, but without the same detail of verses 7-10. In many languages it will be helpful to list all these places together at the end of the verse, as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version do. Damascus appears in the Greek text in a different form from its occurrence in verse 7. Here it is “Damascene;” this indicates the general area around Damascus, and the idea is amply covered in the whole territory of or “the entire population of.” Good News Translation‘s “Judah” is the same as Revised Standard Version‘s Judea. Translators should use the form used in the rest of the Old Testament for “Judah.” It is not immediately evident what is meant by the coasts of the two seas. Although some think it refers to the upper reaches of the White Nile River and the Blue Nile River, most think it refers to the Persian Gulf on the east and either the Mediterranean Sea or the Red Sea to the west. Moore charges that “from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf” in Good News Translation “is simply an arbitrary interpretation, not a translation,” but this is unfounded. It is a translation in the sense that it is making clear to the modern reader information that would have been understood by the original readers. And the interpretation involved is not arbitrary. It is well thought-out, completely defensible, and is probably the majority view. The explanatory note in New American Bible supports it. “Persian Gulf” in certain languages will require a descriptive phrase; for example, “the narrow sea south of Persia.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Nebuchadnezzar was very angry and said, “As the greatest king in the world, I solemnly promise that I will pay back these people by killing everyone in the regions of Cilicia, Damascus, Syria, Moab, Ammon, Judah, and Egypt—this includes everyone from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.”

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.