Judith
For too long the people of God were suffering the invasions and depredations of pagan oppressive powers. We can understand why they would tell themselves stories imagining men and women of valor who would be able to overcome armies by their faith and pious deeds. In this way we can appreciate and value the book of Judith.
The book of Judith can be found within the Old Testament Apocrypha, or Deuterocanon. The Old Testament Apocrypha/Deuterocanon should be defined as texts, or expansions of texts, which were considered part of the Greek Septuagint but not reckoned as canonically part of the Torah, Prophets, or Writings of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). “Apocrypha” is a Greek term for “hidden away”, and “Deuterocanon” is Greek for “second canon”; these terms tend to be used interchangeably for this collection of Second Temple Jewish literature which was highly esteemed but not reckoned as inspired like the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Arguments for inspiration of the Apocrypha as a peer of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings were not advanced until the late medieval/early modern era as a response to the Protestant Reformation within Roman Catholicism at the Council of Trent.
The book of Judith can be found within the Apocrypha/Deuterocanon of all the Christian traditions which maintain such a collection. The book of Judith comes down to us in Greek form. Jerome was confident the book was originally composed in Aramaic, and many maintain a similar confidence on account of the many Semitisms throughout the narrative. Hebrew versions of Judith manifest signs of being translations from the Greek; Judith was entirely unattested among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The rabbis did not seem to hold the story with any high regard; many early Christians took the story at face value on account of its presence in the Septuagint.
Nevertheless, it would prove impossible to take the book of Judith as a historical narrative seriously, nor should we imagine the author ever intended for the book to be thus understood; Judith has many of the hallmarks of a Hellenistic novel. Historical figures are mentioned and feature prominently in Judith, yet remain historically quite confused. The narrative would purport to take place in the twelfth and eighteenth years of Nebuchadnezzar, which would align with 593 and 587 BCE; yet Nebuchadnezzar was identified as the king of Assyria reigning from Nineveh (Judith 1:1). The historical Nebuchadnezzar (II) was a king of Babylon who was partly responsible for the destruction and burning of the historical Nineveh in 612 BCE. The text purports this Nebuchadnezzar raised a mighty army to defeat Arphaxad king of the Medes in Ecbatana in Judith 1:1-16; in Genesis 10:22 an Arphaxad was named as a descendant of Shem, and might well have been understood as the ancestor of the Medes, but the historical king of Medes from 625 to 585 BCE was Cyaxares; he allied with Nebuchadnezzar to defeat and destroy Nineveh and the Assyrians, yet we have no records or indications of any conflict at this time between the Medes and the Babylonians. The author introduced Nebuchadnezzar’s main general as Holofernes in Judith 2:14, and he had a servant Bagoas according to Judith 12:11; there was a historical general Holofernes with a servant Bagoas who was part of a punitive expedition against people Beyond the River, but he was a general for the Persian Artaxerxes III and the campaigns took place in 350 and 343 BCE. According to the author of Judith, the Israelites were petrified at the looming invasion of Holofernes and Nebuchadnezzar’s army because they had only recently returned from exile and re-consecrated and dedicated a new temple (Judith 4:1-3), and he had Achior testify to the destruction of the First Temple, Judah’s exile, and return (Judith 5:18-19); all of this remains historically impossible since the First Temple was still standing in 593 and 587 and would only be destroyed in 586 BCE. It is convenient for the “righteous Gentile” who testified about God’s favor for Israel and who would become an Israelite to be “Achior the Ammonite” (Judith 5:5); “Achior” sounds very similar to “Ahikar”, the exemplar of the righteous political official and who featured prominently in the book of Tobit. The size of cities and armies seem quite exaggerated throughout the narrative; some of the cities, like Ecbatana, Samaria, and Jerusalem, are well-attested in history, but other city names listed, like Bethulia, Betomasthaim, Choba, and Kola, have no other basis of attestation than their identification in Judith, although in its description, “Bethulia” would almost certainly be Shechem (cf. Judith 15:3-5). By invoking Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, the time of the sieges and ultimate destruction of Jerusalem in 597 and 586 BCE, and a well-known Persian commander who fought in a recently remembered conflict around the land of Judah, the author of Judith brought together all the sources of woe, despair, and devastation of Israel in the past, and thus be able to weave together a story with a very different ending.
The story of the book of Judith can be understood in two phases: Judith 1:1-7:32 as setting the scene, and Judith 8:1-16:25 as the story of Judith’s great victory for Israel. The catalyst for the events to come were set forth in Judith 1:1-16: Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria wanted to defeat Arphaxad king of Ecbatana in 593, and summoned assistance from across his empire; many of the people of the east rallied to Nebuchadnezzar, but all the people of the west, including Samaria and Judah, showed contempt for Nebuchadnezzar’s summons and did not provide assistance. Nebuchadnezzar proved successful in defeating Arphaxad and vowed revenge against those in the west. In 587 Nebuchadnezzar began to make good on his vow for revenge, mustering a huge army under Holofernes his general, which laid waste to Syria, Cilicia, and parts of Arabia, leading to great fear in the Levant (Judith 2:1-28). Most of the Levantine people sued Holofernes for peace; the Israelites, while greatly afraid, fasted, lamented, and besought God, yet also prepared defenses for their mountain passes and prepared to resist the Assyrian horde (Judith 3:1-4:15). Holofernes gathered the leaders of other Levantine nations and asked for an explanation for why Israel acted this way; Achior of Ammon bore witness to their origins, their Egyptian sojourn, and how their God had delivered them from Egyptian slavery and dispossessed Canaan before them; he spoke of their exile and recent return; he warned Holofernes about the God of the Israelites, and how they could only defeat Israel if their God found sin among them, but would defend them strongly if they were found righteous (Judith 5:1-21). Other Levantine commanders saw the situation differently, and Holofernes haughtily agreed with them: he cast Achior out to be with the Israelites to ostensibly suffer with them (Judith 5:22-6:10). Achior was welcomed among the Israelites; he recounted what was said and determined at the council, and the Israelites commended him and prayed to God for deliverance (Judith 6:11-21). The next day, Holofernes and the Assyrian army camped before Bethulia; on the second day, the Edomites and Moabites recommended Holofernes send a detachment to capture the spring and deprive Bethulia of its water, which they did (Judith 7:1-20). The Assyrians thus waited the Bethulians out; after thirty-four days the Israelites were ready to hand themselves over, but Uzziah their leader asked for another five days to beg God for assistance (Judith 7:21-32).
Thus the Israelites found themselves in dire straits before the Assyrian menace. At this point, the author introduced us to Judith, daughter of Merari, a Simeonite (Judith 8:1). Judith was a beautiful woman but had been widowed for over three years after her husband Manasseh died of heat stroke; she was richly supplied yet also observed the appropriate customs and feared God (Judith 8:2-8). Upon hearing of Uzziah’s desperate last call, Judith sent word to Bethulia, denouncing all of them for their lack of confidence in God, and instead encouraged them to give thanks; Uzziah was thankful for her words but pointed out the people’s condition; Judith let it be known she would go out that evening and accomplish a great and notable work and bring a message of deliverance within five days (Judith 8:9-36). After praying a profound prayer of lament over Israel’s earlier devastation and prayer for deliverance from the Assyrian host, Judith took off all her signs of widowhood, cleaned herself up, and dressed as she had formerly done for her husband (Judith 9:1-10:4). She had food prepared for a few days in a bag; the city gate was opened for her and her servant, and it did not take long before they were noticed by an Assyrian patrol (Judith 10:5-11).
At this point Judith began her ruse. She suggested she was fleeing because of certain devastation, and could tell Holofernes how to be successful without losing any soldiers; she was brought before Holofernes (Judith 10:12-23). While before Holofernes she confessed the truth of Achior’s previous speech but suggested the Israelites were so desperate as to eat food dedicated to God or declared unclean; she asked to be able to go out and pray and ascertain when Israel had done this to let Holofernes know and thus be successful in war; Holofernes and his men commended and praised her (Judith 11:1-23). Holofernes wanted her to share in a feast with them, but she would not eat the food lest it cause offense to God; for three days she went out to pray and returned just as she had spoken (Judith 12:1-9). On the fourth day Holofernes set up a special feast and wanted Judith there in order to “biblically know” her; she consented to be at the party, dressed herself up, and Holofernes burned with desire for her; Judith drank the wine she had brought and confessed it was the greatest day ever for her (Judith 12:10-19).
Holofernes drank more wine than he ever had before (Judith 12:20); all departed Holofernes’ tent, even Bagoas his servant, and Holofernes and Judith were alone there (Judith 13:1-2). Holofernes was dead asleep in his drunken stupor; Judith prayed; Judith took Holofernes’ sword; and Judith cut off Holofernes’ head (Judith 13:3-8). Judith gave the head to her maid who put it in the bag which had formerly contained their food, left as if they were going to pray, and returned to Bethulia (Judith 13:9-10). She proclaimed the great work which had been accomplished and all gave God the glory and prayed to Him (Judith 13:11-20).
Judith then commanded the Israelites to prepare as if they would give battle in the morning and to place Holofernes’ head on the wall of the city, but only after Achior was able to see it and confirm it belonged to Holofernes; afterward Achior believed in God, submitted to circumcision, and joined the house of Israel (Judith 14:1-10). The Israelites followed Judith’s plan: they prepared for battle, the Assyrians sought direction from Holofernes, who they learned was dead, causing confusion and panic; the Assyrians fled, and the Israelites of Bethulia not only themselves gave them fast pursuit, but sent messages to Betomasthaim, Choba, and Kola, and their men also rushed out for battle; the enemy was cut down, and the Assyrian camp was plundered by the Israelites (Judith 14:11-15:7).
The high priest in Jerusalem and all the people came to praise and honor Judith; she was given the plunder of Holofernes’ tent (Judith 15:8-11). Judith led the women of Israel out in a dance with a song prepared for her, praising God and commending Judith, very much akin to the Song of Deborah in Judges 5:1-31 (Judith 15:12-16:17). Upon arriving at Jerusalem, all the Israelites purified themselves, and Judith dedicated the items from Holofernes’ tent to God (Judith 16:18-19). After feasting for three months, everyone returned to their homes; Judith returned to Bethulia and lived out her days with great notoriety yet deciding to remain a widow despite many offers of marriage (Judith 16:20-22). The author reported Judith manumitted her servant, divided her property among her descendants, and died at 105, and was well mourned and honored in death (Judith 16:23-25).
As we have seen, it remains impossible to reconcile the story of Judith to any particular historical narrative: a Jewish person of the Second Temple Period has created this story. But to what end? Many Biblical themes emerge: the haughtiness of the pagan oppressor; the pastiche of all the pagan oppressors which afflicted Israel, with Assyria, Babylon, and Persia all represented; a “woman of valor,” the embodiment of Proverbs 31:10-31, rose up and becomes the catalyst for victory, very much evoking Ehud, Deborah, and Jael with her killing the general with a sword, summoning Israel out to defeat an oppressor put to flight, and singing a song celebrating the victory (Judges 3:12-5:31).
What is most likely going on implicitly in the book of Judith was made explicit in those later medieval Hebrew manuscripts of the text: the insertion of the name of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the time of the Maccabean revolt of 167 BCE. “Judith,” after all, is the feminine form of “Judah” in Hebrew (“praised” or “Jewess”). Antiochus IV Epiphanes might have been a Macedonian by origin, but by the second century BCE his empire was seen as Syrian. And so we have a story involving an aggressive (As)syrian king attempting to extirpate the people of God, and how an improbable revolt led by an improbable pious person of God led to victory over the (As)syrian king and his forces and independence for the people of God.
The book of Judith, therefore, is best understood as a Hellenistic novel, most likely written in the wake of the Maccabean revolt, celebrating what the Maccabeans were able to accomplish with a historical novel imagining a strong Israelite woman taking on the role of Deborah and Jael against the (even by then) ancient oppressors of Israel and gaining the victory through God’s providence. “Judith” might have been a Simeonite by descent, but she can become the embodiment and representative of pious Israel finding ways to defeat the pagan oppressor who would try to eliminate them.
We can thus understand why plenty of believers have taken great encouragement from the book of Judith and have been greatly impressed by Judith’s character. Roman Catholic attempts to suggest an actual Assyrian context in the days of Manasseh king of Judah in the late medieval and early modern world betray their discomfort with the implications of the decisions of the Council of Trent regarding the inspiration of the Apocrypha and help conspire to obfuscate the point. The goal was never to present or suggest Judith really existed or this story actually happened; arguments about inspiration remain late and misbegotten. Instead, we do better by appreciating the book of Judith for what it has always been: a historically confused but compellingly presented historical novel in which Israel got the victory through a pious woman, somewhat retrojecting the success of the Maccabean revolt onto the past. It is a great way of encouraging one another about the prospect of the pious and righteous finding success and victory by means of their piety and shrewdness; the forces of oppression need not always win. May we appreciate the book of Judith for what it was, is, and always will be, and find encouragement to serve God faithfully in Christ through the Spirit, and obtain the resurrection of life!
Ethan R. Longhenry
The post Judith appeared first on de Verbo vitae.
