The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical[a] book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the Apocrypha. It tells of a Jewish widow, Judith, who uses her beauty and charm to destroy an Assyrian general and save Israel from oppression. The surviving Greek manuscripts contain several historical anachronisms, so some protestant scholars now consider the Book non-historical: a parable, a theological novel, or perhaps the first historical novel.
The story revolves around Judith; a daring and beautiful widow upset with her Jewish compatriots for not trusting God to deliver them from their Seleucid monarchs.
Original language
It is not clear whether the Book of Judith was originally written in Hebrew or Greek. The oldest existing version is in the Septuagint and might either be a translation from Hebrew or composed in Greek. Details of vocabulary and phrasing point to a Greek text written in a language modeled on the Greek developed through translating the other books in the Septuagint.
It dates to the Middle Ages, whether identical to the Greek or in the shorter Hebrew version, it dates to the Middle Ages. The Hebrew versions name important figures directly, such as the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, thus placing the events in the Hellenistic period when the Maccabees battled the Seleucid monarchs. The Greek version uses deliberately puzzling and old-fashioned references such as "Nebuchadnezzar," a "King of Assyria," who "reigns in Nineveh" for the same king. The adoption of that name, though unhistorical, has been sometimes explained either as a copyist's addition or an arbitrary name assigned to the ruler of Babylon.
Canonicity In Judaism
Although the author was likely Jewish, there is no evidence that the Book of Judith was ever considered authoritative or a candidate for canonicity by any Jewish group.
The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible does not contain it, nor was it found among the Dead Sea Scrolls or referred to in any early Rabbinic literature.
Reasons for its exclusion include the lateness of its composition, possible Greek origin, open support of the Hasmonean dynasty (to which the early rabbinate was opposed), and perhaps Judith's brash and seductive character.
However, after disappearing from circulation among Jews for over a millennium, references to the Book of Judith and Judith's figure resurfaced in the religious literature of crypto-Jews who escaped capitulation by the Caliphate of Córdoba. The renewed interest took the form of "tales of the heroine, liturgical poems, commentaries on the Talmud, and passages in Jewish legal codes."
Although the text does not mention Hanukkah, it became customary for a Hebrew midrashic[b] variant of the Judith story to be read on the Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) of Hanukkah; the story of Hanukkah takes place during the time of the Hasmonean dynasty.
That midrash[b], whose heroine is portrayed as gorging the enemy on cheese and wine before cutting off his head, may have formed the basis of the minor Jewish tradition of eating dairy products during Hanukkah.
In that respect, Medieval Jewry appears to have viewed Judith as the Hasmonean counterpart to Queen Esther, the heroine of the holiday of Purim[c]. The textual reliability of the Book of Judith was also taken for granted to the extent that Biblical commentator Nachmanides (Ramban) quoted several passages from a Peshitta (Syriac version) of Judith in support of his rendering of Deuteronomy 21:14.
Canonicity In Christianity
Although early Christians, such as Clement of Rome, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, read and used the Book of Judith, some of the oldest Christian canons, including the Bryennios List (1st/2nd century), that of Melito of Sardis (2nd century) and Origen (3rd century), do not include it. When he produced his Latin translation, he counted it among the Apocrypha (although he changed his mind and later quoted it as scripture and said he merely expressed the views of the Jews), as did Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Epiphanius of Salamis.
However, some influential fathers of the Church, including Augustine, Ambrose, and Hilary of Poitiers, considered Judith sacred scripture, and Pope Innocent I declared it part of the canon. In Jerome's Prologue to Judith, he claims that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures." However, no such declaration has been found in the Canons of Nicaea. It is uncertain whether Jerome refers to the use made of the Book in the council's discussions or whether he was misled by some bogus canons attributed to that council.
It was also accepted by the councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393), Carthage (397), Florence (1442), and eventually dogmatically defined as canonical by the Roman Catholic Church in 1546 in the Council of Trent. The Eastern Orthodox Church also accepts Judith as inspired scripture, as was confirmed in the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672.
The canonicity of Judith is typically rejected by Protestants, who accept as the Old Testament only those books found in the Jewish canon. In Anglicanism, it has the immediate authority of the Apocrypha of the OT, regarded as valid or edifying but not to be taken as a basis for establishing doctrine. Martin Luther viewed the Book as an allegory but listed it as the first of the eight writings in his Apocrypha.
Judith is also referred to in chapter 28 of 1 Meqabyan; a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Plot summary
The story revolves around Judith; a daring and beautiful widow upset with her Jewish fellow citizens for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful fellow citizens. Having lost their leader, the Assyrians disperse, and Israel is saved.
Literary structure
The Book of Judith can be split into two parts or "acts" approximately equal length. Chapters 1–7 describe the rise of the threat to Israel, led by the evil king Nebuchadnezzar and his sycophantic general Holofernes, and is concluded as Holofernes' worldwide campaign has converged at the mountain pass where Judith's village, Bethulia, is located. Chapters 8–16 then introduce Judith and depict her heroic actions to save her people. Although tedious in describing the military developments, it develops essential themes by alternating battles with reflections and thrilling action with rest. In contrast, the second half is devoted mainly to Judith's strength of character and the beheading scene.
The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha identifies a clear chiastic[d] pattern in both "acts." The order of events is reversed at a central moment in the narrative (i.e., abcc'b'a')
Part I (1:1–7:23)
A. Campaign against disobedient nations; the people surrender (1:1–2:13)
B. Israel is "greatly terrified" (2:14–3:10)
C. Joakim prepares for war (4:1–15)
D. Holofernes talks with Achior (5:1–6.9)
E. Achior is expelled by Assyrians (6:10–13)
E'. Achior is received in the village of Bethulia (6:14–15)
D'. Achior talks with the people (6:16–21)
C'. Holofernes prepares for war (7:1–3)
B'. Israel is "greatly terrified" (7:4–5)
A'. Campaign against Bethulia; the people want to surrender (7:6–32)
Part II (8:1–16:25)
A. Introduction of Judith (8:1–8)
B. Judith plans to save Israel (8:9–10:8)
C. Judith and her maid leave Bethulia (10:9–10)
D. Judith beheads Holofernes (10:11–13:10a)
C'. Judith and her maid return to Bethulia (13.10b–11)
B'. Judith plans the destruction of Israel's enemy (13:12–16:20)
A'. Conclusion about Judith (16.1–25)
Main characters
Judith, the heroine of the Book. She is the daughter of Merari, a Simeonite, and widow of a certain Manasses. She uses her charm to become an intimate friend of Holofernes but finally beheads him, allowing Israel to counter-attack the Assyrians.
Holofernes, the villain of the Book. He is a devout soldier of his king, whom he wants to see exalted in all lands. He is tasked to destroy the rebels who did not support the king of Nineveh in his resistance against Cheleud and the king of Media until Israel also becomes a target of his military campaign. Judith's courage and charm occ0asion his death.
Nebuchadnezzar claimed here to be the king of Nineveh and Assyria. He is so proud that he wants to affirm his strength as a divine power. Holofernes, his Turtan (commanding general), is ordered to take revenge on those who refused to ally themselves with him.
Bagoas is a Persian name denoting an official of Holofernes. He is the first one who discovers Holofernes' beheading.
Achior, an Ammonite king at Nebuchadnezzar's court, warns the king of Assyria of the power of the God of Israel but is mocked. He is the first to recognize Holofernes' head brought by Judith in the city and the first to praise God.
Oziah, governor of Bethulia, with Cabri and Carmi, rules over Judith's city.
General Notes
[a] The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be canonical books of the Old Testament, but which Protestant denominations regard as Apocrypha. They date from 300 BC–100 AD, mostly from 200 BC–70 AD, before the definite separation of the Christian Church from Judaism. While the New Testament never directly quotes from or names these books, the apostles most frequently used and quoted the Septuagint, which includes them. Some say there is a correspondence of thought. Others see texts from these books being paraphrased, referred to, or alluded to in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, depending on what is counted as a reference.
[b] Midrash" is an ancient commentary on the part of the Hebrew scriptures attached to the biblical tex
[c] Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book of Esther.
[d] Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, with variants A' and B,' presented as A, B, B,' and A.' Chiastic structures that involve more components are sometimes called "ring structures," "ring compositions," or, in cases of very ambitious chiasmus, "onion-ring compositions." These may be regarded as chiasmus scaled up from words and clauses to more significant text segments.
