The Victory of Judith001

8/3/2019 The Victory of Judith001

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inthe midst

of theenemy

THEVICTORY

OFJUDITH

Judith

[Nebuchadnezzar (neb/3 kad nez'ar), here describedas king of Assyria, ha s sent his commander-in-chiefHolofernes (hol/3 fer'nez) with a huge army to attackthe countries west of his kingdom. To protect Jeru-salem and the temple, the Israelites decide to resist.The citizens of Bethulia, under th e leadership ofUzziah, try to block Holofernes's army in the hill-country passes, but the situation seems hopelessuntil Judith comes forward with a plan.Catholic Bibles include th e Book of Judith in theOld Testament; P rotestant an d Jewish Bibles do not.In some versions of the Bible, Judith appears in asection called "The Apocrypha."]

The next day Holofernes ordered his whole army,an d all the allies who had joined him, to break campan d move against Bethulia, and to seize th e passesup into th e hill country an d make war on theIsrael i tes. So all the ir warr iors moved their camp thatday; their force of me n of war was one hundred an dseventy thousand infantry an d twelve thousand cav-alry, together wi th the baggage and the foot soldiershandling it, a very great m ult itude. . . .Th e people of Israel cr ied out to the Lord theirCod, fo r their courage failed, because al l the irenemies had surrounded them and there was noJudith 7:1-2, 19-20, 23-24, 26-27; 8:1a, 2-3a, 4-11, 32b-34; 10:1-6a, 9-17,21-23; 12:10-12, 15-20; 13:1-17; 14:11-18; 15:1-3, 12-13 (RSV) .LEFT: Daniel in the Den of Lions, detail from an illustration by Cus taveDore, 1866.


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binding sheaves: tyingup bundles of grain.

girded . . . loins:dressed hersel f inrough cloth as a sign ofmourning.

w ay of escape f rom them. The whole Assyr ian army,their in fant ry, char iots , an d cava l ry , sur roundedthem for thir ty-fo ur days, unt i l a l l the vessels ofwate r belonging to every inhabitant of B e th u l i a w e r eempty . . . .Then al l the people, the young men, the women,an d the chi ldren, gathered about Uzz iah and therulers of the c i ty and cr ied out with a loud vo ice, andsaid before all the elders, "God be judge betweenyou an d us! For you have done us a great in jury innot making peace with the Assy r i ans . . . . Now callthem in and s u r ren de r th e whole ci ty to the a rmy ofHolo fe rnes and to a l l h is forces , to be plundered.Fo r it would be better for us to be cap tured by them;for we will be slaves, but our l ives will be spared,and we shal l not w i tne ss the death of our bab iesbe fo re ou r eyes, or see our w ives and chi ldren drawtheir last breath. . . ."A t that t ime Judith heard about these things ....Her husband Manasseh, w ho belonged to her t r ibean d fami ly , ha d died dur ing th e barley harvest . Foras he s tood oversee ing the men who were b ind ingsheaves in the field, he was overcom e by the burn -in g heat, and took to his bed and died in Bethul ia hi sc i ty . . . . Judi th had l ived a t home as a widow fo rth ree years an d four months. She set up a t en t fo rherself on the roof of her house, and girded sack-cloth about her loins and wore the garmen ts of herwidowhood. She fasted all the days of her widow-hood, excep t the day before th e sabbath and thesabbath i tself, the day before the new moon and theda y of the new moon, and the feasts an d days ofre jo ic ing of the house of Israel. She was beaut i ful inappearance, and had a very lovely face; and herhusband Manasseh had lef t her gold and s i lver, andmen and w om en slaves, an d cat t le, an d f ie lds; an dsh e mainta ined this esta te. No one spoke il l of her,for she feared God with great devot ion.When Judith heard the wicked words spoken byth e people against the ruler, be cause they w ere fa in tfor lac k of water, and when she heard all that Uzziahsaid to them, and how he promised them under oathto surre nde r the c i ty to the Assyr ians after f ive days,sh e sent he r maid, who was in charge of al l shepossessed, to summon Chabris and Charmis, theelders of her c i ty . They came to her, and she said tothem,

"Lis ten to me, rulers of the people of Bethu l ia !What you have said to the people today is not right;yo u have even sworn an d pronoun ced this oathbetween God a n d you, p romis ing to sur render th ecity to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helpsus within so many days. . . ."I am about to do a t h ing wh ich will go downthrough a ll genera t ions of our descendan ts . Stand atthe city gate tonight, and I will go out with my maid;and within the days af ter which you have p romisedto sur render th e ci ty to our enemies , th e Lord willdel iver Israel by my hand. Only, do not try to findout wha t I plan; for I will not tell you until I havef in ished what I amabout to do." . . .When Judith had ceased cry ing out to the G od ofIsrael and had ended a ll these words, sh e rose fromwhere she lay prostra te an d called he r maid andwent down into th e house where sh e lived on

sabbaths and on her feast days; and she removedth e sackc lo th wh ich she had been wear ing, an d tookof f her widow's garmen ts, and bathed her body withwate r , and ano in ted hersel f with precious oin t -ment , and combed her ha ir and put on a t ia ra , andarrayed hersel f i f) her gayest apparel , which sh eused to wear whi le he r husband M anasseh w asl iv ing. An d she put sandals on her feet , and put onhe r ank le ts an d bracelets an d r ings, and her earr ingsand al l her ornamen ts , an d made hersel f very beau-t iful, to en t i ce th e eyes of a l l men who might se eher. And she gave he r maid a bott le of wine and af lask of oil, an d f i l led a bag with parched gra in and acake of dried f ru i t an d f ine bread; and she wrappedup al l her vessels and gave them to her to ca r ry .Then t hey w en t out to the city gate of Bethu-lia Then she said to the m, "Order the gate of the ci tyto be opened for me, and I will go out and a c c om -pl ish the things about which you spoke with m e." Sothey ordered th e young men to open th e gate fo rher, as she had sa id. When they ha d done th is ,Judith went out , she and her maid with her; and themen of the c i t y wa tched he r until she had gonedown the mounta in and passed through the valleyan d they could no longer se e her.Th e women went s t ra ight on through the va l ley;and an Assyr ian patrol met her and took he r into

prostrate: facedownward.

tiara: band of jewelryworn on the head.

entice: tempt.


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devoured: i.e.,completely conquered.

made obeisance (oba'sris): bowed low.

custody, an d asked her, "To what people do youbelong, an d where are you coming from, an d whereare yo u going?" Sh e replied, "I am a daughter of theHebrews, but I am f leeing from them, fo r they ar eabout to be handed over to you to be devoured. Iam on my way to the presence of Holofernes th ecommander of your army, to give him a true report;a'ricn W T T T show him a way by which tre carrgo andcapture all the hill country without losing one of hismen, captured or slain."When the men heard her words, an d observedhe r faceshe was in thei r eyes marvelously beauti-fu lthey said to her, "You have saved your life byhurry ing down to the presence of our lord. Go atonce to his tent; so me of us will esco rt you and handyou over to him. And w hen yo u stand before him,do not be afraid in your heart, bu t tell hi m just whatyou have said, and he will treat yo u well."They chose from their number a hundred men toaccompany her and her maid, an d they broughtthem to the tent of Holofernes. . . . Holofernes wasrest ing on his bed, under a canopy which was wovenwith purple an d gold an d emeralds an d preciousstones. When they told him of her he came forwardto the front of the tent, with si lver lamps carriedbefore him. And when Judith came into the pres-ence of Holofernes and his servants, they al l mar-veled at the beauty of her face; and she prostratedhersel f an d made obeisance to him, and his slavesraised h e r u p . . . .On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet forhis slaves only, and did not invite any of his off icers.And he said to Bagoas, th e eunuch who had chargeof all his personal affairs, "Co now and persu ade theHebrew woman who is in your care to join us andea t an d drink with us. For i t will be a disgrace if wele t such a woman go without en joying her company,for if we do not embrace her she will laugh atus." . . . So she got up and arrayed hers elf in all herwoman 's f inery , and her maid went an d spread onth e ground for her before Holofernes th e soft fleeceswhich she had received from Bagoas for her dailyuse, so that sh e might recline on them when sh e ate.Then Judith came in and lay down, an d Holofer-nes's heart was ravished with her and he was movedwith great desire to possess her; for he had been

waiting for an opportunity to deceive her, ever sincethe day he f i rs t sa w her. So Holofernes said to her,"Drink now, and be merry wi th us!" Judi th sa id, "Iwill drink now, m y lord, because m y life meansmore to me today than in all the days since I wasborn." Then sh e took and ate and drank before himwhat her maid had prepared. And Holofernes wasgreatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantityof wine, much more than he had ever d runk in anyone day since he was born.When evening came, h is slaves quick ly withdrew,an d Bagoas closed th e tent f rom outs ide an d shu tout the attendants from hi s master's presence; an dthey went to bed, for they all wer e weary becaus eth e banquet ha d lasted long. So Judi th was left alonein the tent , w i th Holofernes st retched out on hisbed, for he was overcome wi th wine.Now Judi th ha d told her maid to stand outside thebedchamber and to wait for her to come out , as shedid every day; for she said she would be going ou tfor her prayers. And she had said th e same thing toBagoas. So every on e went out , and no one, eithersmall or great, was left in the bedchamber. ThenJudith , standing beside his bed, said in her heart, "OLord Cod of all might, look in this hour upon th ework of my hands for the exal ta t ion o f Jerusa lem.Fo r now is the t ime to help th y inheri tance, and tocarry out my undertaking for the destruction of theenemies who have risen up against us."She went up to the post at the end of the bed,above Holofernes's head, an d took down hi s swordthat hung there . Sh e came close to his bed and tookhold of the hair of his head, and said, "Give m estrength this day, O Lord God of Israel!" And shestruck hi s neck twice with all her might, an d severedhi s head from hi s body. Then sh e tumbled his bodyof f the bed and pulled down th e canopy from th eposts; after a m om en t sh e went out , an d gaveHolofernes's head to her maid, who placed it in herfood bag.Then the two of t hem wen t ou t t ogether , as theywere accustomed to go for p rayer; and they passedthrough th e camp an d circ led around th e valley an dwent up the mountain to Bethul ia and came to itsgates. Judi th called ou t f rom afar to the watchmen atth e gates, "Open, open the gate! God, our God, is

exaltation: increasedpower and glory.


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stupor: dazed or numbcondition.

defile: dishonor.with one accord: incomplete agreement .

steward: se rva n t .

stil l with us, to show his power in Israel, and hisstrength against ou r enemies, even as he has donethis day!"When the men of her city heard her voice, theyhurried down to the city gate an d called together th eelders of the city. They all ran together, both smalland great, for it was unbelievable that she hadreturned; they opened th e gate and admit ted thenvan d they kindled a f ire fo r light, an d gatheredaround them. Then she said to them with a loudvoice, "Praise God, O praise him! Praise Cod, whohas not withdrawn his mercy from the house ofIsrael, but has destroyed ou r enemies by my handthis very night!"Then she took the head out of the bag andshowed it to them, and said, "See, here is the headof Holofernes, the comm ander of the Assyrian army,and here is the canopy beneath which he lay in hisdrunken stupor. Th e Lord ha s st ruck him down bythe hand of a wom an. A s the Lord lives, who hasprotected me in the way I went, it was my face thattr icked him to his destruct ion, and yet he commit tedno act of sin with me, to defile and shame me."All the people were greatly astonished, andbowed down and worshiped Cod, and said with oneaccord, "Blessed ar t thou, our God, who hastbrought into contempt this day the enemies of thypeople." . . .As soon as it was dawn they hung the head ofHolofernes on the wall, and every man took hisweapons , and they wen t out in comp anies to thepasses in the mountains. A nd when th e Assyrianssaw them they sent word to their com manders, andthey went to the generals and the captains and to alltheir off icers. So they came to Holofernes's tent an dsaid to the steward in charge of all his personalaffairs, "Wake up our lord, for the slaves have beenso bold as to come down against us to give battle, inorder to be destroy ed completely."So Bagoas went in and knocked at the door of thetent, for he supposed that he was sleeping withJudi th. Bu t when no one answered, he opened itand went into the bedchamber and found himthrown down on the plat form dead, with his headcu t off and missing. And he cr ied out with a loudvoice and wept and groaned and shouted, and renthis garments. Then he we n t to the tent whe re Judith

ha d stayed, an d when he did not find her he rushedout to the people and shouted, "The slaves havetr icked us! One Hebrew woman has brought dis-grace upon the house of King Nebuchadnezzar ! Fo rlook, here is Holofernes lying on the ground, andhis head is not on him!" . . .When the men in the tents heard it, they wereamazed at what had happened. Fear and tremblingcame over them, so that they did not wait for oneanother, but with one impulse all rushed out andfled by every path across th e plain an d through th ehill country. Those who had camped in the hillsaround Bethulia also took to flight. Then the men ofIsrael, every one that was a soldier, ru she d out uponthem. . . .Then all the women of Israel gathered to see her,an d blessed her, an d some of them performed adance for her; and she took branches in her handsan d gave them to the women who were with her;an d they crowned themselves with ol ive wreaths,sh e and those who were with her; and she wentbefore all the people in the dance, leading all thewomen, whi le al l the men of Israel followed, bear ingtheir arms and wear ing garlands an d with songs ontheir l ips. garlands: strings off lowers.

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The Victory of Judith001