The priests take some of the clothing of their gods: In verse 11 we were told that the images were dressed. Here we are told that the priests have been known to take some of the clothing—not all of it—for their own families to use. Good News Translation misses this point with “They take the clothing off their gods,” but Contemporary English Version follows Revised Standard Version by rendering “They even take some of the idols’ clothes.” The Revised Standard Version footnote here explains that their gods is literally “them” in Greek. Revised Standard Version has spelled out the pronoun for clarity.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.