Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children, gathered: A new subject matter is introduced here, so Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation begin with a new paragraph. People refers to the young men, the women, and the children. Good News Translation shows this with “All the people of the town—men, women, and children alike—gathered.” Contemporary English Version‘s model is also permissible: “Then every person in Bethulia, both young and old, gathered.”

Uzziah and the rulers of the city may be rendered “Uzziah and the other town leaders” (Contemporary English Version).

Cried out with a loud voice and said before all the elders: “Shouted in protest” (Good News Translation) carries the weight of the two verbs cried out and said. “In protest” has support from the text. It can be inferred from the Greek verb cried out, as well as from the preposition that Revised Standard Version has translated before (see below). Good News Translation has combined rulers of the city and elders into one expression “town officials,” but the two groups are not necessarily identical. The rulers of the city are Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis. These rulers are elders (see the note at 6.16; 8.10), but not all the elders were rulers. Revised Standard Version in 6.14-15 refers to these three as “magistrates” (“town officials” in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version), but this is the same noun translated here rulers. What may be happening is that the people gather around the three rulers and make their statement in the presence of another group, the elders. (In 6.16 the magistrates call the elders together.) Good News Translation‘s understanding, however, is not without justification. There is an ambiguity in the Greek word translated before. Gonzáles and Alonso-Schöckel translates this word “against,” so that when the people cry out they are shouting against the elders, whom Gonzáles and Alonso-Schöckel apparently understands to include Uzziah and his two colleagues. Good News Translation seems to go in the same direction. It uses “town officials” to include Uzziah and the other two leaders, as well as the elders (Contemporary English Version similar with “town leaders”), and interprets the ambiguous preposition to mean “in protest.” Gonzáles and Alonso-Schöckel describes the scene as a “polite mutiny.” This direction is preferable to the approach of Revised Standard Version and others. It is simpler, it avoids making a legal puzzle of the presence of the elders, and there is no problem in interpreting the Greek preposition to mean “against.” It is surprising that more translations have not taken it this way. Moore has the people shout “in protest,” but goes on to translate “in the presence of all the elders.” Good News Translation serves as a good model for translators.

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.