Cause thy whole nation and every tribe to know and understand that thou art God …: Many scholars see a textual problem here. The reading seems to imply that the whole nation of Israel does not know that their God is the God of all power and might and that he alone is Israel’s protector. There is a variant in a few manuscripts which avoids the problem with the reading “every nation.” This is convincing enough for Moore, New Jerusalem Bible, Enslin, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (which adopts this reading without a footnote). In the end it would have to be said that the Greek text is clear enough. It is quite possible that Judith is not talking about foreign peoples at all—that she means every tribe of Israel, in other words, God’s whole nation. Contemporary English Version follows this interpretation with “Let every tribe in your nation of Israel know for certain that you are God.” Judith is not attempting to be a light to the Gentiles here. She wants to prove God’s power and care to Israel itself, to those who wanted to surrender the town, to those out in the country who would be threatened by the town’s fall (8.21).

God of all power and might may be rendered “God All-Powerful” or “God who is the most powerful.”

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.