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* Original Historical Documents*

	A HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF JUDITH
by
Damien Mackey, March 2003 	


	/
Here, using basically the NRSV of the Bible (Catholic edition 1991), I
intend to show how the Judith narrative can be fully integrated with
Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah (ca. 740-690) for the time of king Hezekiah
(c. 727-697 BC revised dates)./ 	

	Introduction

So difficult have commentators found it to secure an historical locus
for the events described in the Book of Judith that the almost universal
tendency today has become to relegate it to the somewhat meaningless
category of "historical fiction", as some kind of literary fusion of all
the enemies (Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, etc.) with whom
ancient Israel ever had to contend. This is not entirely surprising in
that whoever might aspire to show the historicity of the book tends to
choke right at the start, with verse 1:1:/"It was the twelfth year of
the reign of Nebuchednezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great
city of Nineveh. In those days Arphaxad ruled over the Medes in
Ecbatana"/. At first appearance, we have here a great *Babylonian* king,
"Nebuchednezzar", ruling over an *Assyrian* capital city, /"Nineveh"/,
that had ceased to exist several years before Nebuchednezzar's rule. And
that Babylonian king, in Assyria, will in that very year - as we learn a
bit further on in verse 5 - make war on the *Medes*, who were in fact
the allies of Nebuchednezzar; the Medes in Judith being ruled by
/"Arphaxad"/, a historical unknown. And, to complete this historical
potpourri, Nebuchednezzar's commander-in-chief, introduced into the
narrative in chapter 2, will be found to have a name that is considered
to be *Persian*, /"Holofernes"/, as will be thought to be the case also
with his chief eunuch, /"Bagoas"/. No wonder then that earlier
commentators had sought for the book's historical locus in periods
ranging over hundreds of years. /"Attempts have been made to identify
the Nebuchadnezzar of the story with Assurbanipal, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes
Ochus, Antiochus Epiphanes: Arphaxad with Deioces or Phraortes"/ [1
<#axa>].

My starting point for anchoring the Judith narrative, which I had
considered historical from my very first reading of it, was to locate
the story's /main incident/ in history. And then, after that, to attempt
to tackle the details. Now there was only one incident in the entire
history of the ancient Jews when a massive, world-conquering Assyrian
army almost 200,000-strong had been stopped in its tracks as it marched
to conquer Jerusalem. That was the demise of Sennacherib's army in c.700 BC.

Having the core of the story securely in hand, one could then proceed to
fix up the details. But this was easier said than done, because one then
encounters the hotly-debated problems associated with Sennacherib's
invasions of the west. /How many times did the Assyrian confront
Jerusalem? In what campaign did the destruction of his army occur? And
how did it occur?/ [2 <#iwc>]. I was confident that I at least already
had the details for this last question fully revealed in the Book of Judith.

There is also the belief that Sennacherib fought no great wars with the
Medes, hardly went near them in fact. This issue, however, will be found
to be irrelevant. But the greatest problem of all is, as we shall see,
the suggestion in the Septuagint version of Judith that the whole drama
may belong to a post-exilic era after the destruction of the Temple.
Such is no doubt the main reason why commentators do not usually even
consider the era of Sennacherib as being relevant for Judith, as is the
case with the quote accompanying footnote [1 <#axa>] above. More popular
choices for Judith's era have been:

1 - *Ashurbanipal.* The emphasis on the Medes had led certain able
commentators in the past, wishing to uphold the historical integrity of
the Book of Judith, to try to locate it to the era of the Assyrian king,
Ashurbanipal (c.650 BC), grandson of Sennacherib. They claim to find
similarities especially in regard to Ashurbanipal's war with the Median
Phraortes, and the Judæan king Manasseh's being held by the Assyrians in
Babylon, leaving Jerusalem temporarily king-less; this last accounting
for the fact that there is no Judaean king mentioned in the entire
Judith narrative. The Ashurbanipal scenario has the advantage too of
preserving the pervading Assyrian element in Judith, which is frankly 'a
given'. But there are important aspects as well that are thought not to
fit Ashurbanipal's era. To give one example, Ashurbanipal never suffered
the kind of reverse at the hands of the Jews that was suffered by
/"Nebuchednezzar"/. Again, Judith is said to have lived to the age of
105 and Israel was not troubled again during her lifetime nor for long
afterwards (cf. 16:23, 25). M. Leahy has observed [3 <#iwnt>]: /"It
seems, therefore, that Judith's glorious deed cannot have taken place in
the reign of Ashurbanipal, because [King] Josias of Judah was defeated
and slain at Megiddo in 609".

2 - /*Artaxerxes III 'Ochus'.* Others have suggested that the period in
question was c.352 BC, when Artaxerxes 'Ochus' is thought to have
invaded Palestine /en route/ to Egypt, and /"Holofernes"/, a Cappadocian
prince, fought against Egypt [4 <#capp>]. /"Holofernes"/ and /"Bagoas"/
are considered to be /"definitely Persian names"/ [5 <#bags>]. See
footnotes [6 <#bags>, 73 <#f73>], though, for problems associated with
Persia, (Arta-)Xerxes.

/3 -/ *Second Commonwealth.* For others, the political set-up, the
absence of any mention of a king, and with a /gerousia, "the people's
Council of Elders"/ sitting in Jerusalem (Judith 4:8), has confirmed
them in their view that Judith pertains to the time of the Second
Commonwealth period, when Jerusalem was ruled by only a council, and no
king. But it should be noted that the Greek word translated as
"Council", /gerousiã/, is the one used also of the /"ancients"/ in
Leviticus 9:1 (Hebrew Hebrew `zaqen', "zaqen"). So it could simply mean
the 'elders' of Jerusalem. And indeed we find /"the elders of the town"/
also guarding Judith's town of /"Bethulia"/ at the time of the Assyrian
invasion (Judith 6:16).

/4 -/ *Maccabees.* For others again, the socio-political situation more
exactly fits the Maccabean age. Thus /"Nebuchednezzar"/ is to be
identified with one or other Greek ruler (e.g. Antiochus /Epiphanes/)
who hated the Jews and who had ordered armies against the beleaguered
Jerusalem.

Each of these proposed scenarios has points in its favour. Each has its
defects. None of them, but for Sennacherib's era, has the /main incident/.

Virtually all of the details in the Book of Judith can be, it will be
seen, exactly fitted to the era of Sennacherib and Hezekiah. The very
few that cannot have to be put down to copyists' mistakes. Let us now
examine the Book of Judith chapter by chapter, according to our
Hezekiah-Sennacherib context.

/*Judith 1*

"Twelfth year"/. A king of Assyria very close to Sennacherib did in fact
successfully wage an eastern war against a stubborn opponent in the
former's /"twelfth year"/. That was Sargon, thought to be Sennacherib's
father, who tells us [7 <#oppf>]:/"In my twelfth year of reign
(Merodach-baladan) .... For 12 years, against the will (heart) of the
gods, he held sway over Babylon ..."/. But I have shown recently in my
Assyrian revision that Sargon was in fact Sennacherib himself, who ruled
at Nineveh (and was in fact a great conqueror of the Medes).

Moreover, I have argued that the so-called 'Middle' Babylonian king,
Nebuchednezzar I (c.1000 BC, conventional), was in fact
Sargon/Sennacherib as /ruler of Babylon/. Sennacherib began to rule
Babylon in fact even before his rule over Assyria had commenced [8 <#rulb>].

*This immediately accounts for one of the Book of Judith's most
controversial details, having a /"Nebuchednezzar"/ ruling over the
Assyrians at Nineveh.*

Given this premise, then /"Arphaxad"/ can only be Merodach-baladan of
Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 20:12; Isaiah 39:1), whose Chaldean origin is
reflected in the name, /"Arphaxad"/, i.e., /'Ur of the Chaldees'/. And
that is confirmed by what we are told in verse 6: /"Thus, many nations
joined the forces of the *Chaldeans*"/, including the Aramaeans and the
/"Elymeans"/ (Elamites), perennial allies of Babylon against Assyria.

(For a map go Here <map_middle_east.html>)

Thus we can isolate, as a copyist's mistake, /"Medes"/ and /"Ecbatana"/,
and also /"Ragau"/ mentioned in Judith 1:5. Now it is interesting to
note that these very same entities, /"Media", "Ecbatana" and "Rages"/
have been wrongly added to another pseudepigraphal book, Tobit, causing
havoc with that book's geography. Young Tobias in company with the angel
Raphael, travelling supposedly from Nineveh to the Median locations of
/"Ecbatana"/ and /"Rages"/ (therefore necessarily travelling eastwards),
is said to have arrived in the evening at the /"Tigris"/ river (to the
west of Nineveh).

That of course is a geographical impossibility.

Moreover, whereas according to Tobit 5:6:/"It usually takes two full
days to get from Ecbatana to Rages. Rages lies in the mountains and
Ecbatana in the middle of the plain"/[9 <#mtns>], the actual Median
Ecbatana and Rages are almost two hundred miles apart, so that it took
Alexander the Great and his men eleven days to cover the distance,
riding at full gallop with some of their horses dying underneath them
[10 <#hody>]. These obvious geographical inaccuracies in extant versions
of Tobit have led at least one commentator to remark [11 <#obge>]:
/"[The angel] Raphael knows the journey of life far better than the
route to Media"/.

One can unravel this whole geographical puzzle though with the help of
some lesser known versions of the much-copied Tobit [12 <#wto>]. These
give, instead of Media, /"Midian"/; and, instead of Ecbatana,
/"Bathania"/ (i.e. Batanæa or Bashan). That makes all the difference!
Accordingly, the young Tobias would indeed have been travelling
westwards, from Nineveh, across the Tigris, to Batanæa in Midian
(Transjordan) - /*with his back to Media*/. Herodotus [13 <#tiba>] had
noted that there was also an /"Ecbatana in Syria"/, as distinct from the
Median city of that name. And /"Rages"/, said in one version of Tobit to
be /"situated in the mount of Ecbatana"/ (5:8), two full miles distant,
can only be the city of Damascus in the mountains of Bashan, 50 miles
from Nawa at the centre of Batanæa, and indeed two days distance
according to Jâkût el-Hamawi: /"Between Nawa and Damascus is *two days'*
journey ..." /[14 <#i2ds>].

The Vulgate of Tobit helpfully gives /"Charan"/ (i.e. Haran) /"in the
midway to Nineveh"/ (11:1). Haran is more or less /"midway"/ between
Damascus and Nineveh (if old Tobit be taken as speaking to his son by
way of a rough approximation, as one does when directing a person on a
journey).

So a copyist has obviously corrupted the original Tobit, that was
perfectly accurate from a geographical point of view, and turned it all
into a nonsense. The same applies to parts of Judith.

In the context of my revision of the Judith era, the first verse of the
Book of Judith actually needs very little alteration. It can be re-cast
as follows: "It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchednezzar [I =
Sargon/Sennacherib], who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of
Nineveh. In those days Merodach-baladan ruled over the Chaldeans in
Babylon".

"Nineveh", when qualified as the "great city", is a biblical term for a
complex of cities, not necessarily just the classical Nineveh alone (cf.
Genesis 10:12; Jonah 1:2; 3:3).

Presumably the "He" who is said to have greatly fortified "Ecbatana"
[i.e. Babylon] at the time, as we read in verse 2, refers to the
Chaldean king, Merodach-baladan. He was indeed a great builder. Or did
the "He" originally pertain to the Assyrian king? Certainly Sennacherib,
too, was doing a lot of building at the time, both on classical Nineveh
and, more notably, on his jewel city of Dur-Sharrukin ('Sargonsville').

Arioch - ! <achior_cupbearer.html>

In verse 6 we are introduced to one who will turn out to be a most
fascinating character, /"Arioch, king of the Elymeans"/. What this late
footnote is actually meant to do is to precisify for those reading
Judith the region of the /Hydaspes/ (var. /Choaspes/), and along the
plain, from where Elamite troops rallied to the Chaldean cause, by
adding that it was the same region as that over which /Arioch/ (var.
/Erioch/) ruled. But commentators express puzzlement about him. Who was
this /Arioch/? And if he were such an unknown, then what was the value
of this gloss for the early readers?

An editor, apparently failing to realise that this person, given as
/Arioch/, was the very same as the /Achior/ who figures so prominently
throughout the main story of Judith, has caused confusion by calling him
by the different name of /Arioch/. He should have written: /"*Achior*
ruled the Elymæans"./

The Book of Tobit tells us more. Some time after the destruction of
Sennacherib's armies, he who had been Sennacherib's /Rabshakeh/
(Rabshakeh in Hebrew) (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 36:2), or Cupbearer, was
appointed governor (or 'king') of Elymaïs (Elam) (cf. 1:18,21: 2:10).
This was Tobit's very nephew, Ahikar ('Achior' in the Vulgate), of the
northern tribe of Naphtali (cf. Tobit 1:1).

Now the /*New Catholic Encyclopedia*/, whilst incorrectly suggesting
that: /"There does not appear to be any demonstrable connection between
this Achior [of Judith] and the Ahikar of the [legendary] Aramaic
Story"/, confirms however that the name /Achior/ can be the same as
/Ahikar/ [15 <#cfst>]:

/ A certain Achior is mentioned in four passages of the Book of Tobit.
He is presented as chief administrator and royal adviser ("keeper of the
seal") under Esarhaddon and is claimed as Tobit's nephew (1:21-22) and
friend (2:10).

... In view of these striking similarities there can be little doubt
that this Achior is to be identified with Ahikar of the Aramaic Story.
Moreover, the spelling of the name in the Greek text [Achiakaros]
eliminates any difficulty on that score./

But Tobit's nephew /Ahikar/ (/Achior/) ruled Elam, not then in
Sennacherib's 12th year, when he was a high officer in the Assyrian
army, but (about a decade) later, during the reign of Ashurbanipal [16
<#real>], when he was sent to Elam. From there it is smooth running to
make the comparison:

"*Achior ... Elymæans*" (Judith); "*Ahikar ... Elymaïs*" (Tobit).

Suffice it to say here that this ubiquitous personage, /Achior/ the
Cupbearer, would have been the /eyewitness extraordinaire/ to the
detailed plans and preparations regarding the eastern war between the
Assyrians and the Chaldean coalition as described in Judith 1.

/The Defeat of Merodach-baladan/

The Assyrian king, as he was wont to do, sent messengers to all the
nations that he had brought into submission in his previous campaigns,
eastern and western - from Persia to Ethiopia - to enlist help in his
war against Merodach-baladan (vv. 7-11). But these blatantly refused.
This refusal that so infuriated the Great King was the catalyst for the
story's main drama, the invasion of the west, including Israel.

Merodach-baladan, who had once sent his own envoys to Hezekiah (Isaiah
39), and who had been a thorn in Assyria's side even since the time of
Tiglath-pileser III, was defeated once and for all, and slain according
to the Septuagint version of Judith (v.15). His city was captured and
plundered. This was now in the Assyrian king's /"seventeenth year"/,
five years after the war had commenced (vv. 13-15). It would equate with
Sennacherib's /Eighth Campaign/, in which he brutally destroyed Babylon:
though it is thought not as completely as Sennacherib might have claimed.

The king then /"returned to Nineveh, he and all his combined forces, a
vast body of troops; and there ?rested and feasted for one hundred and
twenty days"/ (v.16).

/*Judith 2*/

This chapter opens with a precise date: /"In the eighteenth year, on the
twenty-second day of the first month ?"/. Plans were now being set in
motion for the Great King's war of revenge against his recalcitrant
subjects. /Achior/ the /Rabshakeh/ would no doubt have attended the war
council, along with Sennacherib's other /"ministers and nobles"/, during
which the king /set before them his *secret* plan"/ the destruction of
all the disobedient (v.2).

/"Holofernes"/

We are now introduced for the first time to /"Holofernes"/, the
commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army, whom I have identified in my
Assyrian revision with Sennacherib's own son, Esarhaddon. The latter had
already served for some years as Sennacherib's appointee over Babylon,
and had undertaken his own campaigns, even against Egypt. He is
described as /"second only to the king himself"/ (v.4). He held a rank
far greater even than the Turtan. He was in fact viceroy to the king and
his named successor. As in history, so in Judith, does he remain loyal
to his father, Sennacherib, showing the greatest contempt and hatred for
those who had resisted his predecessors.

The Great King now orders his commander-in-chief to organise an army of
foot-soldiers 120,000-strong (the same sized force that Shalmaneser III
had fielded at the Battle of Qarqar about a century and a half earlier
[17 <#fobe>]), plus 12,000 cavalry (v.5). /'Go out against all the
kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that despised my
commandments'/ (2:5). Previously, at the Council, the king had, in
typically Assyrian fashion, referred to the /"wickedness"/ of these
rebellious nations (2:2). Indeed the Assyrians were wont to call
/"sinners"/ whomsoever would disobey them and their gods. There is
plenty of this throughout the Book of Judith. And Sargon will record,
regarding for example his raids into the provinces of king Midas [18
<#provm>]: /"Not a sinner escaped"/.

The Great King's further command that the westerners /"prepare earth and
water"/ (v.7) a sign of their submission, is considered to be a Persian
element, associated for instance with Xerxes' western invasion. Persia
may not have been where this custom originated, however. [Refer again to
footnotes [6, 73].

The immense army that departed Nineveh, accompanied by its baggage train
and transport animals, is described as follows: /"Along with them went a
mixed crowd like a swarm of locusts, like the dust of the earth - a
multitude that could not be counted"/ (v.20). Sargon had, with reference
to a campaign in his Year 6, used for his armies that *exact same
metaphor, word for word* as is here used in Judith [19 <#usha>]: /"In
the anger of my heart I overran (lit., covered) these lands *like [a
swarm] of locusts ...*"/.

The prophet Joel was almost certainly referring to the same nation's
army, rather than to flying insects, when he spoke of an invasion of
locusts (1:4) which he immediately metamorphosises into /"a nation has
invaded my land"/ (v.6), and later a /"northern army"/ (2:20), to lay it
waste utterly. It was not uncommon for the prophets to use beast-like
metaphor to describe an enemy. Had not Isaiah himself referred to
successive neo-Assyrian kings in similar, un-endearing metaphor, as
snakes and dragons? (Isaiah 14:29):
	

	/ Do not rejoice, whole country of Philistia,
because the rod that beat you has broken,
since the serpent's stock can still produce a basilisk
and the offspring of that will be a flying dragon.
/	Assyrian dragon seals: Left-winged dragons; Right-Dinosaur like dragons

	
Joel again, referring to the typical Assyrian assault by escalade,
exclaimed:/"They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of
war"/ (2:7). A footnote to Douay's Joel 2:20 reads: /"*The northern
enemy*. Some understand this of Holofernes and his army; others, of
locusts"./

Esarhaddon had indeed greatly augmented the Assyrian army (cf. Judith
2:14-18) [20 <#eshi>]:

/ In addition (?) ......... the charioteers (?) of the bodyguard (?),
cavalry of the bodyguard(?), governors, many of them (?), chiefs
(captains) (of?) the bowmen (*kitkittu*), the workmen, the sappers, the
shield-(bearers), the "killers", the farmers, the shepherds, the
gardeners, to the masses of Assur's host and to the (military)
establishment of the former kings, my fathers, in large numbers, I added
and Assyria, to its farthest border, I filled up like a quiver.

New Western Campaign/

Whilst Sennacherib could claim this western campaign as his own, he did
not personally lead it. His plan was, as with his /Third Campaign/ in
which he followed up his /Turtan's/ successes, to come afterwards. Thus
he informs his commander-in-chief:

/ 'You shall go and seize all their territory for me in advance. They
must yield themselves to you, and you shall hold them for me until the
day of their punishment'/ (v.10).

The Judith narrative of the Assyrian army's march westwards, that
commentators have found difficult to follow in all of its stages, may
perhaps be an actual synthesis of several of Esarhaddon's campaigns.
Esarhaddon is considered to have been a most potent king. A first
difficulty in regard to reconstructing these events is the corrupt
nature of Esarhaddon's extant documents. Luckenbill tells of their
deficient state [21 <#rtes>]: /"Owing to the condition in which the
documents have come down to us, and to the fact that the scribes did not
arrange the events of the king's reign according to years or campaigns,
the modern editor's task becomes somewhat difficult"./

A second difficulty is that the account of the route taken by the
Assyrian army, from Nineveh, varies with the different versions of
Judith. Let us take up J. Simons' account of it in its various stages
[22 <#dvoj>]:

	

	/a)/ 	/ v.21: after mentioning NINEVE as Holofernes' starting-point
this verse deals with the first stage of the expedition, i.e. a "three
days march" which brings the army to the border of the enemy country,
viz. to "the plain of Bectileth", which was apparently the site of a
base-camp close to the general area of military operations (similar to
the camp on the plain (of) Esdrelon * before the final stage of these
operations: iii 10);
/ 	

	/b)/ 	/ b) v.22 relates the opening proper of the military operations,
viz. by saying that the army leaves the base-camp on the plain and moves
up the mountain-land (eíò thn òreinhn).
/ 	

	/c)/ 	/ V.27: (from this mountain-land) the army "descends into the
plain of DAMASCUS", the territory first to suffer;/ 	

	/d)/ 	/ V.28: the chastisement of the land of DAMASCUS causes a panic
in the "coastland"/ (Greek `paralia'), from where several cities
mentioned by name send ambassadors to offer submission (iii <#chiii> 1
ff.). 	

	
/ As regards the cartographic interpretation of this part of the
expedition preceding that attack on Judaea * itself we submit the
following remarks:

Independently of every hypothesis or reconstruction of Holofernes'
expedition it appears that the transmitted text does not mention Cilicia
* (v.21) as its objective or partial goal.

Moreover, "Upper Cilicia" as an indication of the location of "the plain
Bectileth" ("Bectileth near the mountain which lies to the left - north
- of Upper Cilicia" or Cilicia above the Taurus Mountains) is completely
out of the way which starts at NINEVE and is directed towards
Syria-Palestine.

We suspect, therefore, that Tes o no Kilikias has been inserted (perhaps
in replacement of some other original reading) in order to adjust the
account of the campaign to the terms of I 7 and I 12.

Secondly, "the plain of Bectileth" mentioned as the terminus of the
first stage of Holofernes' advance seems to us simply the Syrian beqã'
(Beqa) between Libanos and Antilibanos * mentioned in I 7. Holofernes'
base-camp was not in the centre of the plain ("àpò Bektileq") must have
developed from or be the remaining part of a statement to this effect)
but "near the mountains on the left (north) side", in other words: at
the foot of the Antilibanos* (cp. Its modern name "gebel esh-sherqi").
It is this mountain-ridge (oreine) which the army has to climb (v.22)
before "sweeping down (katébeh) on the plain of DAMASCUS" (v. 27).

In the third place the text names (v. 28) the coastal towns, where the
fate of DAMASCUS raises a panic. Most of these names create no problems:

Sidon = saidã
Tyrus = sûr
Jemnaa = Jamnia ?.
Azotus = isdûd ?.
Ascalon = 'asqalãn ?.
Some mss. add: Gaza = ghazzeh.

The remaining two are obscure. Ocina seems to have been somewhere
between Tyrus and Jemnaa and is for this reason usually identified with
'acco = 'akkã ?. Sour, which neither because of the name itself nor on
the ground of its location ? can be reasonably considered to render
Hebrew "dor" ?is probably but a duplicate of TYRUS (cp. Hebr: Sor). It
is possible that the distinction between the island-city and the
settlement on the mainland (Palaetyrus) accounts for the duplication./

	

	The very presence of the Assyrian armies in the north was enough to
fill with dread the inhabitants of the more southerly cities. Indeed
Sennacherib, in his /Third Campaign/, had needed only to put the great
island-city of Tyre under pressure - without actually succeeding in
capturing it - to cause most of the southern confederates of Hezekiah to
sue for peace. In the case of /Holofernes/, the assault on Damascus
seems to have been the catalyst for mass submission. And these peoples
had good reason to be fearful. Esarhaddon, ever loyal to his father, was
thus especially vengeful against rebellious kings, carrying out his
father's orders to the letter.

	

	/1/ 	/ "Those who were insolent toward the kings, my fathers, and
committed [crimes]", Esarhaddon raged, "the corpses of their warriors I
forbade to be buried"/ [23 <#cocr>]. 	

	/2/ 	/ "Abdi-Milkutti [king of Sidon ... I pulled out of the sea, like
a fish. I cut off his head.... His people, from far and near ..., which
were countless ... I deported to Assyria" /[24 <#sipd>]. 	

	/3/ 	/ "... I threw up earthworks against Ba'lu, king of Tyre, who had
put his trust in his friend Tirhakah ..., king of Ethiopia, had thrown
off my royal yoke and had sent me insolent (messages). Food and drink
(water) (which would) keep them alive, I withheld ..."/ [25 <#mein>]. 	

	
Baal of Tyre (likely the Tubaal whom Sennacherib had set up as ruler of
Tyre during his /Third Campaign/) and Tirhakah are thought to be the two
figures depicted at Esarhaddon's feet in the victory (Senjirli) stele
the Assyrian set up in northern Syria. Esarhaddon holds a cup in his
right hand and from the left hand extend the ropes ("reins") which pass
through the lips of these two conquered figures [26 <#3rdc>].

/*Judith 3*/

The reaction of the southern nations was, by this stage, entirely
predictable:

/Verse 1:/"They therefore sent messengers to [Holofernes] to sue for
peace in these words: 'We the servants of Nebuchednezzar, the Great
King, lie prostrate before you. Do with us whatever you will ?'."./

Holofernes/ needed little prompting. /"He stationed garrisons in the
fortified towns and took picked men from them as auxiliaries"/ (v.6).
Thus we are going to find Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and coastal
peoples, formerly part of the revolt against Assyria, now serving in the
Assyrian ranks and providing vital intelligence to /Holofernes.

To the Plain of Esdraelon/

The next crucial stopping point of the Assyrian army after its raids on
the region of Damascus will effectively be its last:/"Then [Holofernes]
came toward Esdraelon, near Dothan, facing the great ridge of Judea; he
camped between Geba and Scythopolis, and remained for a whole month in
order to collect all the supplies for his army"/(v.9).

Simons thinks that the reference in the Vulgate version to the Assyrians
coming at this stage to/"the Idumæans into the land of Gabaa"/ (3:14)
should more appropriately be rendered/"the Judæans ... Gabaa"/ [27
<#idgu>]. /Gabaa/ would then correspond to /Geba/(just possibly
/Gilboa/) in the Esdraelon (Jezreel) plain.

Even though this northern region had been overrun by Assyria almost a
decade earlier, the Judaeans had apparently since absorbed it back into
their kingdom. Perhaps this was the beginning of the fulfillment of
Isaiah's prediction at the former time of calamity:/"Thine eyes shall
see the king in his beauty: they shall behold *a far-stretching
land"*/(33:17). Hezekiah's propensity to act as a new King David by
uniting the entire country as one again, with no independent northern
kingdom, must have greatly annoyed the Assyrians, who had previously
spoken of/"the wide territory of Judah"/ *(rapshu nagû (matu) Ya-û-di)*
[28 <#whl>].

Whilst we have no information that Sennacherib's /Turtan/ previously,
nor Sennacherib himself in his /Third Campaign/, had actually fought
against and captured this northern region, we are quite entitled to
presume that such must have been the case. It would be vitally important
for the Assyrian /Wehrmacht/ to secure the Samarian highlands before
attempting to storm Jerusalem. G. Smith tells how a would-be attacker of
Jerusalem should set about achieving his aim [29 <#smts>]:

/ Judæa has been called impregnable, but, as we have seen, the adjective
exaggerates ....
[It], in fact, has been overrun as often as England. And yet, like
England, Judæa, though not impregnable, has the advantages of insularity
.... So open at many points, the land was yet sufficiently unpromising
and remote to keep unprovoked foreigners away.

.... There was this further difficulty. Judæa's borders may be more or
less open, but they are such as to compensate for each other's
weaknesses. For an invader might come over one frontier and make it his
own; but the defeated nation could retreat upon any of the others ....
hence we never find, so far as I know, any successful invasion but one
of Judæa, which was not delivered across two of her borders. The
exception was the First Crusade; and there is enough to account for it
in the laxity of the defence it encountered.

It is significant that neither of the two greatest invaders of Judæa,
who feared a real defence of her central plateau, ventured upon this
till they had mastered the rest of Palestine, and occupied the
strongholds round the rest of Palestine.

Vespasian not only overran Galilee and Samaria, but spent nearly another
year in taking and fortifying Jamnia, Ashdod [names that occur also in
the Book of Judith, incidentally], and Hadid in the west, Bethel and
Gophna to the north, Jericho to the east, and Hebron with other "Idumæan
strongholds" to the south, before he let slip his impatient legions upon
Jerusalem.

Similarly, in 1187, the Caliph Saladin, even after his victory at [the
Horns of] Hattin, did not venture to attack Jerusalem till the Jordan
Valley, most of the Maritime Plain, with Ashkelon and even Beit-Jibrin,
had fallen into his hands. Nothing could more clearly prove that Judæa,
though not impregnable, was extremely difficult to take, and that a rush
across one of her borders, like that of Cestius Gallus in A.D. 66, was
sure to end in disaster. To succeed, an invader must master at least two
of her frontiers, both to prevent the nation from rallying and to secure
sources of supplies./

W. Shea, in his discussion of the Palestinian strategy of pharaoh Sosenk
I [30 <#shio>], shows that this pharaoh had made sure of his firstly
securing northern forts like Shechem and Tirzah (even though /he/ was
invading Palestine from the south) before venturing an assault on
Jerusalem. From Smith's and Shea's useful explanations one can
understand why/"Holofernes"/, and Sennacherib (and his /Turtan/) before
him, had gone to such great lengths firstly to secure all of the coastal
strongholds, before engaging in an assault on the highlands. Sennacherib
it seems, moreover, was a /"*cautious* and politic"/ ruler [31 <#sibs>].

And the Assyrian strategy at the time of Judith can I think be
understood as an assault on/"at least two of [Jerusalem's] frontiers"/
(coastal and highland), as Smith has suggested was necessary for a
successful outcome.

It makes a good deal of sense for the militarily astute/"Holofernes"/ to
be encamped with his large army in the region of /Dothan/, ready to
begin the assault from the northernmost sector of the central plateau.

But we need to cross over to the next chapter of Judith to learn that
the Jews were in fact expecting a possible assault from the direction of
Samaria.

/*Judith 4*/

It is clear from verses 1-6 that the Jewish leaders had ordered the
people to seize the mountain defiles in Samaria as well as those in Judæa:

/ When the Isrælites living in Judæa heard how Holofernes,
general-in-chief of Nebuchednezzar king of the Assyrians, had treated
the various nations, first plundering their temples and then destroying
them, they were thoroughly alarmed at his approach and trembled for
Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord their God. They had returned from
captivity only a short time before, and the resettlement of the people
in Judæa and the reconsecration of the sacred furnishings, of the altar,
and of the Temple, which had been profaned, were of recent date. They
therefore alerted *the whole of Samaria*, Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain,
Jericho, Choba, Aesora and the Salem valley.

They occupied the summits of the highest mountains and fortified the
villages on them; they laid in supplies for the coming war, as the
fields had just been harvested. Joakim the high priest ... wrote to the
inhabitants of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, two towns facing Esdrælon,
towards the plain of Dothan./

This portion of text from Judith 4 - especially when coupled with a
statement made by Achior in 5:18 (Septuagint version), in regard to
these Israelites who were now putting up defences against the Assyrian
army, that:/'The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their
towns were occupied by their enemies'/ - may at first appear to be
enormously problematical for our reconstruction. The Temple was
only/"razed to the ground"/ at the time of Nebuchednezzar II of Babylon.
But since this highly significant incident of the Temple's being razed
is mentioned only in the Septuagint version of Judith, /but is
noticeably absent from the Douay version/, then it needs to be
immediately queried. It is hardly a matter that would be overlooked and
may therefore be an intrusion.

/ Achior/ refers to it in his speech to the Assyrian war council, when
giving his history of Israel; but it is surprisingly not alluded to in
the same version a chapter earlier, when the Temple is said to have been
only/"profaned"/ (4:3), not/"razed"/. There is of course an enormous
difference between the Temple's being profaned, which king Hezekiah did:

/ The King of Assyria demanded of king Hezekiah of Judah three hundred
talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the
silver that was found in the House of the Lord and in the treasuries of
the king's house. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors
of the Temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts that king Hezekiah of
Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:14-16)./

... and its being burning it to the ground, which Nebuchednezzar's
Babylonian forces would do more than a century after Hezekiah had died!

Whilst a superficial reading of Judith 4 and 5 might give the impression
that it was the return from the Babylonian Captivity to which the writer
is referring, I think the Book of Judith supplies sufficient clues for
us to realise that this could not have been the case. The main clue I
suggest is the pervasive Assyrian element throughout the book,
culminating in a defeat for the Assyrians near Dothan that has no place
whatsoever in the fortunes of Nebuchednezzar II. Both the
elements/"profanation"/ and /"captivity"/ are relevant to events
associated with the tumultuous former invasions by the Assyrians. These
are what I think are probably being referred to in this part of the Book
of Judith. More problematical are the Septuagint's references
to/"returned from captivity", "people of Judæa newly gathered
together"/. I would consider these to be later intrusive elements into
the Book of Judith, with the Babylonian Captivity in mind.

Hezekiah must have done again what he had done at the very beginning of
his rule, following on from the profanation and neglect of the Temple by
his father, Ahaz. That was to order the priests and Levites to repair
and cleanse the Temple, its altar and all the sacred vessels (II
Chronicles 29:3-30).

Now who was actually leading the priests at the time? We are going to
find that his name was Eliakim/Joakim

/ The High-Priest, Joakim/

Instead of a king to stir up the people, as Hezekiah had done at the
commencement of Sennacherib's invasion (II Chronicles 32:2-8), Judith
4:6-7 introduces us to:

/ The high priest, Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time [who] wrote
to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon
opposite the plain near Dothan, ordering them to seize the mountain
passes, since by them Judea could be invaded ?./

The fact that the name /Joakim/ is interchangeable with /Eliakim/- and
/a fortiori/ that /Joakim/ the high priest is otherwise named /Eliakim/
in the Douay version of Judith - leads me to identify him with
Hezekiah's chief official, Eliakim (Eliakim) son of Hilkiah (2 Kings
18:18; Isaiah 36:3). Already in my Assyrian revision I have identified
Hezekiah's official, Eli*AKIM*, with *AKHI-M*iti (var. /Mitinti/, i.e.
/Mattaniah/) of the Assyrian records, the ruler of the fort of/"Ashdod"/
(that is, Lachish). The fact that verse 6 above specifies that the high
priest /Joakim "was in Jerusalem *at the time*"/ might indicate that the
capital city was not his usual abode. I suggest Lachish was. I have
previously argued that the mighty stronghold of Lachish was entrusted to
a succession of high priests; the high priest being the foremost
official in the land according to I Kings 4:2.

Now, in light of Judith's information that /Joakim/ was in fact the high
priest, we need to examine further the office of Hezekiah's illustrious
official, /Eliakim/; his office being usually given as /Major-domo/, or
/Chamberlain/. It is generally interpreted, from the Hebrew, *`Hebrew
`Major=domo', `al-habayit `over the (ha) temple'*', that Eliakim was in
charge of palace affairs, literally 'over the palace': /bayit/, being
one of the Hebrew words for/"palace"/.

However, /bayit/ can also mean Temple, and it is interesting to note
that in Solomon's time the king's chief men amongst his/"high
officials"/ were: /the Priest/(not /Major-domo/); /the Secretaries and
the Recorder/(or herald) (I Kings 4:2-3). The last two mentioned offices
here are exactly the same as with Hezekiah's trio. Only the first one,
that of the Priest, seemingly diverges. /I therefore suggest that, as
with king Solomon, so was Hezekiah's very first official indeed the
Priest, and that the scriptural texts need to be more precisely
translated to accommodate this!/ [! See artist's view of Solomon's
Jerusalem <solomons_temple.html>.]

I shall now propose further reasons that I think favour this view.

/ Isaiah's Oracle Regarding Eliakim/

We first encounter /Eliakim/ son of /Hilkiah/ in Isaiah 22, in what is
regarded as the prophet's 'second oracle' against the official,
/Shebna/. Isaiah predicts that /Shebna/ will be replaced by /Eliakim/. I
have shown in my Assyrian revision that this replacing took effect
during Sennacherib's /Third Campaign/ invasion, since Eliakim was by
then /numero uno.

Shebna/ was now only second in command.

But the vital question here is: /What was Shebna's former office, to
which Eliakim had now succeeded?/ It is usually given as Major-domo or
its equivalent; but the Vulgate version of Isaiah 22:15 translates it in
terms that could be referring only to the high priesthood. Thus Isaiah
is commanded: /'Go, get thee in to *him that dwelleth in the
tabernacle*, to Sobna [Shebna] who is *over the Temple* ...'. /

Moreover, Isaiah describes and praises Eliakim in words that indicate,
not only the man's great authority, but that could also be taken as a
description of a high priest:/"He shall be a *father* to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah"/(v.21). Strong words when it is
considered that Hezekiah himself ruled over the House of Judah; but an
appropriate title for a high priest who was, in a sense, ruler over even
the king whom he would proclaim and anoint (cf. I Samuel 16:13). Verse
22 describes Eliakim in almost papal terms, virtually word for word with
those that Jesus Christ would later address to St. Peter (Matthew
16:19). [31b <#ekmw>]

But perhaps the verse in Isaiah's oracular account of Eliakim that reads
most like a description of the priestly office is v.24: /"On it they
will hang all the glory of his father's house, offspring and issue, all
the least of *vessels from cups to pitchers*"/; a reference here surely
to the priestly vessels. (Cf. I Chronicles 28:17).

It seems most likely, therefore, that Eliakim's office needs to be
re-translated as/"over the Temple"/, rather than/"over the palace"/, to
correspond with that of the chief official of Solomon's day [32 <#terae>].

*/The Book of Joel/*

The high priest Joakim/Eliakim had, at the height of the Assyrian
invasion, called upon Judah to pray and fast. Now this exact situation
seems to be reflected in the Book of Joel, in which Joel, thought by
some to be /a priest/ and /contemporary of the prophet Hoshea, and
situated in Jerusalem/[33 <#33>], calls the nation to fast in the face
of the locust-like invader:/"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm
on my holy mountain"/(Joel 2:1). Why? Because/"a great and powerful army
comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after
them in ages to come"/(v.2). From whence does this army come? From the
north:/"I will remove the northern army far from you, and drive it into
a parched and desolate land"/(v.20).

I submit that absolutely nothing substantial in the Book of Joel is out
of place in the context of the priest Joakim/Eliakim's call, from
Jerusalem, for the nation to fast in the face of /Holofernes'/ invasion.
Even the aftermath is correctly anticipated.

The only apparent problem is that, whereas Eliakim's father was
/Hilkiah/, Joel's is given as /Pethuel/(var. /Phatuel/ or /Bethuel/)
(1:1). This person is not known. The name difference though may not
necessarily rule out the link.

I suggest that the identification of *JO-EL* with the high priest
*JO*-akim/*EL*-iakim is something that must now be seriously considered.
The Book of Joel could greatly supplement our knowledge of this
fascinating period.

/ The Absence of Hezekiah/

If Judith really does belong to the time of the demise of Sennacherib's
army, as I am arguing in this commentary, then we should expect mention
in the book, not only of Sennacherib (whom we have in fact identified),
but also - from the Palestinian perspective - mention of Hezekiah, and
Eliakim (now identified), and, most likely, of Isaiah too (he will be
identified in /*Judith 6*/).

/ So where is King Hezekiah in the Book of Judith?/

The fact is that he is missing, and this is another major reason why
commentators would not even consider c.700 BC as the historical locus
for the Book of Judith.

That Hezekiah was a proud king is attested by his foe Sennacherib
himself who refers to him as /"the strong *proud* Hezekiah"/ [34].
Indeed Boutflower thought that the reason why Hezekiah did not go out in
person to meet the Assyrian delegation (cf. II Chronicles 32:31; Isaiah
39:1-8) was because Sennacherib had not come to him in person. Just as
Sennacherib had sent his three chief officials, namely, /"Turtan and
Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh"/ (II Kings 18:17), so did the proud Hezekiah
respond in kind by sending out his three chief men, the /High-priest/,
the /Secretary/ and the /Recorder/.

A possible reason though for Hezekiah's absence from this first crucial
encounter (and this still needs to be chronologically determined) may be
found rather in the words of II Chronicles 32:24 (cf. Isaiah 38),/"In
those days, Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death"; "those
days"/ referring to the culminating point of the earlier Assyrian
invasion (cf. vv.9-19). The/"strong"/ king, Hezekiah (Hezekiah in Hebrew
means 'strong'), may have been, at that stage, too sick and feeble to
come out, rather than too proud. Pride was probably no longer the
factor, as Hezekiah's legendary pride had already been well and truly
humbled by Sennacherib at about this time (II Kings 18:13-16).

Sure Hezekiah was still cognizant of what was going on (II Chronicles
32:20), but, bed-ridden, he was unable to provide for his subjects that
much-needed physical presence.

But there is a further subtle point to be appreciated in connection with
this rendezvous with the /Rabshakeh/ at the Upper Pool (that I have
previously located near Bahurim, and not right at Jerusalem). Whereas
Sennacherib had actively /"sent"/, Hebrew `shalach', to send (2.Kings
18:17-19), his three officials to Jerusalem, there is no corresponding/
"sent"/ recorded in the case of Hezekiah. As the text reads, the
initiative in this case would appear to come entirely from the Judæan
officials themselves, who/ "went out"/, Hebrew `yatsa', to come out, to
the Assyrians. Hezekiah may not have been in control at this stage. His
chief official Eliakim was. With the king incapacitated, the leadership
of the kingdom had fallen into the hands of the high priest.

And whatever the reason for Hezekiah's non-appearance again now during
the invasion of /Holofernes/, about a decade later, we do at least have
that /precedent/ of Hezekiah's absence from the previous occasion. And
/Joakim/Eliakim/ is still found to be doing the king's work.

Age may also have been a factor by now in the case of Hezekiah, coupled
with the possibility that the king's young son, Manasseh, was now
co-regent and effectively king.

/ Bethulia/ (For a top edge map go Here <map_israel.html#b>)

We encountered the first mention of Judith's town of /Bethulia/ at the
beginning of this chapter (v.6). Geography is an important aspect of the
Book of Judith. Whilst this new commentary is already seeing formerly
obscure characters (e.g. /Achior/) being filled out and coming to life -
and there will soon be more of that - places (geography) too, apart from
persons, will sometimes take centre stage. This will be most especially
the case with the town of /"Bethulia"/, said to be near Dothan. For,
according to Charles [35 <#espc>]: /"The question of the historical
value of the book [of Judith] turns largely on this name"./
Later, when the town does take centre stage, I shall attempt to provide
its identification.

/*Judith 5*/

We find that the Assyrian army had by now been supplemented by the
conquered local peoples. /Holofernes'/ intelligence sources would now
provide the commander-in-chief with the surprising information that/
"the people of Israel"/, and they alone, had chosen to resist him and
were actually preparing for war (vv.1-2). /Holofernes/, summoning the
captive princes, asked them in typically blunt fashion (vv.3-4):

/ 'Tell me, you Canaanites, what people is this that lives in the hill
country? What towns do they inhabit? How large is their army, and in
what does their power and strength consist? Who rules over them as king
and leads their army? And why have they alone, of all who live in the
west, refused to come out and meet me?'/

The fact that /Holofernes/ was completely ignorant of the identity of
this highland people should negate any inclination to link him with the
/Turtan/ of the earlier invasion, who would by now presumably have been
thoroughly acquainted with the Israelites.

/ Achior/

Enter /Achior/. And we must be very grateful that this illustrious
personage was again at hand to be a witness to this new Assyrian council
of war. He would later relate to all the citizens of /Bethulia/ all that
had transpired at this military council (Judith 6:17). I have already
identified /Achior/ with /Ahikar/, nephew of Tobit, and Sennacherib's
/Rabshakeh/. Given /Achior's/ Israelite background, it is little wonder
that Sennacherib had, during his /Third Campaign/, chosen this
particular officer to address the Jews in their own language. That the
/Rabshakeh/ was fluent in Aramaïc and Hebrew is attested by the three
Judæan officials who went out to meet him, who bade him (Isaiah 36:11-12):

/ 'Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do
not speak to us in the Judæan language within earshot of the people on
the ramparts'.
But the Cupbearer-in-chief said, 'Do you think my lord sent me here to
say these things to your master or to you? On the contrary, it was to
the people sitting on the rampart who, like you, are doomed to eat their
own dung and drink their own urine ?'./

We should not expect to pick up from this speech very much of the
/Rabshakeh's/ own personal view of things, since he was speaking here
entirely as the mouthpiece of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. What we
can pick up though is that he was both fluent and forceful. A bold
character, he must also have been highly experienced.
/Rabshakeh/ (Assyrian /rab-?akê/, literally, 'the great man') was, like
/Turtan/, a military title, marking its bearer amongst the greatest of
all the officers. It is not surprising to find him in the Book of Judith
speaking immediately after the commander-in-chief /Holofernes/ himself.

As an Israelite, moreover, /Achior/ would have been an appropriate
person to answer /Holofernes'/ questions concerning the identity of the
Israelites.

/Achior/ himself was likely, at this point, a follower of Baal (and
probably of the Assyrian god, Assur) rather than of Yahweh (Tobit 1:4,10).

But then there is just one problem with this neat reconstruction of him
as an Israelite in the Assyrian army, and it is this:/"Then Achior, the
leader of all the *Ammonites*, said to [Holofernes] ..."/(5:5). Achior
is said in this verse to be an Ammonite. Whilst that does immediately
look to be a major problem, there is one factor - apart from what has
already been said about /Achior/- that makes his being an Ammonite
highly unlikely, and that is that /Achior/ will later, in */Judith 14/*,
be converted to Judaïsm and will be circumcised. The author of Judith,
who is a stickler for the Mosaïc Law, and who writes in fact like a
priest or Levite, would hardly have countenanced so flagrant a breach of
the Law <gods_love_draws_us.html> as having an /"Ammonite"/ received by
pious Jews into the assembly of faith, when, according to Moses
(Deuteronomy 23:3,4):

/ No Ammonite or Moabite is to be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh;
not even their descendants to the tenth generation ... and this for all
time; because they did not come to meet you with bread and water when
you were on your way out of Egypt ... and because they hired Balaam ...
to curse you./

Judith herself the nation's heroine, who would so scrupulously observe
all of the religious ordinances of the Law even whilst in the camp of
the Assyrians (/*Judith 12*/), would hardly have been a party to this
forbidden situation.

Now /Achior/ provides /Holofernes/ with a basic run-down of Israelite
history from Abraham to their present day (vv.6-19). Again I ask: /Would
a pagan Ammonite have been likely to have known the history of Israel in
such detail, going back to deep antiquity?/
Anyway /Holofernes/ will soon afterwards contemptuously call /Achior/ an
/"Ephraïmite hireling [or mercenary]"/ (6:2). And that is a correct
designation for him, Ephraim being a common appellation for northern
Israel. The whole problem is solved when one recognises that Ahikar was
in fact, not an Ammonite, but an Isrælite; though at this stage an
uncircumcised one.

This matter concerning whether a native Ammonite could legitimately have
been received into Judaïsm (cf. Judith 5:5 & 14:10) needed to be settled
because it appears to be the chief reason why the Jews have never
accepted the Book of Judith into their scriptural canon, though they
have greatly admired the book. Other reasons are the apparent historical
and geographical inaccuracies in the book, which can likely be put down
to copyists' errors.

/ Judith Originally Written in Hebrew

Eliakim (Joakim)/, the high priest of the story, is also traditionally
considered to be the author of the Book of Judith [36 <#histi>]. (We
already saw that he was 'a man of letters', writing to the northern
towns). This would support the view of commentators that this highly
pious work, extremely scrupulous about religious observance, appears to
have been written by a priest who was most faithful to Mosaïc Law and
who evinces a remarkable knowledge of the Old Testament, especially the
Psalms.

No doubt the story was written with an enormous amount of eyewitness
input from the ubiquitous /Achior/, whom the high priest would have met
after Assyria's defeat. /Achior/ would then have been able to fill in
/Joakim/ on all relevant details pertaining to the Assyrian campaign and
strategy. Judith herself could have told the priest about her personal
encounter with /Holofernes/ in the Assyrian camp. And the high priest
himself could have added most of the rest; all the basic narrative of
the Assyrian incursion into Judæa and its effect upon Jerusalem.
Finally, a later scribe could have added notes and glosses, e.g. about
Arioch and how long Judith lived.

I therefore accept the traditional view that Eliakim was the author of
the Book of Judith, and that the original version must have been
compiled around 700 BC. Unfortunately we do not now have this original
version, which modern critics insist must have been written in the
/Hebrew language/, and that Charles thinks was probably called [37 <#ufbw>]:

, * tydvhy hlgm*
['Book, Roll of Judith']
The /*Encyclopedia Judaica*/, too, insists that the original would have
been in Hebrew [38 <#epja>]:

/ As is clearly evident from its many Hebraisms, the book was originally
written in Hebrew (cf., for example, the expressions: "the space of 30
days" (Judith 15:11 Sept.); "all flesh" (Genesis 6:13), as a designation
for human beings; "let not thine eye spare" (Isaiah 13:18); "the face of
the earth" (Amos 5:8); and "smote with the edge of the sword" (Psalm
89:43), etc.). In the precise Greek translation Greek: Israel there is
also discernible the special Erez Israel (Hebrew `Erets/Erez Israel)
spelling (the substitution of the Hebrew letter `vov'"Hebrew letter
`ayin' verb by Hebrew letter `yod'"Hebrew letter `pe')./

And Charles is equally as insistent about this [39 <#adch>]:

/ The [Greek] translation is so literal that it can be put back into
Hebrew with ease, and in some cases becomes fully intelligible only when
so re-translated.

Moreover, the usual lack of particles shows that the writer was under
the influence of a foreign idiom, while the constant recurrence of
phrases common in late Greek but frequent in Hebrew shows incontestably
the language of the original. Such are e.g. Greek `adver off, away,
back' Greek `respector of persons'; According to Damien the Greek/Hebrew
as given in his source., Greek `prosopon, respector (of persons), the
frequent use of Greek `vehement, violent, eager, mighty', Greek `en'
adverb within, with, upon, besides', Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew
letter `bet' and many more ..../

He attributes the confusion of place-names in extant versions of Judith
to mistranslation and to errors by copyists [39b <#ples>]:/"The same
conclusion is indicated by the confusion in the geographical names, due
to the uncertainty in the mind of the translator as well as to mistakes
by copyists ..."./

According to /*The Catholic Encyclopedia*/, the variants in the present
text indicate a most ancient original [40 <#vite>]:/"With regard to the
state of the text it should be noted that the extraordinary variants
presented in the various versions are themselves a proof that the
versions were derived from a copy dating from a period *long antecedent*
to the time of its translators".

*Judith 6*

Achior Taken to Bethulia Achior's/ unexpected /apologia/ on behalf of
the Israelites had absolutely stunned the soldiery who were by now all
for tearing him/ "limb from limb"/ (5:22).

/Holofernes/, for his part, was absolutely furious with his subordinate.
Having succeeded in conquering almost the entire west, he was hardly
about to countenance hearing that some obscure mountain folk - /"this
brood of fugitives from Egypt"/ as he contemptuously called the
Israelites in response to /Achior's/ speech (6:6) - might be able to
offer him any meaningful resistance. He thereupon commanded his
orderlies to take the insolent /Achior/ and bind him beneath the walls
of /Bethulia/, so that he could suffer, with the people he had just
verbally defended, their inevitable fate when the city fell to the
Assyrians [41 <#bdhm>].

After the Assyrian brigade had managed to secure /Achior/ at /Bethulia/,
and had then retreated from the walls under sling-fire from the
townsfolk, the /Bethulians/ went out to fetch him (vv. 10-13). Once
safely inside the city, /Achior/ told them his story, and no doubt
Judith was there to hear it. Later she would use bits and pieces of
information supplied by /Achior/ for her own confrontation with
/Holofernes/, to deceive him.

The magistrates of the town of /Bethulia/ before whom Achior appeared
are named:

/ "?Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris son of
Gothoniel, and Charmis son of Melchiel"/(v.15). In chapter 8 we shall be
told that Judith was also of the tribe of Simeon. Now Simeon was one of
the southernmost tribes of Judah, with enclaves down even in the Negev
desert (I Chronicles 4:28). Is it therefore a peculiarity having a
bastion of the Simeonites situated in the territory of Ephraïm? It
certainly would have been in the earliest periods of Israel's settlement
in Canaan, but it would be quite allowable from the time of king Asa of
Judah (c.C9th BC) onwards; for it is recorded in II Chronicles 15:9
that, at the time of Asa, Simeonites were residing in the north /"as
aliens"/ amongst the Ephraïmites and Manassites. /*The Encyclopedia
Judaica*/ elaborates on this in its context of trying to locate the Book
of Judith to the Persian era [42 <#psea>]:

/ Nor ... is the most important geographical detail in the book, namely
the reference to a Jewish (Simeonite) settlement on the border of the
valley of Dothan, a fabrication. For a combination of various sources
(Meg. Ta'an, for 25 Marheshvan (chap. 8); Jos., Ant. 13:275f., 379 f;
Wars 1:93f.; and also apparently I Macc. 5:23) shows that at the time of
the return in the region of Samaria, in the neighbourhood of what was
known as "the cities of Nebhrakta," there was a Jewish-Simeonite
settlement *(which may in effect have existed as early as in the days of
the First Temple and being of Semite origin: cf. II Chron. 34:6, 15:9;
and also I Chron. 4:31) ....*/

Thus there /were/ Simeonites dwelling in this northern part of the land
during, and beyond, the divided kingdom era. Let us now try to trace the
lines of some of these Simeonites.

/ *"Uzziah son of Micah"*/

The Simeonite /Uzziah/, chief magistrate of /Bethulia/, was apparently
not just some obscure northern bureaucrat. He will later be designated
in the Douay version as /"the prince of Judah"/ and /"the prince of the
people of Israel"/ (Douay Judith 8:34 & 13:23). His thus being obviously
a great man in the entire kingdom should make him easy to identify in
the context of this revision. I am going to identify /Uzziah/(/Ozias/ in
the Douay) with the great Isaiah himself; and /Uzziah's/ father
/"Micah"/, with /Isaiah's/ father, /Amos/. This will involve a fairly
lengthy reconstruction; but it is entirely relevant to this commentary
on the Book of Judith in which I am endeavoring to bring to life all of
the story's main characters.

Isaiah is usually considered to have been an inhabitant of the southern
kingdom, where we find him in earlier days confronting king Ahaz at the
Upper Pool (Isaiah 7:3).

But we are not specifically told of his origins, or his tribe, or his
place of abode.

Isaiah had a contemporary, also a prophet, who is thought to have
belonged to the northern kingdom. This was /Hoshea/. However, given the
perfect contemporaneity between these supposedly 'two' prophets; the
similarity of 'their' message; the similarity of 'their' name; and the
fact that God used 'their' name and the names of 'their' children as
signs and portents for Israel, I must identify /Isaiah/ and /Hoshea/ as
the same person. I intend to come back to this in some detail later on,
after I have dealt with Isaiah's father. An identification of Isaiah
with Hosea though would enable for Isaiah to be residing in the north at
the time of /Holofernes'/ invasion.

/ *The Books of Amos/Micah (The Father)*/

We know that the prophet Amos, generally considered to be Isaiah's
father, /Amoz/, had been enlisted by God to leave his southern dwelling
and testify in northern Bethel against the kingdom of Samaria in the
days of the Baal-worshipping king, Jeroboam II. Amos' presence there
though was not appreciated by the Bethelites, who regarded him as a
conspirator from the southern kingdom (Amos 7:10):

/ Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel,
saying 'Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the House
of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has
said, /	

	/ 'Jeroboam shall die by the
sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land'.' /	

	
The angry Amaziah then ordered Amos to go back to whence he came, namely
to Judah (vv.12-13):

/ And Amaziah said to Amos, 'O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah,
earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at
Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the temple of the
kingdom'./

To which rough rebuke Amos replied with this important piece of
autobiographical information (vv.14-15):

/ "Then Amos answered Amaziah, 'I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son;
but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took
me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go prophesy to my
people Israel'.'/

Not Amos (/Amoz/) though, but /Micah/, is given as the father of
/Uzziah/ in the Book of Judith. Actually we can blend Amos with the
prophet Micah, and consequently learn more about the southern origins of
this famous family. It was certainly a 'family' from the point of view
of its striking the same prophetic chord; for commentators have
recognised a similar strain in the writings of /Amos, Micah, Hosea/ and
/Isaiah/, whilst not necessarily appreciating the proper (father-to-son)
relationship. Thus P. King has written, in regard to the prophet Micah
[43 <#strw>]: /"... the influence [upon Micah] of *Isaiah*, also *Hosea*
and *Amos*, is evident"./ But it was rather /Micah/, as /Amos/, I
suggest, who was doing the influencing upon his son, /Hosea/Isaiah/.

That scholars find an incredible similarity between the prophet Amos and
Micah is attested again by King [44 <#idty>]:

/ Not only did Micah live in the vicinity of Amos' home, Tekoa, but he
was like Amos in many respects. He was so much influenced by the spirit
of Amos that he has been called "Amos *redivivus*". Both [sic] rustic
prophets attacked in a direct and forceful way the socio-economic abuses
of their day./

We know that Micah hailed from the town of /"Moresheth"/ (Micah 1:1) -
thought to be /Moresheth-Gath/, a frontier (or border) town of southern
Judah. As for Amos, we are not told specifically that he hailed from
Tekoa <map_israel.html#eh>, situated about 30 km due east of
/Moresheth-Gath/, but only that he was called to the prophetic ministry
whilst he /"was among the shepherds of Tekoa"/ (Amos 1:1).

In /"Moresheth"/, in the territory of Judah - a suitable abode too for
Simeonites - I suggest that we have the place of origin for both Amos
and his son, Isaiah.

We have discussed the circumstances according to which the prophet Amos
came to be dwelling in the north. What were the circumstances that took
his son Isaiah/Hosea back there, considering that Isaiah had been found
witnessing in Jerusalem at the time of Ahaz? I say 'back there' because
I would presume that Isaiah had initially accompanied his father to the
north. I pick up C. Boutflower' insightful commentary on the matter [45
<#hsac>]:

/ ?. If on the above grounds we are led to look upon the typical
Immanuel as Isaiah's own son, a very interesting deduction follows:
/	


	/ viz. that within a year or two of Immanuel's birth Isaiah must have
left Jerusalem ? and gone to live in the now desolated land of Israel.
For it is predicted of Immanuel that when he is a young lad two
principal articles of his diet will be butter and honey: chap. vii. 15.
And then, a little further on ... it is explained that this being
obliged to depend on butter and honey, will be a consequence of the
Assyrian invasion: that owing to the depopulation of the country, the
land will go out of cultivation, and what is now vineyards and
cornfields will become thickets; but that there will still be pasturage
for cattle, and the wild bees will still lay up their honied stores, so
that "butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of
the land". /[46 <#trba>]/
Now since this description of Immanuel's surroundings in his early
boyhood's years does not apply to Judah and Jerusalem, but does apply to
the land of Israel, and especially to northern Israel, the presumption
is that Immanuel while still a young lad was taken by his father to live
in the northern kingdom, and into that part of the kingdom whose
inhabitants had so lately been carried captive./ 	

	
What was the reason for the prophet's leaving Judaea and going to live
in the desolated land of the Ten Tribes? Boutflower told why he thought
it had happened [47 <#lvgi>]:

/ In all probability it was the wrath of Ahaz. When Isaiah confronted
Ahaz and bade him ask a sign of the LORD his God, the young king's
evasive answer showed that he was afraid of the prophet; and as he
listened to the terrible denunciations from the lips of Isaiah of the
woes that were coming on his country because of the line of policy which
he had secretly resolved to pursue, fear must have ripened into dislike
and hatred./

Boutflower saw Ahaz as a type of king Herod [47 <#hzhe>]:

/ So, then, comparing the antitype with the type, even as Herod sought
to destroy the Divine Child whose birth might be supposed to endanger
his throne, so Ahaz, from a different motive indeed, may have sought to
destroy the typical Immanuel, the prediction concerning whose birth
foretold the ruin of Judah at the hands of Assyria. In this case it
would not be long safe for the prophet and his son to remain in
Jerusalem. But whither shall he go when he leaves the Sacred City? To
Ahaz he has spoken of Syria and Israel forming one land though under two
kings.

This is because these two powers have for the time being made themselves
into one: "Syria is confederate with Ephraim [Israel] ..."./

And whilst [47]: /"... the days of Ephraim's [Israel's] existence as a
separate kingdom are soon to come to an end. Within a few short years
Ephraim" will be broken in pieces that it be not a people"/, eventually
the land will be regarded again as one kingdom [47]:

/ And with this disappearance of the kingdom of Ephraim before his mind
the prophet seems to have hailed the thought that the land occupied by
the two Jewish kingdoms, so long divided politically, was by Divine
intention, no less than by nature, one land. Hence, when telling how the
flood of Assyrian invasion will sweep over both kingdoms, he speaks of
the two countries, thus for a time submerged, as "thy land, O Immanuel",
and Thine in all its "Breadth". If, then, our prophet must leave Judah,
he need not leave Immanuel's land: ... /

The former /"darkness"/ was that of the Assyrian captivity [48 <#oeks>]:

/ Many of the inhabitants of [the north] ... had been "driven away into
thick darkness"; the darkness of a hopeless captivity. The present
population was scanty; but in the Messianic age, as the prophet
foretells, Jehovah will "multiply the nation" and thus "increase the
joy": a joy so great that it can only be compared to the rejoicing
before God at the harvest festival, or to the dividing of the spoil
after some signal victory. For Assyria's oppressive "yoke" and heavy
"burden" no longer rests on the nation: the taskmaster's "staff" no
longer descends on its "shoulder". The foe have been put to flight as on
that day when the countless hosts of Midian fled before the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon./

The prophet's child, /Immanuel/, signifies a time of renewed hope, a
veritable era of peace [48]:

/ [The Assyrians] have vanished from the scene, and soon all the
vestiges of hateful war shall vanish likewise. Those long-laced boots,
in which the warriors of the enemy strode proudly amid the tumult, their
thick, close-fitting tunics, now dyed yet deeper with blood, shall make
fuel for the fire. And the pledge of all this is before his eyes as he
looks at his own Immanuel! ?./

So /Isaiah/ departed with his family for the safe region of northern
Israel. Presumably he went to /"Bethulia"/ facing Dothan across the
broad plain of Esdraelon.

Boutflower continues [49 <#otfs>]:

/ The hint of a withdrawal into [northern Israel] ? appears to have been
lost on king Ahaz, or, if noticed by him, may possibly have been
welcomed as giving some hope that he would soon be rid of this
troublesome prophet. Fear and dislike were probably the predominating
feelings in his breast. There was, therefore, no urgent haste for the
prophet to leave Jerusalem at once./

Isaiah was no doubt in the south at the time when Immanuel was born, and
also a little later, when at the Lord's command he wrote on a large
metal tablet, with a graving-tool *FOR MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ*. This was
done in the presence of two witnesses, one of whom was /"Uriah the
priest"/ - whom I have identified in my Assyrian revision with /Az*uri*
of Ashdod/ (Lachish) whom Sargon replaced with (the former's brother?)
/Akhimiti/ (our Eliakim) - the other a relative: the object being that
when the prophecy involved in the name should be fulfilled, two men of
rank would be able to testify to its genuineness. But also for a mute
witness, according to Boutflower [50 <#orrk>]:

/ But may there not also have been a further object, viz. that the
tablet might speak for the prophet in his absence? For though he still
remained on at Jerusalem nearly a year longer until the birth of his
third [sic] son, when the name written on the tablet was explained to
mean that before the newborn child should be able to call its parents,
the crisis, which began with the invasion of Judah by the armies of
Syria and Israel, would end with the carrying off by the king of Assyria
of the spoils of those two kingdoms; yet when the event took place he
was gone, leaving behind him the tablet ? to vouch for the genuineness
of the inscription and of the prophetic oracle enshrined in that long
... name [i.e. Mahershalalhashbaz]./

Thus Isaiah would have been in the north at the right time to be
/Uzziah/ of Judith. His father Amos/Micah would, by the time of
/Holofernes'/ invasion, have been dead.

/ Micah and Isaiah (Father and Son)/

There must have been considerable overlap in the prophetic ministries of
Micah (Amos) and his son, Isaiah. Both prophesied in the time of Hezekiah.

Thus in the Book of Jeremiah, referring to events that occurred more
than a century after the ministry of /Micah (Amos)/, we read where /"the
princes and all the people"/ protested as follows against those who
would have the prophet Jeremiah put to death (Jeremiah 26:16, 18-19):

/ 'This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to
us in the name of the Lord our God .... *Micah of Moresheth prophesied
in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah*, and said to all the people of
Judah: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, /	

	/ Zion shall be ploughed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the House a wooded height' /	

	/ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all of Judah put him to death?
Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favour of the Lord, and did not
the Lord repent of the evil which He had pronounced against them? But we
are about to bring great evil upon ourselves'. /	

	
And /Isaiah/ preached in similar language about a /ploughing up/ of
Jerusalem by Yahweh.

Thus he warned his people (28:22, 24, 28):

/ Stop scoffing, then, or your bonds will be tightened further; for I
have listened to *the warrant of destruction* issued against the whole
country by the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth.
* ... Does the ploughman do nothing but plough and turn the soil and
harrow it ...?*
Does a man crush wheat? No; he does not thresh it endlessly. *When he
has rolled the drag over it* he winnows it without crushing it./

Far more striking even than this is the similarity between one of
/Micah's/'Oracles' regarding the future reign of Yahweh in Zion which is
word for word exact with one of his son /Isaiah's/ 'Oracles' on the same
subject. I am referring to Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:2-5. 	


	* MICAH*/ In the days to come the mountain of the Temple of Yahweh will
be put on top of the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. The
peoples will stream to it, nations without number will come to it; and
they will say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the
temple of the God of Jacob so that He may teach us His ways and we may
walk in His paths; since from Zion the Law will go out, and the oracle
of Yahweh from Jerusalem'. He will wield authority over many peoples and
arbitrate for mighty nations; they will hammer their swords into
ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword
against nation, there will be no more training for war./ 		* ISAIAH*/ In
the days to come the mountain of the Temple of Yahweh shall tower above
the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. All the nations will
stream to it, peoples without number will come to it; and they will say:
'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the temple of the God
of Jacob that He may teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths;
since the Law will go out from Zion, and the oracle of Yahweh from
Jerusalem'. He will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate
between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares,
their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation,
there will be no more training for war./ 	

	
/Micah/ who, like Isaiah/Hosea, foresaw firstly the terrible destruction
of Samaria, and then God's wrath flowing over into Judah, told the people:

/ This is why I am going to mourn and lament, *go barefoot and naked*,
howl like the jackals, wail like the ostriches. For there is no healing
for the blow Yahweh strikes; it reaches into Judah, it knocks at the
very door of my people, reaches even unto Jerusalem (vv. 8-9)./

When we turn to Isaiah 20 we see that this strange behaviour of going
naked and barefoot, performed also by Isaiah, was actually in response
to a direct command from Yahweh. And we learn exactly when it occurred
(Isaiah 20:1-2):

/ The year the Turtan /(not `cupbearer-in-chief')/, sent by Sargon king
of Assyria, came to Ashdod and stormed and captured it: at that time
Yahweh had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz. He had said to him, 'Go
and undo the sackcloth round your waist and take the sandals off your
feet'. The latter had done so, and walked about, *naked and barefoot*./

This, I suggest, was a father-and-son prophetic combination!

*/The Books of Hosea/Isaiah (The Son)/*

- The prophet Isaiah tells us:/"Behold, I and the children whom the Lord
has given me are for signs and portents ..."/(8:18). This was notably
the case, as we are going to see, in regard to */their names/*.

- Similarly, the /*names*/ of the children of the prophet Hosea were
meant to be prophetic (1:4,6,9).

Boutflower, who wrote marvellously on /Isaiah's/ children, rightly noted
the prophetic significance of their names [51 <#wemv>]: /"Isaiah like
Hosea had three children, *all of whose names were prophetic"*/; though
he perhaps may not have been right in saying that /Isaiah/ and /Hosea/
each /"had three children"/. I shall be aiming to show here that Isaiah
and Hosea were in fact *one and the same person*, and that therefore,
rather than it being a case of two prophets each having three children
of their own, it was actually a case of only one person having /six/
children.

We can immediately note some further striking similarities between
/Isaiah/ and /Hosea/:

/* They belonged to exactly the same era.*/

Isaiah and Hosea prophesied during /precisely the same era/ (c.740-700 BC).

Thus /Isaiah/ tells us, at the top of his writings:

/ The vision of Isaiah ..., which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem
*in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah*/ (1:1).

Whilst/ Hosea/ repeats /verbatim/ the chronological part of this
introduction [52 <#whvt>]:

/ The word of the Lord that came to Hosea ..., *in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah* .../ (1:1).

# *Their names are virtually identical.*

/"Isaiah"/ (Hebrew /Yeshâ'yâhû/) signifies: /"Yahweh (the Lord) is
salvation"/.
/"Hosea"/ is thought to mean practically the same: /"Yahweh (the Lord)
is saviour"/.

/**/
# /**Their prophecies encompassed both Judah and Israel.**/ Whilst most of
Hosea's prophecies are considered to have been focused upon /the
*northern* kingdom of *Israel*, whose capital was Samaria, he does also
keep well in mind the *southern* kingdom of Judah, whose capital was
Jerusalem/ (e.g. 5:12, 14; 6:11; 10:11; 11:12).

Conversely Isaiah, mainly concerned about the fate of Judah in the
south, quite often alludes nonetheless to the northern kingdom (e.g.
ch's. 7,8,10,14,28). There is a complementarity here.

/Hosea/ describes his revelation as /"the word of the Lord"/; whereas
Isaiah's pertains to a /"vision"/ that he had received.

So far, all that I have said is quite complementary in regard to my
theory that /Isaiah/ was /Hosea/. But now we encounter a discordant note
in our symphony - indeed, it is the only apparent disharmony I think
that we shall encounter in the /Isaiah/Hosea/ parallel. It is the very
same discordant note that we found in our attempted connection of Joel
with Joakim/Eliakim: viz. _the father's name_. I am referring to the
fact that, whereas /Isaiah/ refers to himself as /"son of Amoz"/ (1:1),
Hosea is /"son of Beeri"/ (1:1).

Actually the explanation of this seeming disharmony will tie in nicely
with what further information we glean in /*Judith 8*/ <#8>. So
discussion of this matter will be left until then.

/ The Prophet's Married Life/

Let us now proceed to trace the outline of the married life of this
composite character, /Isaiah/Hosea/, with the aid of the details
Scripture has supplied about the names of [who I believe to be] his
/six/ children; offspring of /two/ women.

/2 -/ /*_First Wife: Gomer, "Wife of Harlotry"_*/

The 'autobiography' actually starts with Hosea:/ "When the Lord *first
spoke* through Hosea ..."/ (1:2). The prophet was given the strange
command by God to marry an unfaithful woman:/ "'Go, take yourself a wife
of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great
harlotry by forsaking the Lord'. So he went and took Gomer the daughter
of Diblaim ?"/ (vv.2,3). Biblical scholars have agonised over the type
of woman this Gomer might have been: adulteress? harlot?
temple-prostitute? But essentially the clue is to be found in the
statement above that she was simply a citizen of the land of "great
harlotry": namely, the northern kingdom of Israel.

/ 34 Gomer/ bore the prophet four children, three boys and a girl:

/(i) Child No.1: Jezreel ("God sows")

... she conceived and bore him a son.
And the Lord said to him, 'Call his name *Jezreel*; for yet a little
while, and I will punish the House of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and
I will put an end to the House of Israel. And on that day I will break
the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel'/ (vv.3,4-5).

Basically, this refers to the destruction of the northern kingdom of
Israel (Samaria) in c.722 BC by the Assyrians. It was also on the fringe
of the Jezreel Valley (in /Bethulia/) that I am proposing the prophet
took up his abode.

/* (ii) Child No.2: Lo-ruhama ("Not pitied")*

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, 'Call
her name *Not pitied*, for I will no more have pity on the House of
Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have pity on the House of
Judah ...'/ (vv.6,7).

The deliverance of "the House of Judah" from the Assyrians under
Sennacherib (c.700 BC) will of course be the fulfillment of the last
part of this statement.

/*(iii) Child No.3: Lo-ammi ("Not My people")*

When she had weaned *Not pitied*, she conceived and bore a son. And the
Lord said, 'Call his name *Not My people*, for you are not My people and
I am not your God'/ (vv.8-9).

/Isaiah/ too, as we saw, was meant to be a /"sign"/ and a /"portent"/
for his people. He is a figure of the Saviour-God, full of mercy and
forgiveness towards His erring people. These qualities become especially
apparent (in this reconstruction) in his forgiving attitude towards his
adulteress wife, /Gomer/, who is so typical of her God-forgetting
nation. The prophet, in his vicissitudinous relationship with /Gomer/,
was pantomiming God's own 'difficulties' with unfaithful Israel. And the
names of the prophet's children were presumably meant to be a reproach
to both Gomer and the Israelites:

/ Plead with your mother, plead - for she is not my wife, and I am not
her husband - that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her
adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her
as the day she was born .... For their mother has played the harlot; she
that conceived them has acted shamefully/ (2:2-3,5).

/ Change of Names/

One cannot read the account of /Gomer's/ subsequent change of heart and
return to her husband without recalling the classic story of the
"Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32). The adulteress, finding that things were
not turning out too well for her whilst trying her fortune amongst other
company, away from her husband, began to recall the better days that she
had left behind. / "Then she shall say, 'I will go and return to my
first husband, for it was better with me then than now'."/ (v. 7). She
knew he would receive her back.
This situation was a reminder that Yahweh was likewise prepared to
receive back his unfaithful people, upon whom He had begun to take
pity:/ "And in that day, says the Lord, you will call Me, 'My husband',
and no longer will you call me, 'My Baal'./

... and I will sow [Jezreel] for Myself in the land. And I will have
pity on Not pitied [Lo-ruhama], And I will say to Not My people
[Lo-ammi], 'You are My people' ..." (2:16,23). Fittingly, therefore, God
tells the prophet to reclaim his same wife, Gomer, whom he now
apparently has to buy back (redeem):

/ 'Go again, love a woman who is beloved of a paramour and is an
adulteress; even as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they
turn to other gods ...'. So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver
and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, 'You must dwell
as mine for many days; you shall not play the harlot, or belong to
another man; so I will also be to you'. For the children of Israel shall
dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar,
without ephod or teraphim. Afterwards the children of Israel shall
return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king .../ (3:1,2-4,5).

Although the prophet's own family was now rehabilitated, such sadly was
not the case with Samaria (of which the family's ups and downs had been
a prophetic sign).

Samaria was about to be taken into captivity by the Assyrians. No doubt
it was his recognition of this that compelled Isaiah/Hosea to depart for
the southern kingdom of Judah, where young king Ahaz (c.736-716 BC,
conventional dates) now occupied the throne of Jerusalem. From now on we
shall encounter the prophet in his guise of Isaiah.

*/(iv) Child No.4: Shear-jashub ("A remnant will return")/*

In a famous incident, Isaiah went to meet Ahaz not far from Jerusalem,/
"at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the
Fuller's Field"/ (Isaiah 7:3). In his arms was his fourth child,
Shear-jashub (possibly also born in the north), whose name finds its
explanation in Isaiah 10:20-22:

/ In that day the remnant of Israel ... will no more lean upon him that
smote them [Ahaz had actually sought help from the Assyrians against his
foes in Samaria and Damascus]; but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One
of Israel, in truth. *A remnant will return*, the remnant of Jacob, unto
the Mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return./

This is a promise that a small fraction of the nation, who will have
escaped from the Assyrian /"flood"/ (the metaphor that the prophets
frequently used regarding the Assyrian invasions), will no longer look
for help to Assyria - the power that would eventually turn upon them and
smite them - but will return in all sincerity to the Almighty God who
had delivered them from Assyria's power.

*B. Second Wife: "the Virgin", "Prophetess"*

At some stage between the birth of /*Shear-jashub*/ and that of the next
child, /*Immanuel*, Gomer/ must have died and /Isaiah/Hosea/ have taken
a new wife. Thus, when Ahaz refused to ask for a sign when God offered
him one, Isaiah proclaimed before the king:

/ 'Hear then, O House of David! Is it too little for you to weary men,
that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign. Behold, the young woman is with child and will bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows
how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows
how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two
kings you are in dread will be deserted'/ (7:13-16).

*/(v) Child No.5: Immanuel ("God is with us")/*

Regarding this important son, /Immanuel/, the child of the new mother, I
take up Boutflower's account again [53 <#iaia>]:

/ In studying the Book of Isaiah ... the question will often force
itself upon us, Who was the typical Immanuel? and Who the maiden who
typified the Virgin Mother? To this question the commentators furnish
various answers .... It seems ... to me that Immanuel was the prophet's
own son, and that the maiden who became his mother was the prophet's
second wife. Isaiah's first wife was the mother of Shear-jashub. When
the prophet at Jehovah's command took Shear-jashub with him and went to
meet Ahaz, his first wife was dead; for he predicts that within a year
the nameless maiden ? will become the mother of Immanuel. After the
birth of Immanuel this young woman, now the prophet's wife, is very
suitably called "the prophetess", just as Solomon's wives are called
"queens"..../

Re the significance of /Immanuel's/ name, Boutflower went on to explain
[54 <#sfna>]:

/ The significance of the name Immanu-El ... lies in this, that *God is
WITH US*, i.e. with those who put their trust in Him. So then, should
the rising flood of Assyrian invasion overwhelm the Northern Kingdom,
and sweep onward into Judah, reaching even unto the neck, yet the nation
shall not go under, for the land thus submerged is "thy land, O Immanu-El"./

/*(vi) Child No.6: Maher-shalal-hash-baz ("Hasten booty, speed spoil")*/

Continuing on from his discussion of the /"prophetess"/ above,
Boutflower wrote of the last child: /"... and about a year later [she]
bears him a child, who is called Mahershalalhashbaz .., "Hasten booty,
speed spoil"."/ The meaning of this name is explained by God immediately
after the mention of his birth:/ 'Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. For
before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and My mother,
the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away
before the king of Assyria' / (8:3,4).

*I have now covered all the names (and their meanings) of those whom I
believe to be the _six_ children of the _one_ prophet, Isaiah/Hosea.*

I think it appropriate that the prophet's second wife would have been a
Judaean, and that she stands as a symbol of inviolate Jerusalem, /"the
Virgin daughter of Zion"/, to which Isaiah so often alludes - as opposed
to the unfaithful /"Gomer"/, symbolising Samaria.

It is generally thought that Isaiah was permanently stationed in
Jerusalem. However, his abiding away from the capital city in the north,
as argued here, would seem to be appropriate in the following context:/
"And [Hezekiah] sent Eliakim ?Shebna ? and the senior priests, covered
with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz"/ (2 Kings 19:2). Nor
was Isaiah to be found amongst Hezekiah's officials at the Upper Pool
/rendezvous/ with Assyria's /Rabshakeh/, even though this might be
expected. It was Isaiah who had met king Ahaz years before, at the very
same location. Isaiah's distance from Jerusalem might also explain the
prophet's being sometimes later than the king and his officials to catch
up with what had transpired in the south. Thus, at one point, Isaiah
seems aware only of what Sennacherib's servants had been saying, and not
of Sennacherib's own blasphemous letters (2 Chronicles 32:17):/ "When
the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Say
to your master, 'Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the
words that you have heard, with which the *servants of the king of
Assyria* have reviled me ?'." / (2 Kings 19:5-6).

Anyway, in Bethulia, /Uzziah/ took /Achior/ into his house, where/ "he
gave a banquet for the elders; and all that night they called on the God
of Israel for help"/ (6:21).

*/Judith 7/*

The pace really picks up now.

Verse 1:/ "The next day Holofernes ordered his whole army, and all the
allies who had joined him, to break camp and to move against Bethulia,
and to seize the passes up into the hill country and make war on the
Israelites"./

The fighting forces, now further augmented by the local troops, numbered
at this stage/ "one hundred seventy thousand infantry and twelve
thousand cavalry, not counting the baggage and the foot soldiers
handling it, a very great multitude"/ (v.2). That amounts to 182,000
plus; *a figure that compares most strikingly to the 185,000 (round
figure) of Sennacherib's ill-fated army!*

It was upon this massive host that the Israelites inhabiting the region
gazed down from their mountain strongholds (v.4):

/ "When the Israelites saw their vast numbers, they were greatly
terrified and said to one another, 'They will now strip clean the whole
land; neither the high mountains nor the valleys nor the hills will bear
their weight'."/

In light of this description, and of what will follow, one can now fully
appreciate the appropriateness of Joel's locust imagery.

We are provided with a very precise location for the Assyrian army as it
geared for battle.

/4/ - I give firstly the Douay version (7:3):

/ All these [Assyrian footmen and cavalry] prepared themselves together
to fight against the children of Israel. And they came by the hillside
to the top, which looketh toward Dothain [Dothan], from the place which
is called Belma, unto Chelmon, which is over against Esdraelon.

5 - /Next the Greek version, which importantly mentions Bethulia (v.3):/
"They encamped in the valley near Bethulia, beside the spring, and they
spread out in breadth over Dothan as far as Balbaim and in length from
Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon"./

Simons has identified /Chelmon/(Douay)/ /Cyamon/(Greek) with
/el-jâmûn/[55 <#sscy>]. Here is his geographical assessment of the final
location of the Assyrian army as given in the Greek version of Judith
[56 <#goas>]:

/ Judith vii 3b describes the location of Bethulia more closely. The
clause is easily understandable on the condition that two changes are
made, viz. "breadthwise 'from' (Greek `apo' instead of Greek `epi', as
also required by parallelism) Dothaim unto Belbaim and lengthwise from
'Belbaim' (LXX reads "Bethulia". However, the besieged city itself
cannot have been at the extremity of the besieging army) unto Cyamon
which is opposite (the plain of) Esdrelon" or in terms of modern
geography; from tell Dôtân unto Hirbet Bel'ameh and from Hirbet Bel'ameh
unto El-Jâmûn. The disposition of Holofernes' army thus described is
perfectly comprehensible, if Bethulia was situated between the upright
sides of a triangle, the top of which was the twice mentioned site of
Hirbet Bel'ameh, while its base was a line from tell Dôtân to El-Jâmûn.

Bethulia/ itself, which Simons identifies with /sheih shibil/, I shall
identify in /*Judith 10*/ with /Mithilia/(or /Meselieh/), south of Jenin.

Whilst Simons presumes that Bethulia was /"the besieged city"/, the fact
that it is represented as the place of focus for the Assyrian attack may
be only because Judith lived there, and hence the whole drama is meant
to be seen from the point of view of that town. More likely, though, the
vast Assyrian army was directing its front at more than just /Bethulia/.

On the second day, /Holofernes/ led out the cavalry in full view of the
Israelites in /Bethulia/(v.6). It was at this point that the local
Edomite and Moabite leaders advised /Holofernes/ that there was no need
for him to risk any of his army in a /"regular formation"/ engagement,
when he could simply bring the resisters to submission by cutting off
their water supply:/ '? let your servants take possession of the spring
of water that flows from the foot of the mountain, for this is where all
the people of Bethulia get their water. So thirst will destroy them, and
they will surrender their town'/ (vv. 12, 13).

Verses 16-18:/ "These words pleased Holofernes and all his attendants,
and he gave orders to do as they had said. So the army of the Ammonites
moved forward, together with five thousand Assyrians, and they encamped
in the valley and seized the water supply and the springs of the
Israelites. And the Edomites and Ammonites went up and encamped in the
hill country opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men toward the
south and the east, toward Egrebeh, which is near Chusi beside the Wadi
Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army remained encamped in the plain,
and covered the whole face of the land. Their tents and supply trains
spread out in great number, and they formed a vast multitude"./

This strategy is geographically explained by Simons as follows [57 <#syic>]:

/ While a contingent of troops establishes itself (vii 17Z) in the Greek
`auron' (= sahl 'arrãbeh ?.) and occupies a spring still accessible to
the inhabitants of Bethulia on the north-western edge of this plain (vii
12.17), another part of the army moves to some high observation-posts
"opposite Dothaim" (vii 18a) in order to watch possible attempts at
escape from the beleaguered city. This section of his forces, therefore,
occupied positions on the height of the north-western border of sahl
'arrãbeh, more specifically - xv 3 - "round about Bethulia".

? According to vii 18b a platoon was also despatched to "egrebel (or:
ecrebel) near chous on the brook Mochmour".

On the probable assumption that this statement refers to a
reconnaissance or a predatory raid, the identification of Egrebel with
'Aqrabeh, 12 kms se. of Nãblus, is not at all impossible. Perhaps it is
also supported by "Qûzah" (= chous?) on the road nãblus-Jerusalem. "The
brook Mochmour" may have left its name in an adapted Arabic form to wãdi
el-ahmar ("the red wadi"). In the meantime the bulk of the army withdrew
from the small sahl 'arrãbeh to "the (great) plain (Greek `pedion')",
which it covered with its many tents (vii 18c)./

For /"thirty-four days"/ (v.20) this terrible situation prevailed, until
the /Bethulians'/ water containers were all empty. Then the citizens
turned angrily on their leaders (vv.23-25):

/ Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children,
gathered around Uzziah and the rulers of the town and cried out with a
loud voice, and said before all the elders, 'Let God judge between you
and us! You have done us a great injury in not making peace with the
Assyrians. For now we have no one to help us; God has sold us into their
hands, to be strewn before them in thirst and exhaustion'./

Thus they demanded surrender, with its attendant slavery, as being
preferable to a certain death by thirst. And they added:/ 'We call to
witness against you heaven and earth and our God ?' / (vv. 26,27,28).
Thus Uzziah found himself faced with a Moses-like situation, with the
people rebelling on account of water and thirst (Numbers 20:2-13). And
Uzziah's response - at least as Judith will later interpret it (/*Judith
8*/) - was likewise flawed as was that of Moses (vv.30-31; cf. Numbers
20:1-2). Even these two great men: Moses and Isaiah.

/Uzziah's/ response was:

/ 'Courage my brothers and sisters! Let us hold out for five days more;
by that time the Lord our God will turn his mercy to us again, for he
will not forsake us utterly. But if these days pass by, and no help
comes for us, I will do as you say'./

The people returned to their posts, but /"in great misery"/ (v.32).
However, a recent prayer of theirs (v.19) was about to be heard, for
despite their despairing, /'we have no one to help us'/, effective help
was now at hand.

Enter Judith.

/ *Judith 8*/

Judith is introduced in verse 1 with an impressive Simeonite genealogy,
going back /sixteen/ generations, to two known Simeonite chieftains,
/Salamiel/ and /Sarasadai/(var. /Shelumiel/ and /Zurishaddai/),
contemporary with Moses, even appointed by Moses (cf. Numbers 2:12).
Thus Judith was of noble stock. Proponents of the historicity of the
book argue that it would have been quite pointless for the author to
have gone to all that trouble of listing so extensive a genealogy if the
person Judith never existed.

Critics, though, claim the opposite [58 <#imso>]: that this is a kind of
desperate measure to give the book a semblance of authenticity. In the
next verse (v.2), "... we are", as noted in */The Catholic
Encyclopedia/* [59 <#xewe>], /"given details about the death of Judith's
husband [Manasses] which (viii, 2-4) can hardly be attributed to art,
but are rather indications that Judith represents a really existing
heroine"./

Moreover, there is a very long tradition of historicity associated with
the Book of Judith according to Leahy [60 <#eyio>]:

/ (a) Jewish and Christian tradition and all commentaries prior to the
sixteenth century regarded the book as historical;
(b) the minute historical, geographical, chronological and genealogical
details indicate a straightforward narrative of real events;
(c) the author speaks of descendants of Achior being alive in his time
(14:6), and of a festival celebrated annually up to his day in
commemoration of Judith's victory (16:31). [61 <#trayn>].

Judith's Father and her Husband/

These Simeonites of /Bethulia/ may have been, like the Naphtalians in
the Book of Tobit, a very tightly-knit bunch, intermarrying. We are told
for instance that Judith's husband, /Manasseh [Manasses]/, now dead,
had/ "belonged to [Judith's] tribe and family"/ (Judith 8:2; Septuagint
version of Judith). After his death by sunstroke during a barley
harvest, /Manasseh/ was given a very Abraham-like (Early Bonze Age)
burial, in a cave in a field:/ "So they buried him with his ancestors in
the field between Dothan and Balamon"/ (v. 3). That Manasseh's burial
was actually in a /"cave"/ is noted in Judith 16:23.

Obviously Judith and her ancestors, and her husband, were /tribally/
related to /Uzziah/ and his father, /Micah/. Was there also a family
relationship?

Judith's father was one, /Merari/ (8:1), of whom she appears to have
been immensely proud - he was it seems a well-known figure (16:6). Being
a descendant of Simeonite leaders of Moses' time, /Merari/ would himself
have been of princely blood. Jewish tradition calls him/"Beeri"/ [62
<#whan>], rather than /Merari/, and this is most significant, because:
	


	6 	didn't we discover earlier that /Beeri/ was the father of Hosea? 	

	7 	and haven't we identified Hosea with Isaiah? 	

	8 	And haven't we identified Isaiah with /Uzziah/Ozias/, in /Bethulia/? 	

	
This means that /Uzziah/ and Judith of /Bethulia/ shared the same
father, /Merari/Beeri/, who - according to this reconstruction - must be
the same as Amos (Amoz)/Micah. The last two names, I suggest, are to be
connected through /Amaziah (Amoz)/, that being transformed into Amariah,
hence /Merari/, in the same way that king /Uzziah/ of Judah was also
called /Azariah/.

According to this, Judith's father was the famous Amos. She was probably
a half-sister of /Uzziah/Isaiah/, of a different mother. She was no
doubt much younger than /Uzziah/, being in fact only a girl according to
the testimony of /Bagoas/, the Assyrian /Rabsaris/, later in the
Assyrian camp:/ 'Let this pretty girl not hesitate to come to my lord
[Holofernes] to be honored in his presence ?'/ (12:13). This Jewish girl
(Judith actually means /"Jewess"/) may have been approximately the age
of the youthful Joan of Arc, whom she resembles too in her bold will and
courage, if not in her tactics.

We are told of Judith's intense observance of Jewish ritual during her
young widowhood (vv. 4-6):

/ Judith remained as a widow for three years and four months at home
where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house. She put
sackcloth around her waist and dressed in widow's clothing. She fasted
all the days of her widowhood, except the day before the sabbath and the
sabbath itself, the day before the new moon, and the festivals and days
of rejoicing of the house of Israel./

And we are told of her beauty:/ "She was beautiful in appearance and
very lovely to behold"/ (v.7).

Finally we are told of the enormous respect that the Bethulians had for
her (v.8).

Judith's husband /Manasseh/ must have been incredibly wealthy and
influential in /Bethulia/, as he left the widowed Judith/ "gold and
silver, men and women slaves, livestock and fields"/ (v.7). This would
negate any suggestion that Isaiah and his father - if this
reconstruction is correct - were merely poor herdsmen.

Is it possible that Judith, in marrying /Manasseh/, had in fact married
one of Isaiah's (/Uzziah's/) own sons? Perhaps /Manasseh/ was the
protégée /Immanuel/ himself. Such an intimate family relationship with
/Uzziah/ might perhaps explain the young girl's forthrightness with so
mighty a leader (another likeness to Joan of Arc); for Judith was
horrified that /Uzziah/ and his colleagues had put a time limit on God's
deliverance, and she would let them know it.

According to v. 10, Judith actually sent her maid to/ "summon Uzziah and
Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her town"/ . This is an extraordinary
situation. And when they /"came to her"/, she did not mince her words
(v.11-13):

/ 'Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to
the people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this
oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies
unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you to
put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God
in human affairs? You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you
will never learn anything! ?'./

After continuing in this vein at some length (vv. 14-17), Judith adds a
note of possibly some chronological value upon which her confidence in
deliverance is seemingly based (vv. 18-19):

/ 'For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there
been any tribe or family or people or town of ours that worships gods
made with hands, as was done in days gone by. That was why our ancestors
were handed over to the sword and to pillage, and so they suffered a
great catastrophe before our enemies'./

We need to recall that the young Judith's entire life had been
encompassed by the reign of the reformer king, Hezekiah. She had seen
nothing personally of his predecessor, Ahaz. And the Assyrian captivity
of northern Israel would likely even have preceded her birth. And she
had also been surrounded by exemplary Simeonite relatives.

/Uzziah/, confirming Judith's high reputation, immediately recognizes
the truth of what she has just said (vv. 28-29):

/ Then Uzziah said to her, 'All that you have said was spoken out of a
true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words. Today is not
the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of
your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your
heart's disposition is right'./

... whilst adding perhaps something of an Aaronic excuse that 'the
people made us do it' (v. 30, cf. Exodus 32:21-24):/ 'But the people
were so thirsty that they compelled us to do for them what we have
promised, and made us take an oath that we cannot break'./

Judith, now forced to work within the time-frame of those "five days"
[63 <#fcwi>] that had been established against her will - but no doubt
seeing these now as the 'cards (time frame) that God had dealt her' -
then makes this bold pronouncement again completely in the prophetic
style of Joan of Arc (vv. 32-33):

/ Then Judith said to them, 'Listen to me. I am about to do something
that will go down through all generations to our descendants. Stand at
the town gate tonight so that I may go out with my maid; and within the
days after which you have promised to surrender the town to our enemies,
the Lord will deliver <origin_of_evil.html#ssk> Israel by my hand'./
2.Chr. 32:13,15,21.

/* Judith 9*/

This entire chapter (9:1-14) consists of Judith's prayer whilst lying
prostrate before God,/ "at the very time when the evening incense was
being offered in the House of God in Jerusalem"./ Clothed in her
sackcloth, she extols her God and her eponymous ancestor Simeon, who
had, with Divine aid, in company with Levi (not mentioned) avenged his
sister, Dinah whom Shechem raped:/ 'O Lord God of my ancestor Simeon, to
whom you gave a sword to take revenge on those strangers who had torn
off a virgin's clothing to defile her and exposed her thighs to put her
to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her?'./

Interestingly, Jacob had had no such high opinion of his two sons' act
of revenge upon the Shechemites (Genesis 34:30).

There is even a slight chance that the young and apparently childless
Judith, who never married afterwards (16:22), was - like Dinah - a
virgin, and could therefore all the more closely empathise with her
ancestor. Hebrew law made provision for 'a widow who is a virgin'.

46 In fact, /"in the shorter Hebrew version Judith is called not "the
widow" but "the virgin"/ [64 <#srit>]. Commentators have also noted the
close similarity between /Bethulia/ and the Hebrew word for "a virgin",
/Bethula/ (Hebrew `Bethula') [65 <#buvi>].

Continuing on with her prayer, Judith recalls that her God was not fazed
by human power and might. So what if the Assyrians are now/ 'a greatly
increased force'/ (v. 7). God's strength/ 'does not depend on numbers,
nor ? on the powerful'./ For he is/ 'the God of the lowly, helper of the
oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of
those without hope'/ (v. 11).

Having obviously already devised her plan for /Holofernes/, a plan of
deception, Judith begs God:/ '? make my deceitful words bring wound and
bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and
against your sacred House, and against Mount Zion, and against the House
your children possess'/ (v.13).

/* Judith 10*/

Her prayer finished, Judith prepares to don her 'weapons of war'. But
these will not be men's clothing, armour and a sword, as Joan of Arc
will later use, but feminine attire (vv.3-4):

/ She removed the sackcloth she had been wearing, took off her widow's
garments, bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious
ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed herself in
the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was
living. She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets,
rings, earrings, and all her other jewelry. Thus she made herself very
beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men who might see her./

Judith like Importantly, too, Judith took her own food and drink,
entrusted to her maid (v.5), so that she would not have to eat the food
of the Gentile Assyrians.

The first /"men"/ to be 'smitten' by Judith were /Uzziah/ and the elders
of the town at the town gate (vv.7-8):/ "When they saw her transformed
in appearance and dressed differently, they were very greatly astounded
at her beauty and said to her, 'May the God of our ancestors grant you
favour and fulfill your plan ?'."/ [66 <#behe>].

Upon Judith's request (command?), the elders/ "ordered the young men to
open the gate for her"/ (v.9). Judith and her maid then went out of the
town and headed for the camp of the Assyrians. / "The men of the town
watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the
valley, where they lost sight of her"/ (v.10).

C. Conder [67] will refer back to this topographical description of
Judith's descent into the valley in his proposed identification of
/Bethulia with Mithilia (Mesilieh).

Identification of Bethulia/

I simply give Conder's account, which is the one that impresses me most
[67 <#67>]:

/ ? *Meselieh* ? A small village, with a detached portion to the north,
and placed on a slope, with a hill to the south, and surrounded by good
olive-groves, with an open valley called Wâdy el Melek ("the King's
Valley') on the north. The water-supply is from wells, some of which
have an ancient appearance. They are mainly supplied with rain-water.
In 1876 I proposed to identify the village of Meselieh, or Mithilia,
south of Jenin, with the Bethulia of the Book of Judith, supposing the
substitution of M for B, of which there are occasional instances in
Syrian nomenclature. The indications of the site given in the Apocrypha
are tolerably distinct. Older image of the distinctive rounded Mount
Tabor in the Jezreel Valley taken from the West. Also thought to be the
location of Dapur. Bethulia stood on a hill, but not apparently on the
top, which is mentioned separately (Judith vi. 12) There were springs or
wells beneath the town (verse 11), and the houses were above these
(verse 13). The city stood in the hill-country not far from the plain
(verse 11), and apparently near Dothan (Judith iv. 6). The army of
Holofernes was visible when encamped near Dothan (Judith vii. 3, 4), by
the spring in the valley near Bethulia (verses 3-7).
'The site usually supposed to represent Bethulia - namely, the strong
village of Sanûr - does not fulfill these various requisites; but the
topography of the Book of Judith, as a whole, is so consistent and
easily understood, that it seems that Bethulia was an actual site.
Visiting Mithilia on our way to Shechem ? we found a small ruinous
village on the slope of the hill. Beneath it are ancient wells, and
above it a rounded hill-top, commanding a tolerably extensive view. The
north-east part of the great plain, Gilboa, Tabor [67a <#mtt>], and
Nazareth, are clearly seen. West of these are neighbouring hillsides
Jenin and Wâdy Bel'ameh (the Belmaim, probably of the narrative); but
further west Carmel appears behind the ridge of Sheikh Iskander /[67b
<#shis>]/, and part of the plain of 'Arrabeh, close to Dothan, is seen./

/A broad corn-vale, called "The King's Valley", extends north-west from
Meselieh toward Dothan, a distance of only 3 miles. There is a low shed
formed by rising ground between two hills, separating this valley from
the Dothain plain; and at the latter site is the spring beside which,
probably, the Assyrian army is supposed by the old Jewish novelist [sic]
to have encamped.
In imagination one might see the stately Judith walking through the
down-trodden corn-fields and shady olive-groves, while on the rugged
hillside above the men of the city "looked after her until she was gone
down the mountain, and till she had passed the valley, and could see her
no more'". (Judith x 10) - C. R. C., 'Quarterly Statement', July, 1881./

Now out of sight of the townsfolk, only Judith or her maid (or an
Assyrian eyewitness) could have supplied the next piece of information
(vv. 11-13):

/ As the women were going on through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met
her and took her into custody. They asked her, 'To what people do you
belong, and where are you coming from, and where are you going?' She
replied, 'I am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them,
for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured. I am on my
way to see Holofernes, the commander of your army, to give him a true
report; I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the
hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain'/

These Assyrians were also 'smitten' by Judith's beautiful appearance,
and they gave her permission to go to Holofernes' tent under escort. She
was accompanied there by 100 men (vv. 14-17).

As the rumour spread, the excited camp began gathering around her (v. 19):

/ They marveled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them
by her. They said to one another, 'Who can despise these people, who
have women like this among them? It is not wise to leave one of their
men alive, for if we let them go they will be able to beguile the whole
world.'/

Taken into the presence of Holofernes, Judith/ "prostrated herself and
did obeisance to him, but his slaves raised her up"/ (v.23).

/* Judith 11*/

Verses 1-2:/ "Then Holofernes said to her, 'Take courage, woman, and do
not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt anyone who chose to
serve Nebuchednezzar, king of all the earth. Even now, if your people
who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have
lifted my spear against them. They have brought this against themselves'." ?
Holofernes'/ [Esarhaddon's] /"spear"/, now /"lifted"/ in anger against
the Israelites, was nothing less - as he claimed - than the very
/"javelin of Assur"/, his god [68 <#rsno>]:

/ ... Like a lion I raged, I put on (my) coat of mail, (my) helmet,
emblem of victory, I put on my head. I grasped in my hand the mighty bow
.... Like a fierce eagle, with wings outspread ..., in front of my
troops, I went], like a flood, I advanced. *The unsparing javelin of
Assur*, fiercely, swiftly, was let loose ..., the gods Shar-ur and
Shar-gaz going [at my side]./

Judith's response to Holofernes was immediately flattering, firstly of
his father (v.7):/ 'By the life of Nebuchednezzar, king of the whole
earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to direct every living
being!'./ And secondly of Holofernes himself, including her statement
(probably a true one) that he had no military peer:/ 'For we have heard
of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world
that you alone are the best in the whole kingdom, the most informed and
the most astounding in military strategy?'/ This would have been music
to the ears of /Holofernes/[Esarhaddon], of course, who actually needed
no convincing of the fact [69 <#rsfs>]:

/ ... t'was I who marched triumphantly ... from the rising to the
setting sun, and had no rival.

... My equal did not exist, [my power] being unrivaled; and among the
princes who went before me, none ..../

Judith then spins Holofernes the same yarn that she had told to the
Assyrian patrol who first encountered her. Basically it was, along the
lines of /Achior's/ words to the Assyrian war council, that her people
had forfeited the right to expect their God's help because they had
sinned by eating consecrated foods forbidden to them, and so they were
destined to be destroyed by the Assyrians. And Judith would help the
latter to achieve this (v.19):

/ 'I will lead you through Judaea until you come to Jerusalem; there I
will set your throne. You will drive them like sheep that have no
shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you'/ [70 <#ospd>].

Flattery was getting Judith everywhere, and /Holofernes/ was only too
willing to reciprocate (vv. 22-23):

/ Then Holofernes said to her, 'God has done well to send you ahead of
the people, to strengthen our hands and bring destruction on those who
have despised my lord. You are not only beautiful in appearance, but
wise in speech. If you do as you have said, your God shall be my God,
and you shall live in the palace of King Nebuchednezzar and be renowned
throughout the whole world'.

* Judith 12*/

When Judith, consistent with her piety, now refuses to partake of the
food and drink with which /Holofernes/ provides her, the
commander-in-chief poses the practical question (v. 3):/ 'If your supply
runs out, where can we get you more of the same? For none of your people
are here with us'./ To which Judith replies with dramatic irony (v. 4):/
'As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up the
supplies I have with me before the Lord carries out by my hand what he
has determined'./
Judith was even allowed by /Holofernes/ to go out each night,
unhindered, to the valley of /Bethulia/, and pray. There, too, she
bathed in the spring; after which,/ "she prayed the Lord God of Israel
to direct her way for the triumph of his people"/ (vv. 5-9).

The true reason though for /Holofernes'/ extreme liberality toward the
Hebrew woman was about to become apparent. It was by now the /"fourth
day"/ of the five day matrix in which Judith had been given to work.
/Holofernes/, who had arranged a banquet for/ "his personal attendants
only, and did not invite any of his officers/ (vv. 10-12):

/ ? said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs,
'Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and to
eat and drink with us. For it would be a disgrace if we let such a woman
go without having intercourse with her. If we do not seduce her, she
will laugh at us'.

Bagoas/, who immediately went to fetch Judith, is unlikely to have been
the /Rabsaris/ who had accompanied the /Turtan/, because he could then
have told /Holofernes/ who the Israelites were, instead of leaving him
in ignorance during the previous invasion (2 Kings 18:17).

Judith willingly accepts the invitation of /Bagoas/(v.14):/ 'Who am I to
refuse my lord? Whatever pleases him I will do at once ?'./ One suspects
that she had a different "lord" in mind though when saying these things.
And she adds, ironically:/ '? and it will be a joy to me until the day
of my death'./

Once again Judith prettied herself up whilst her maid went to
/Holofernes'/ tent and spread out for her mistress on the ground before
/Holofernes/ the lamb skins that Bagoas had provided (v.15). Enter
Judith again, and let the party begin (vv. 16-18):

/ Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes' heart was ravished with
her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an
opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. So Holofernes
said to her, 'Have a drink and be merry with us!' Judith said, 'I will
gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life'./

And whilst Judith ate and drank simply what her maid had prepared,
/Holofernes/ became drunker than he had ever been in his whole life (vv.
19-20).

*/ Judith 13/*

Chapter 13 will be a most unlucky one for /Holofernes.

*1 - The Downfall of "Holofernes" (in Judith)*/

With /Bagoas/ and the slaves having withdrawn as the party wore on,
Judith had her perfect chance. After a prayer for strength (vv. 4-5),
she moved into action (vv. 6-10):

/ She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes' head, and took down his
sword that hung there. She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair
of his head, and said, 'Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!'
Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head.
Next she rolled the body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the
posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes' head to her
maid, who placed it in her food bag./

Then she and her maid went out together as the Assyrians were accustomed
to seeing them do for prayer. But then:/ "They passed through the camp,
circled around the valley, and went up the mountain to Bethulia, and
came to its gates"/(vv.10).

When the people heard Judith's voice, proclaiming God's victory, they
rushed to open the gate. They subsequently lit a fire to give light and
gathered around Judith, who, still praising God, pulled the head of
/Holofernes/ out of the bag, whilst swearing before them that/ 'he
committed no sin with me to defile and shame me'/ (vv. 12-16). Dinah had
at last been 'revenged', and even not all that far from Shechem. After
the people had sung Judith's praises (v. 17), Uzziah said to her (vv.18-20):

/ 'O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all other
women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and
the earth, who has guided you to cut off the head of the leader of our
enemies. Your praise will never depart from the hearts of those who
remember the power of God. May God grant this to be a perpetual honour
to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because you risked your
own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin,
walking in the straight path before our God'.

* 2 - The Downfall of "Holofernes" (in the Assyrian Records)*/

My reconstruction of neo-Assyrian history has enabled for a most
plausible identification of/"Holofernes"/ with Esarhaddon, as second
only to the Assyrian king during a climactic period of history, who died
during a western campaign.

All well and good as far as it goes. But to be fully satisfying we need
some evidence of the Viceroy's shameful demise. It is to be found, I
believe, most surprisingly in the Assyrian records themselves, in the
Eponym Chronicle [71 <#uofy>]; giving the lie to any naïve view that the
Assyrians did not record reverses. H. Tadmor gives the text - that I
have shown in my Assyrian revision to be problematical in regard to the
insertion there of /Sargon/- as if belonging to Sargon's Year 17 (705
BC), presuming this to have been the year Sargon actually died [72 <#ssya>]:

/ The king [against Tabal ....] against E?pai the Kulummaean. [......]
The king was killed. The camp of the king of Assyria [was taken ......].
On the 12th of Abu, Sennacherib, son [of Sargon, took his seat on the
throne]./

There is no information from any other source on the last war of Sargon
[sic], nor any plausible identification of the /Kulummaeans/. And we now
know that a succession from Sargon to Sennacherib, as proposed above, is
impossible. The /"king"/ referred to in this quote should in fact be
identified as Esarhaddon, that is the /"Holofernes"/ of Judith.

He /"was killed [with the result that] ... The camp of the king of
Assyria [was taken ......]"./ Cf. Judith 13:8 and 15:6-7:/ "... the
people of Bethulia fell upon *the Assyrian camp* and plundered it,
acquiring great riches. And the Israelites, when they returned from the
slaughter, took possession of what remained".

*Judith 13*/ is definitive on this. The Viceroy's head was actually
carried away from his lifeless corpse by the triumphant Judith and her
maid back to Bethulia, where - upon Judith's instructions - it was hung
on the parapet of the city wall (cf. Judith 13:9-10, 15, & 14:11); the
purpose being to strike fear into the hearts of the Assyrian soldiers
and cause them to flee.

The ageing Sennacherib by no means at this point - as is suggested by
the above quote - /"took his seat on the throne"/. We saw previously
that this data had been artificially reconstructed. Rather, Sennacherib
had to undertake a far less pleasant task. Tadmor tells what this was,
though wrongly supposing that it was Sargon's demise that was the matter
that Sennacherib had to investigate [73 <#tdis>]:

/ The death of a king on a battlefield, killed in action, is as yet
unparalleled in the history of Mesopotamia. Sennacherib had to
investigate closely into the hidden reasons of his father's [sic] death
in order to find out what were the sins (*hîtâti*) of Sargon [sic]./

What was an added shame for Assyria - pointing to the sins of the slain
King of Assyria - was that he was not buried in /"his house"/. According
to Tadmor [73 <#siia>]: /"This may mean that either his corpse was
cremated at the battlefield or that it was not recovered from the enemy"./

The Esarhaddon Chronicle gives the exact day of Esarhaddon's death, /"on
the [tenth] day of the month Marchesvan"/, which is the eighth month [74
<#ices>].

/*3 - The Downfall of "Holofernes" (in Isaiah 14)*/

Let us turn to the famous oracle about the fall of the King of Babylon,
Isaiah 14; which oracle I shall suggest can only refer to Esarhaddon.

Boutflower takes us a leap in the right direction when favourably
recalling Sir Edward Strachey's / "belief that the king of Babylon,
against whom the 'parable' of Isa. xiv was hurled, was a king of
Assyria"/ [75 <#tnia>]; a king of Assyria, that is, who conquered and
ruled over Babylon.

Whilst Boutflower was convinced that this was Tiglath-pileser III, I am
going to argue - based on the reference in the poem to the violent death
of this king on campaign - that it was Esarhaddon. There is no strong
evidence whatsoever that Tigalth-pileser III died in battle. We gather
from Isaiah's poem that all the king's glory came to an end in a moment,
like the fall of a star from heaven. Moreover, the end was to come on
the field of battle (14:12-20).

	

	/ How are you fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How are you cut down to the ground,
you who laid nations low!
/	

	
A few verses later, Isaiah nominates this person as an /"Assyrian"/, who
will die on the mountains of Israel (14:24,25): 	

	
/ The Lord of hosts has sworn:
...
I will break the Assyrian in my
land.
and on my mountains trample
him under foot. /	

	
Thus the Assyrian, who was king of Babylon, who had brought disaster
upon his own people, would die a wretched death on the mountains of
Israel, and would not be royally buried in his homeland - as are other
kings - but would be trampled contemptuously under foot.

Isaiah's poem perfectly fits the /Holofernes//Esarhaddon scenario.
Conversely, Esarhaddon's boasts, in his own records, fit most
appropriately the terms of Isaiah 14. To give just one classic example
[76 <#eans>]:/ "I am powerful, I am all powerful, I am a hero, I am
gigantic, I am colossal, I am honored, I am magnified, I am without an
equal among all kings ..."./ (Cf. Isaiah 14:13-14). This Assyrian king
was probably nicknamed by the Jews, /Heylél/("Morning Star"); and most
appropriately, based on the fact that the Assyrian kings identified the
Morning Star as the star of Ishtar, the war goddess.

As for the /"identification of the Kulummaeans"/, the last people
against whom the hapless Assyrian is said to have marched before his
demise, these can be plausibly identified with the inhabitants of a town
that we had previously encountered in the Douay version of Judith. I
refer to /"Chelmon"/ (7:3).

/Chelmon/ was the very last place to which the Assyrian host did in fact
march before its rout. The fact that this town is mentioned in the
Assyrian records, and not /Bethulia/, may be an indication that the
Assyrian army was attacking on a wider front than was of interest to the
author of Judith.

The name /"E?pai"/, given in the Assyrian records as, presumably, the
chief of the /Kulummaeans/ (Chelmonians), has a strong resemblance to
/Ushpia/, which name H. Storck has equated linguistically with both
/Ishbak/ and /Aushpia/[77 <#lnku>]. There is a chance that this leader,
/E?pai/Ushpia/, is the very /Uzziah/ who was, not only leader of
Bethulia, but indeed (variously) /"the prince of all Israel"/ and /"the
prince of Judah"/ (Judith 8:34).

That is, the great Isaiah (Hoshea) himself!

/ Meaning of the Name "Holofernes"/

It was noted at the beginning of this commentary that /Holofernes/ is
considered to be definitely a Persian name, thus contributing to the
hotch-potch of peoples in the Judith mix. I am now going to argue that
this view is also incorrect, that /Holofernes/ does not actually have a
Persian origin at all, but a Hebrew origin. And that the name, in its
original form, could well have been the name that the Jews applied to
the tragic Esarhaddon. The name /"Holofernes"/, I now suggest, has these
linguistic components:
	


# 	
	Its root, /Hol/, comes from the Hebrew word for Day Star, /Heylél/*
lleyhe.*. 	


# 	
	The /fer/ (or verbal) part of the name seems simply to have been lifted
from part of the Latin name for Day Star, /Luci*fer* ("Light Bearer"),
from the verb /*ferre*/, 'to bring' or 'to bear'. And likewise from the
Greek version of the Star's name, /Hes*pher*us/, from the verb
phero/ferre (/phero/), 'to bear'. /	


# 	
	The /-nes/ part of the name is just a typical Greek or Latin type ending. 	


	/Holofernes/ is not a Persian name at all!

If this Assyrian king, ruler of Babylon, were perhaps nicknamed by the
Jews, /Heylél/, then this would be most appropriate, based on the fact
that the Assyrian kings identified the Morning Star as the star of
Ishtar, *the war goddess*. There may therefore be much more value in
looking for Assyrian similarities, rather than the usually argued
Ugaritic ones, with Isaiah 14.

The Assyrian kings made much of their devotion to their gods - like many
tyrants and terrorists do today - particularly their eponymous god,
Assur. Yet this was just a pious pretext for their own self-worship, as
is manifest in Esarhaddon's boast: /'I am ... I am ... I am', etc./ If
Isaiah had Esarhaddon in mind in his chapter 14 - and I think he did -
then his poem is a masterpiece of mocking irony.

**

*'The Day Star, the Radiant One'.*

/ "[Ishtar ... named [Esarhaddon] for the kingship".
"Ishtar, queen of war and battle, lover of my priesthood, stood at my
side".
"... the brilliance of my royalty overwhelmed [the king of the Gambulu
tribe]".
"[As for Hazael, king of Arabia, - the splendor of my majesty]
overwhelmed him".
"From out of the sea my enemies spoke thus: 'Where shall a fox go to
escape the sun?"./

* 'Who said: "I will ascend .... I will raise .... I will sit .... I
will make" ...'.*

/ "(I am he) who trod under foot the land of Barnaki ...".
"(I am he) who scattered the Mannaean peoples ...".
"(I am he) who drove out ... the son of Merodach-baladan".
"(I am he) who overwhelmed the land of ... Chaldea, Babylon's enemy".
"I am powerful, I am all powerful, I am a hero, I am gigantic, I am
colossal, I am honored, I
am magnified, I am without an equal among all kings ..."./

'Who Brought Nations Low. Made the Earth Tremble'.

/ "[King Shupria's] heart was "seized", his lips trembled, he tore off
his royal garment .... With
earnest petitions, with face flattened (on the ground), bowing low, upon
the wall of his city,
(he uttered cries of) "Woe", weeping bitterly".
"I cut off their heads .... I hung their heads upon the shoulders of
their nobles".
"... all who had deserted their masters ... their fingers I cut off,
their noses, eyes
and ears I "took away"from them"./

* 'Who would Not Let His prisoners Go Home'.*

/ "Abdi-Milkutti [king of Sidon ... I pulled out of the sea, like a
fish. I cut off his head .... His
people, from far and near ..., which were countless ... I deported to
Assyria".
"... from the mouth of the gods of heaven and earth ... has gone forth
(the command) for the
destruction of thy land ... there was ordered the captvity of thy people"./

/*Judith 14*/

Some think - based on the Hebrew word Hebrew `ra-ash' thunder `ra-ash'
in Isaiah 29:6; sometimes translated as/"blast"/, that 185,000 Assyrian
soldiers must have been destroyed instantly, on the spot.

Perhaps by an angel of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 37:36). Or perhaps, as I.
Velikovsky had argued, by a cosmic collision [78 <#alof>], his unique
interpretation of *`raam'*. For Herodotus, the agent of the army's
demise was a plague of mice [79 <#raas>].

What it in fact was, according to Judith's careful plan of it (vv. 1-4),
was basically a rout. The /Bethulians/ were ordered by the girl to hang
Holofernes' head upon the parapet of the city wall and, at dawn, to
feign a sortée against the Assyrian camp. The Assyrian soldiers would
seize their arms and rush to Holofernes' tent, only to find his lifeless
corpse. / 'Then panic will overcome them, and they will flee before
you'./ The 'flight' factor is quite pervasive in the contemporary
prophetic literature, too, being found for instance in Isaiah and Joel.

But firstly, Judith had another use for the head of Holofernes. She
would show it to Achior. / "So they summoned Achior from the house of
Uzziah. When he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hand of one
of the men in the assembly of the people, he fell down on his face in a
faint"/ (v.6). Upon his recovery, /Achior / sang Judith's praises (v.
7):/ 'Blessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation those who
hear your name will be alarmed'./

And upon hearing Judith's full story, /Achior / was converted (vv. 8-10).

Meanwhile, in the Assyrian camp, /Bagoas / had discovered the headless
commander-in-chief, and soon there was complete uproar throughout the
camp (vv. 11-19).

/* Judith 15*/

That initial shock for the Assyrians quickly turns to total panic
(v.2):/ "Overcome with fear and trembling, they did not wait for one
another, but with one impulse all rushed out and fled by every path
across the plain and through the hill country"./

Soon the whole of northern Israel had mobilized to pursue them (vv.
4-5). And later the Jerusalemites (v.5). The /Bethulians / and their
fellow-Israelites made themselves rich from the immense plunder (vv.
6-7), which took them /"thirty days"/ to gather (v.11).

/ Joakim / himself came from Jerusalem/ "to witness the good things that
the Lord had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to wish her well"/
(v.8). He and the elders who had accompanied him/ "blessed her with one
accord and said to her, 'You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the
great boast of Israel, you are the great pride of our nation'/ (v. 9).

*/Judith 16/*

Judith's victory song of thanksgiving, that occupies most of this final
chapter, is considered to be ancient. According to the /* Encyclopedia
Judaica */[80 <#flsi>], it certainly /"antedates those found at Qumran". /
She was, by the power of God, the agent of the defeat of Sennacherib's
army (vv. 5-6):

	

	
/ 'But the Lord Almighty has foiled them
by the hand of a woman.
For their mighty one (Holofernes) did not fall
by the hands of the young men,
nor did the sons of Titans
strike them down,
nor did tall giants set upon him;
but Judith daughter of Merari
with the beauty of her countenance undid him'. /	

	
Judith's telling of how the Assyrian fell /"by the * hand of a woman"*/
may be seen as echoing Isaiah's prediction that the Assyrian will fall
/"by the sword of *no man, Hebrew `lo ish', no man' or `no male'. Corey
Moore translates Judith's `hand of a woman' each time as `hand of a
female'. `lo ish' *(Isaiah 31:8); literally,/'the sword of * no male'*/.
And /Joakim / had recently said to her (15:10):/ 'You have done all of
this with your own hand ?'. //

Apparently the Jews considered Judith's achievement so noteworthy that
they devoted an entire book to her; a book that generally supplements,
rather than repeats, the details in Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah.

/* Notes and references*/
At CIAS when you place the curser on a *.Jpeg sometimes you can read
additional information not stated in the text itself, i.e. the above `lo
ish'. We at CIAS also frequently leave the Australian spelling of
certain words in place not to loose the flavour of the language.

[1] Charles, R., /*The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old
Testament*/(Oxford, Clarendon Press), 245.
[2] For the pro's and con's of this keen debate, see J. Bright's /*A
History of Israel*/ 2nd. ed. London (SCM Press Ltd., 1972), 296f.,
Excursus I:/"The Problem of Sennacherib's Campaigns in Palestine"./
[3] /*Judith*/, 407.
[4] Thus Diodorus Siculus xvii, 6, 1, as referred to in /*Encyclopedia
Judaica (EJ)*, "Judith"./
[5] /*E.J.*, Ibid./ Douay gives /Vagao/, rather than /Bagoas./
[6] In/"Emmet Sweeney's Historical Revision", *SIS Chronology &
Catastrophism Review*/(UK, 1998:2), 56, Sweeney suggests some compelling
parallels between Sennacherib and the Persian king, Xerxes. To the
comparisons that Sweeney has made there can probably now be added that
between Xerxes' [Artaxerxes III's?] huge force that went against the
west and Sennacherib's, as described in Judith. Archaeological research
makes it extremely doubtful that Xerxes ever managed to bridge the
Hellespont, as the history books tell us, in order to invade Greece with
a massive force.
There are also in Greek mythology the stunning likenesses between Helen
and Judith. More of that will be said in this commentary.
/* EJ's*/ article,/"Judith"/, shows that this drama to end all dramas
has consistently, down through the centuries, been represented in art,
literature and music. It will become apparent also from this commentary
that the Greeks absorbed the story of Judith and Holofernes into their
own folklore, their wars with Persia. See also footnote.
[7] Luckenbill, Daniel David (1881-1927), /*Ancient Records of Assyria
and Babylonia*/, Vol. II (Greenwood Press, NY.), #31.
[8] Jonsson, C.,/"The Foundations of the Assyro-Babylonian Chronology",
*Chronology and Catastrophism Review*/, Vol. IX (UK, 1987), 23 (footnote
24), tells us of the strange situation as established by Lewy in 1935,
from the eponym lists, that Sennacherib's reign in Babylon began
actually one year before his reign in Assyria.
[9] The Median Ecbatana is in fact about 1900 metres above sea-level.
[10] Arrian, F., /*The Campaigns of Alexander*/(Penguin books, 1986),
Bk.3, #'s 20-21. /"So rapid was the march"/, wrote Arrian,/"that many of
the men, unable to stand the pace, dropped out, and a number of horses
were worked to death ..."./
Median Ecbatana and Rages are actually more like 185 miles apart.
[11] MacKenzie, Fr. J., article/"Tobit"/, in /*Jerome Biblical
Commentary*/, footnote 5a.
[12] Mackey, D., /"Job's Life and Times",
Mentalities/Mentalités/(Outrigger Publishers, N.Z., October 1998),
Vol.13, Nos. 1-2, 56-73. The/"lesser known versions"/ of Tobit I refer
to are the Heb. Fagii (or HF) & Heb. Londinii(or HL).
[13] In /*The Histories*/ Bk.3 (Penguin Books, 1972), p.230.
[14] Jâkût el-Hamawi, as quoted in/"Job's Life and Times"/, 64. Emphasis
added.
[15] /*NCE, Vol. VIII (The Encyclopedia Press, Inc., N.Y.), 222. In
/*The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible*/**, article/"Ahikar"/
(Abingdon Press, N.Y., 69), E. Kraelin notes the name similarity, but is
likewise reluctant to identify the two.
The name /Achior/(Heb. /"son of light"/), if not the person, may be
found in Merodach-baladan's governor of Babylon, Bel *Akhi-erba. /
[16] It needs to be noted that the name of the Assyrian king who sent
Ahikar to Elam is translated as "Esarhaddon". But this I believe is a
mistake. It is given in the Greek as/"Sacherdonos"/; a name that comes
very close to the /"Saosduchin"/ said in the Douay version of Judith
(note 1:5) to have/"succeeded Asarhaddon in the kingdom of the
Assyrians"/ That can only be Ashurbanipal.
[17] Roux, G., /*Ancient Iraq*/(Penguin Books, 1964), 348.
[18] Luckenbill, #42.
[19] /Ibid., Emphasis added/, #10.
[20] /Ibid./, # 606.
[21] /Ibid./, # 199, # 498.
[22] /*The Geographical & Topographical Texts of the Old
Testament*/(E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1959), 491-494.
[23] Luckenbill, # 521.
[24] /Ibid./, # 527.
[25] /Ibid./, # 556.
For Tuba'lu (i.e. Ethbaal), see Luckenbill II, #309.
[26] /Ibid./, # 573.
[27] /Op. cit./, 495, # 1602. /"Judith iii 14 Vulg. states that
Holofernes comes through Syria and Mesopotamia *"ad Idumaeos"*,
doubtless a scribal error for *'ad Judaeos'*, as also shown by the
addition *"in terram Gabaa" *which comes from *Gaibai*(§ 1604) ..."./
[28] Nebí Yunas Inscription.
[29] /*The Historical Geography of the Holy Land*/(Collins, The Fontana
Library), 203-204.
[30] /"The Military Strategy of Sheshonq/Shishak in Palestine",
*Chronology & Catastrophism Review*/, Vol. X, 1988 Issue (SIS, UK.), 2-10.
The pharaoh is conventionally, but wrongly, dated to c.C10th BC.
[31] Boutflower, /op. cit./, 304. My emphasis.
[31b] *Comments:* As to who holds `the keys' and who is represented by
`the rock' consider what Jesus is saying when he appears to point first
to Peter: "You are Peter, (/and now pointing to himself/) and upon this
rock (/Jesus is the rock for `Peter' means not rock but pebble, a small
stone compared to the rock/) I will build my church; and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee (/Jesus/) the
keys of the kingdom of heaven: (/Christ made salvation possible, not
Peter/) and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." [Matthew 16:18-19; Compare also: John 1:12; 17:3; Luke 11:52;
all verses extolling Christ, not Peter. 1.Peter 2:5 calls us, and with
us also Peter himself, stones (/Greek: `lidos'/), not the rock (/Greek:
`petra'/). The corner stone of the church is Jesus Christ, Acts 4:11;]
[32] Perhaps translators, taking their cue to some extent from the
offices of the three Assyrian officials, have looked to make Eliakim a
civil leader only.
[33] All these points can be found for instance in *Jerome Biblical
Commentary (JBC)*, "Joel" (Prentice-Hall, Inc., NJ., 1968), 25:1-21.; On
Eliakim see 2.Kings chapters 18-19.
[34] In /*ANET*/(1955), 427.
[35] /Op. cit./, 251, n.6.
[36] Introduction to Judith in the Vulgate version.
Charles, /op. cit./, 246, who late dates the writing of the book by
linking the author to /"the Pharisaic party"/, thinks that he must have
been /"a Palestinian Jew ? a man of some literary skill ? well
acquainted with the literature of his people"./
Could this great man, as /Akhi-miti/, actually be the Archimedes of
Greek tradition?
[37] /Op. cit./, 243.
[38] /*E.J.*/, 452, 460. See also Leahy, /op. cit./, 403. A.F. Rainey,
/`The Toponymics of Eretz-Israel'/ in *ASOR* Bulletin, No. 231, Oct
1978, p. 1-17.
[39 & 39b] /Op. cit./, 244.
[40] /*TCE*/, article /"Judith"/, VIII, (The Ency. Press, Inc., N.Y.),
555, citing Calmet's /"Introd. in Lib. Judith"/. Emphasis added.
[41] This fiery confrontation at the siege of Jerusalem, between the
Commander-in-Chief and Achior, may well be where Homer got his idea for
the main theme of */The Iliad/*: the argument at the siege of Troy
between Agamemnon, supreme commander of the Greeks, and the renowned
Achilles (Achior?).
[42] /*EJ*/, 452. Emphasis added.
[43] /*JBC*/ 17:7.
Micah was not just concerned with Judah, but with the north as well. The
Book of Micah in fact opens with /The Judgment of Samaria/(1:2-7).
[44] /*JBC*/ 17:2.
[45] /Op. cit./, 50.
[46] This is exactly the state of the land around the region of
Galilee/Bashan as we find it in the Book of Job. See my article, /*Job's
Life and Times*/(1997), in which I show that the /"land of Uz"/, in
which Job lived was Bashan in Transjordania; and that Job had returned
there from the Assyrian captivity (as foretold by the likes of
/Isaiah/Hosea/) just prior to the destruction of Nineveh.
[47] /Op. c it./ 51.
[48] /Ibid./, 52.
[49] /Ibid./, 53.
[50] /Ibid./, 54.
[51] /Ibid./, 49.
[52] Hosea, though, adds the name of one of the northern kings as well,
who was a contemporary of Uzziah (c.781-740 BC), thus:/"... and in the
days of *Jeroboam ... king of Israel"*/ [c. 783-743 BC]. His prophecies
were more /north/-oriented than were those to be found in the Book of
Isaiah. In this context an abreviated name of Sennach_erib_ may also be
the name `J_areb_', king of Assyria, we find in Hosea 10:6.
[53] /Op. cit./, 48.
[54] /Ibid./, 49.
[55] /Op. cit., ibid., / note 271, Simons says: /"This identification of
cyamon is more probable than tell qaimûn (joqmeam/ of the Hebrew books)
which is much too far away.
[56] /Ibid./, 499.
[57] /Ibid./, 501, #1610.
[58] Correspondent, David Salkeld, from Wiltshire, U.K., disagrees
(e-mail dated 15/03/00): /"If Judith was historical the recorder would
not need to go back umpteen generations to establish her authenticity.
Look for instance at how far a record like II Chronicles feels it
necessary to go to introduce the kings of Israel and Judah or
intervening characters (like Isaiah), typically giving the name of the
father and/or mother - but no more than that. It is when the writer is
trying to 'sell' a fictional or legendary character that he often has
recourse to a lengthy genealogy. To me - and to many others - the '16
generations' you see as proof of genuineness suggest the opposite". /
[59] /*TCE*/, article /"Judith"/, VIII, (The Ency. Press, Inc., N.Y.), 555.
[60] /Op. cit./, 404. See also /*TCE*/, 554.
[61] The/"festival"/ to which Leahy refers here may possibly be the
Hannukah itself. Though Judas Maccabeus is thought to have instituted
Hannukah on the 25th of Chislev, the feast of the Temple's Dedication,
he may in fact have been merely reviving what was already an old feast
that had become neglected during the régime of Antiochus 'Epiphanes', as
he certainly did revive Mordecai's feast (no doubt Purim) on the 13th of
Adar (1 Maccabees 7:49).
[62] According to Corey A. Moore, /*The Anchor Bible. Judith*/(Doubleday
& Co., NY), 107. Corey A. Moore in his commentary on the Judith tells
that Jewish tradition has her father as "Beeri". That is, Judith the
Simeonitess's father. Beeri is the exact same name as Merari (with the
common substitution of M for B in Syro-Palestinian languages). But what
it adds is the connection with the prophet Hosea, whose father was
"Beeri" (Hosea 1:1).
[63] In the /*Lindian Chronicle*/ it is narrated that when Darius, King
of Persia, tried to conquer the Island of Hellas, the people gathered in
the stronghold of Lindus to withstand the attack. The citizens of the
besieged city asked their leaders to surrender because of the hardships
and sufferings brought by the water shortage (cf. Judith 7:20-28). The
Goddess Athena [read /Judith/] advised one of the leaders [read
/Uzziah/] to continue to resist the attack; meanwhile she interceded
with her father Jupiter [read /the God of Israel/] on their behalf (cf.
Judith 8:9-9:14). Thereupon, the citizens asked for a truce of five days
(exactly as in *BOJ*), after which, if no help arrived, they would
surrender (cf. Judith 7:30-31). On the second day of the truce a heavy
shower fell on the city so the people could have sufficient water. Datis
[read /Holofernes/], the admiral of the Persian fleet [read
/Commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army/], having witnessed the
particular intervention of the Goddess to protect the city, lifted the
siege.
[64] /*TCE*/, 555. On the other hand any thinking person can `empathise'
with someone in need of some kind of help. There is really no advantage
of being a virgin other than being more independent while at the same
time lacking normal human company. Men and women were created for each
other, not to remain celibate. One cannot worship God better by
remaining celibate, for the other celibate person next to you becomes
your unnatural `partner' and you still are not alone.
[65] See e.g. /ibid./
[66] Cf. Helen at the gates of Troy, greatly praised by Priam and the
elders for her beauty, /`Illiad'/, Bk. III.; Samuel Butler: "The two
sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of the people, were seated by the
Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthous, Thymoetes, Lampus, Clytius, and
Hiketaon of the race of Mars. These were too old to fight, but they were
fluent orators, and sat on the tower like cicales that chirrup
delicately from the boughs of some high tree in a wood. When they saw
Helen coming towards the tower, they said softly to one another, "Small
wonder that Trojans and Achaeans should endure so much and so long, for
the sake of a woman so marvellously and divinely lovely. Still, fair
though she be, let them take her and go, or she will breed sorrow for us
and for our children after us."
[67] Conder, C., /*The Survey of Western Palestine*/, Vol. II (Committee
Of Palestine Exploration Fund, London, 1882), pp. 156-157.
"And when the men of the city saw them, they took up their weapons, and
*went out of the city to the top of the hill*: and every man that used a
sling kept them from coming up by casting of stones against them."
Judith 6:12.
[67a] Mount Tabor is a mountain isolated from the neighboring mountains
of Lower Galilee and those of Samaria to the south. It overlooks the
terrain of Jezreel as well as the `Great Trunk Road.' The more modern
town of Daberath is at its base.
[67b] For this place name of `Hills of Sheikh Iskander' and of Zebdah
and Bûrkîn see also *PSBA*, May, 1887, p. 163.
[68] Luckenbill, # 561. Emphasis added.
[69] /Ibid./, #'s 507, 521.
[70] Another /*Iliad*/ metaphor.
[71] Given as Cb6 in H. Tadmor's /"The Campaigns of Sargon II of
Assur"/, /*JCS*/ XII (1958), 96.
[72] /Ibid./, 97. Emphasis added. Like Esarhaddon decapitated
/`Abdi-milkutti'/, king of Sidon and /`Sanduarri'/, so he himself
suffered the same fate according to what was determined here.
[73] *JCS*, XII (1958), 96 - /Ibid./
[74] As quoted by Jonsson, /op. cit./, 16.
The name Es*AR*had*DON* is a reasonable likeness to M*ARDON*ius
mentioned above in [5 <#bags>].
Aspects of the story regarding the /Commander-in-chief/ in Judith do
seem to have certain likenesses, too, to Xerxes' commander, Mardonius;
and/or even Hannibal's ultimately headless brother, Hasdrubal.
Even the search for Mardonius dead on the battlefield is reminiscent of
Sennacherib's enquiries about his dead son.
Take care not to confuse our Mardonius with the later one about whom we
read, "Xerxes withdrew. His land forces, under Darius' son-in-law
Mardonius, wintered in Thessaly and the next spring (479) moved upon
Plataea in the Boeotian plain, control of which would threaten both
Athens and the Peloponnese. But the Greeks, under the Spartan Pausanias
and the Athenian aristocrat Aristides, killed Mardonius and hounded his
army all the way to the Hellespont."[Wm. Langer, /Western Civilization/,
1968, p.159]
[75] /Op. cit./, 69.
[76] Luckenbill, # 577.
[77] /Ibid./
[78] In /*Worlds in Collision*/(Abacus, 1950's)
[79] Herodotus may have in fact picked up the idea of /mice/ from the
Book of Judith, according to which the Assyrian soldiers likened the
emboldened Israelites to /"mice, coming out of , their holes"/ (Douay
version 14:12); a typical Assyrian simile. The Greek version of Judith
has /"slaves"/ instead of /"mice"/.
[80] /*E. J.*/, 451.
To read the book of Judith online click here!
<http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/judith/judith1.htm>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A Very Interesting Portion*

Now after that she had ceased to cry unto the God of Israel, and bad
made an end of all these words.
She rose where she had fallen down, and called her maid, and went down
into the house in the which she abode in the sabbath days, and in her
feast days,
And pulled off the sackcloth which she had on, and put off the garments
of her widowhood, and washed her body all over with water, and anointed
herself with precious ointment, and braided the hair of her head, and
put on a tire upon it, and put on her garments of gladness, wherewith
she was clad during the life of Manasses her husband.
And she took sandals upon her feet, and put about her her bracelets, and
her chains, and her rings, and her earrings, and all her ornaments, and
decked herself bravely, to allure the eyes of all men that should see her.
Then she gave her maid a bottle of wine, and a cruse of oil, and filled
a bag with parched corn, and lumps of figs, and with fine bread; so she
folded all these things together, and laid them upon her.
Thus they went forth to the gate of the city of Bethulia, and found
standing there Ozias and the ancients of the city, Chabris and Charmis.
And when they saw her, that her countenance was altered, and her apparel
was changed, they wondered at her beauty very greatly ...
Thus they went straight forth in the valley: and the first watch of the
Assyrians met her,
And took her, and asked her, Of what people art thou? and whence comest
thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am a woman of the Hebrews,
and am fled from them: for they shall be given you to be consumed:
And I am coming before Holofernes the chief captain of your army, to
declare words of truth; and I will shew him a way, whereby he shall go,
and win all the hill country, without losing the body or life of any one
of his men.
Now when the men heard her words, and beheld her countenance, they
wondered greatly at her beauty, and said unto her,
Thou hast saved thy life, in that thou hast hasted to come down to the
presence of our lord: now therefore come to his tent, and some of us
shall conduct thee, until they have delivered thee to his hands.
And when thou standest before him, be not afraid in thine heart, but
shew unto him according to thy word; and he will entreat thee well.
Then they chose out of them an hundred men to accompany her and her
maid; and they brought her to the tent of Holofernes.
Then was there a concourse throughout all the camp: for her coming was
noised among the tents, and they came about her, as she stood without
the tent of Holofernes, till they told him of her.
And they wondered at her beauty, and admired the children of Israel
because of her, and every one said to his neighbour, Who would despise
this people, that have among them such women? surely it is not good that
one man of them be left who being let go might deceive the whole earth.
And they that lay near Holofernes went out, and all his servants and
they brought her into the tent.
Now Holofernes rested upon his bed under a canopy, which was woven with
purple, and gold, and emeralds, and precious stones.
So they shewed him of her; and he came out before his tent with silver
lamps going before him.
And when Judith was come before him and his servants they all marvelled
at the beauty of her countenance; and she fell down upon her face, and
did reverence unto him: and his servants took her up.
Then said Holofernes unto her, Woman, be of good comfort, fear not in
thine heart: for I never hurt any that was willing to serve
Nabuchodonosor, the king of all the earth.
Now therefore, if thy people that dwelleth in the mountains had not set
light by me, I would not have lifted up my spear against them: but they
have done these things to themselves.
But now tell me wherefore thou art fled from them, and art come unto us:
for thou art come for safeguard; be of good comfort, thou shalt live
this night, and hereafter:
For none shall hurt thee, but entreat thee well, as they do the servants
of king Nabuchodonosor my lord.
Then Judith said unto him, Receive the words of thy servant, and suffer
thine handmaid to speak in thy presence, and I will declare no lie to my
lord this night.
And if thou wilt follow the words of thine handmaid, God will bring the
thing perfectly to pass by thee; and my lord shall not fail of his purposes.
As Nabuchodonosor king of all the earth liveth, and as his power liveth,
who hath sent thee for the upholding of every living thing: for not only
men shall serve him by thee, but also the beasts of the field, and the
cattle, and the fowls of the air, shall live by thy power under
Nabuchodonosor and all his house.
For we have heard of thy wisdom and thy policies, and it is reported in
all the earth, that thou only art excellent in all the kingdom, and
mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war. ...
Then her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants; and they
marvelled at her wisdom, and said,
There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, both
for beauty of face, and wisdom of words.
Likewise Holofernes said unto her. God hath done well to send thee
before the people, that strength might be in our hands and destruction
upon them that lightly regard my lord.
And now thou art both beautiful in thy countenance, and witty in thy
words: surely if thou do as thou hast spoken thy God shall be my God,
and thou shalt dwell in the house of king Nabuchodonosor, and shalt be
renowned through the whole earth. Then he commanded to bring her in
where his plate was set; and bade that they should prepare for her of
his own meats, and that she should drink of his own wine.
And Judith said, I will not eat thereof, lest there be an offence: but
provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought.
Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision should fail, how should
we give thee the like? for there be none with us of thy nation.
Then said Judith unto him As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid
shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine
hand the things that he hath determined.
Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept
till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,
And sent to Holofernes, saving, Let my lord now command that thine
handmaid may go forth unto prayer.
Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus
she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the
valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp.
And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her
way to the raising up of the children of her people.
So she came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did eat her
meat at evening.
And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants only,
and called none of the officers to the banquet.
Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had,
Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee, that she come
unto us, and eat and drink with us.
For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman
go, not having had her company; for if we draw her not unto us, she will
laugh us to scorn.
Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holofernes, and came to her, and
he said, Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be
honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us and be
made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in
the house of Nabuchodonosor.
Then said Judith unto him, Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord?
surely whatsoever pleaseth him I will do speedily, and it shall be my
joy unto the day of my death.
So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel and all her woman's
attire, and her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her over
against Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas far her daily use,
that she might sit and eat upon them.
Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes his heart was ravished
with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company;
for he waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he had seen her.
Then said Holofernes unto her, Drink now, and be merry with us.
So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified
in me this day more than all the days since I was born.
Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared.
And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank more wine than he
had drunk at any time in one day since he was born.
Now when the evening was come, his servants made haste to depart, and
Bagoas shut his tent without, and dismissed the waiters from the
presence of his lord; and they went to their beds: for they were all
weary, because the feast had been long.
And Judith was left alone in the tent, and Holofernes lying along upon
his bed: for he was filled with wine.
Now Judith had commanded her maid to stand without her bedchamber, and
to wait for her. ...
... coming forth, as she did daily: for she said she would go forth to
her prayers, and she spake to Bagoas according to the same purpose.
So all went forth and none was left in the bedchamber, neither little
nor great. Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, O Lord
God of all power, look at this present upon the works of mine hands for
the exaltation of Jerusalem.
For now is the time to help thine inheritance, and to execute thine
enterprizes to the destruction of the enemies which are risen against us.
Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes' head,
and took down his fauchion from thence,
And approached to his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and
said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.
And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away
his head from him.
And tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from
the pillars; and after she went forth she gave, Holofernes his head, to
her maid;
And she put it in her bag of meat: so they twain went together according
to their custom unto prayer: and when they passed the camp, they
compassed the valley, and went up the mountain of Bethulia, and came to
the gates thereof.
Then said Judith afar off, to the watchmen at the gate, Open, open now
the gate: God, even our God, is with us, to shew his power yet in
Jerusalem, and his forces against the enemy, as he hath even done this day.
Now when the men of her city heard her voice, they made haste to go down
to the gate of their city, and they called the elders of the city.
And then they ran all together, both small and great, for it was strange
unto them that she was come: so they opened the gate, and received them,
and made a fire for a light, and stood round about them.
Then she said to them with a loud voice, Praise, praise God, praise God,
I say, for he hath not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel,
but hath destroyed our enemies by mine hands this night.
So she took the head out of the bag, and shewed it, and said unto them,
behold the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur,
and behold the canopy, wherein he did lie in his drunkenness; and the
Lord hath smitten him by the hand of a woman.
As the Lord liveth, who hath kept me in my way that I went, my
countenance hath deceived him to his destruction, and yet hath he not
committed sin with me, to defile and shame me.
Then all the people were wonderfully astonished, and bowed themselves
and worshipped God, and said with one accord, Blessed be thou, O our
God, which hast this day brought to nought the enemies of thy people.
Then said Ozias unto her, O daughter, blessed art thou of the most high
God above all the women upon the earth; and blessed be the Lord God,
which hath created the heavens and the earth, which hath directed thee
to the cutting off of the head of the chief of our enemies.
For this thy confidence shall not depart from the heart of men, which
remember the power of God for ever.
And God turn these things to thee for a perpetual praise, to visit thee
in good things because thou hast not spared thy life for the affliction
of our nation, but hast revenged our ruin, walking a straight way before
our God.
And all the people said; So be it, so be it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
	

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