The Assyrian came down: It was an army that came, so one may say “The Assyrian soldiers marched [or, came] down.” However, it is possible that The Assyrian refers to Holofernes. In this case we may say “The Assyrian general came down.”

He came with myriads of his warriors: The English word myriads comes from a Greek number, meaning “10,000.” Good News Translation‘s “tens of thousands” is nothing more than a simple translation. This is not, of course, an exact count of the soldiers, but simply a huge number used for effect.

Their multitude blocked up the valleys may be rendered “thousands of soldiers blocked the rivers in the valleys.”

Their cavalry covered the hills may be rendered “cavalry troops covered the mountaintops like a blanket” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Cavalry may also be expressed as “horse soldiers” or “soldiers riding on horses” (see 1.13).

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• The Assyrians came down from the mountains of the north;
there were tens of thousands of soldiers.
They blocked the rivers in the valleys;
their cavalry troops covered the mountains like a blanket.

• The Assyrian general with tens of thousands of his soldiers marched down from the mountains in the north. His soldiers blocked the rivers….

• The Assyrian general came down from the mountains in the north;
he came with tens of thousands of his soldiers.
They blocked the rivers….

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.