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Introduction
Judith is a wonderful example of moral story telling by an
early Jew. The author tells of the story of a contest between a
dominant pagan culture with its attendant claims and the God of
Israel. Yahweh gains victory through a very unlikely source. Judith,
a pious widow, uses her wiles to save her people and the Temple from
the pagan Assyrians. The tale from beginning to end reinforces the
basic theology of the Hebrew Bible (especially that of Deuteronomy).
Judith is presented as a model of piety and faithfulness to the
covenant of grace, affirming the efficacy of prayer and confidence in
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
On the face of it Judith is set in the sixth century B.C.
But it is readily apparent that the book does not date from that time
period. The book was written in Hebrew sometime after 200 BC and
likely toward 100 BC (Carey A. Moore, Judith: The Anchor Bible
Commentary, pp. 66-67; 68-70).
A major issue, especially since the Reformation, has been
the historicity of the story of Judith. There has been vigorous
debate over this issue and only a partial resolution. Judith on one
level appears to be concerned with historical details typical of real
history,
“the twelfth year of . . . Nebuchadnezzar” (1.1)
“In [Nebuchadnezzar’s] seventeenth year” (1.13)
“In the eighteenth year on the twenty-second day of the
first month” (2.1)
The book
includes references to exact periods of time, real places and other
matters characteristic of historical narrative. Finally, the plot is
simple and straightforward enough for it to be fact rather than
fiction.
However, there are some serious errors of history for the
book to be take as straightforward historical writing. One of the
most glaring and obvious is that Nebuchadnezzar was not the king of
the Assyrians! So the question remains: Was Judith a real woman? I
think that Hebrew Bible scholar, David Noel Freedman has proposed the
best possible answer:
“Perhaps in the end we will come out approximately where Shakespeare
did: Hamlet and Lear were real people, but the plays have little to
do with factual history, and the story and characters in the plays
have a life of their own which bears little resemblance to the
original historical figures, or the various historical
characterizations in the sources which Shakespeare used.” (quoted in
Moore, p. 49).
There are
many examples of “real” people who are fictionalized into legends –
even almost overnight. For example John Greenleaf Whittier’s account
of how Barbara Frietchie defied Stonewall Jackson as his soldiers
tried to prevent her from displaying the American flag as they marched
through Maryland.
Martin
Luther on Judith
Luther was conscious of the historical “problems” in
Judith, despite this he holds it to be a “noble and fine book.” In
fact for Luther the historical issues are not that serious at all for
he holds the book is intended as a “beautiful religious fiction.” He
thinks that the work may have been intended to be a sort of drama
along the lines of some Greek plays. He writes.
“Therefore
this is a fine, good, holy, useful book, well worth reading by us
Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it should be
understood as though they were uttered in the Holy Spirit by a
spiritual, holy poet or prophet who, in presenting such persons in his
play, preaches to us through them” (“Preface to the Book of
Judith,” Luther’s Works, vol. 35, pp. 338-339).
Judith: The Story
Judith falls into two basic parts. The first part
describes the war of the Assyrians against the Jews (chapters 1-7);
the second relates the deliverance wrought by God through Judith
(chapters 8-16).
Hostilities had broken out between the Assyrians and the
Medes. Nebuchadnezzar, who is pictured as ruling the Assyrians, calls
on the western nations to help him against his enemies, however, they
refused (1.7-11). Angry and vowing to take revenge on them –
including the Jews. After defeating the Medes (1. 12-16)
Nebuchadnezzar decides to destroy those who wished his downfall in the
west. He sends out his General, Holofernes, with 120.000 men and a
further 12,000 cavalry. Soon the nations were frightened into
submission.
Meanwhile in the city of Bethulia the citizens, fearful
that the Assyrians would defile the holy Temple of God, decide they
will not acquiesce to Nebuchadnezzar. The store provisions in
anticipation of siege. They seek God’s favor through prayer and
fasting in sackcloth (4.1-15). After thirty four days of siege with
supplies running low the inhabitants of Bethulia began to loose heart
and call upon the city elders to surrender to the Assyrians. A
leader, Uzziah, plead with them to hold out five more days, “By
that time the Lord our God will show us mercy, for he will not forsake
us utterly” (7.30). Nevertheless, he agreed to capitulate to the
Assyrians should help not come (7.19-32).
At this crucial point we are introduced to the Unlikely
Source of God’s salvation for the Jews: a woman named Judith. Her
name simply means “Jewess.” She is what all of God’s children ought
to be. Having heard what Uzziah has decided she steps way out of her
“traditional” bounds as a woman. She summons him and the elders and
upbraids them for their lack of faith – and for attempting to force
the hand of God with the time limit on him. She says,
“Listen
to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to
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 . . .You cannot plumb the
depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human
mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these
things, and find out his mind or comprehend his though?”
(8.12-14).
Judith
volunteers for a dangerous mission – to be used by God to defeat the
mighty Assyrian army. She prays. She emphasizes her weakness and
vulnerability but also expresses amazing confidence in the God who is
“God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak”
(9.11). She concludes her prayer by bringing to expression the main
issue, her (and the author) the manifestation of who truly is God in
this world (9.14).
Judith
ends up using the weakness of Holofernes, his arrogance and his desire
for her beauty, to bring him down. In one of the most painted
scenes in western art, Judith decapitates a drunken Holofernes. Many
of these pictures can be viewed at the following address:
www.sside-church.org/Apocrypha/Apocryphaart2.htm Judith frankly
acknowledges, “It was my face that tricked him to his destruction,
and yet he committed no act of sin with me, to defile or shame me”
(13.16). Thus God wrought a powerful victory through the most
unlikely of place for his people. It is a delightful book with a
powerful message.
Irony
in Judith
A number of biblical books make effective use of the narrative
technique of irony. But author of Judith seems to have based his
entire story on this art form. Irony, as Moore notes, is the “key to
the book” (Carey A. Moore, Judith: The Anchor Bible, p. 78).
Irony is difficult to use because one typically means the exact
opposite of what is said. One who has a too literal a mind set often
runs the danger of missing the irony an author wishes to intend. For
example when Judith is brought into the presence of Holofernes and he
demands she explain her mission to him she “beguiled” him by using
words that carry a double entendre: “If you follow out the
words of your maid-servant, God will accomplish something through you”
(11.6). The reader knows full well what God is going to “accomplish”
through this arrogant pagan General – not the conquest of Bethulia as
he imagines but the liberation of the Jews by his own death.
The
whole story of Judith is ironic from beginning to end. She, a
childless widow, gives spiritual and physical life to her people. She
is a wealthy woman lives so simply that she almost starves herself.
In a society where women did nothing at all she enters into the “man’s
sphere” with great success (through God’s help). She is soft and
feminine yet capable of taking Holofernes head off.
Holofernes character is defined by irony as well. Able to conquer
the entire West, he is unable to take small Bethulia. Intending to
master a beautiful, but defenseless widow, he is mastered by her.
Wanting to use and if necessary abuse Judith, Holofernes is abused
(decapitated). His personal sword which had taken so many lives of
his enemies becomes the instrument of his own death. One of the
classic statements in the book comes in the song of praise at the end
of the book. The people sang:
“Her sandal ravished his eyes;
Her beauty captivated his mind.
And the sword slashed through his neck! (16.9).
The would
be ravisher is ravished and killed.
Judith
the Murderer?
Though no one thought of this in the ancient world some
moderns (Christians) have questioned the morality of Judith’s killing
of Holofernes. While decapitating a person is indeed a violent and
bloody affair I would hold judgment in abeyance. There can be little
doubt that the model or “inspiration” for presenting Judith’s victory
is the narrative of Jael and Sisera in Judges 4 and 5. The parallels
in the stories are remarkable to say the least (see Sidnie Ann White’s
“In the Steps of Jael and Deborah: Judith as Heroine” in No
One Spoke Ill of Her: Essays on Judith, ed. James C. Vanderkam,
pp. 5-16).
It will be recalled in that story (Jael and Sisera) that
Sisera is a general (like Holofernes). He is invited in gets drunk on
milk and in his sleep Jael takes his life by driving a tent peg
through his temple. This is followed by a great hymn (as in Judith)
in chapter five of Judges. Now Jael is not the inspiration for our
author’s story but it is the inspiration for how he choose to tell the
story.
The
Influence of Judith
The failure of Judith to achieve canonical status among
the Hebrews, despite the deep piety and presence of God in the book,
has baffled many scholars in recent years. This is all the more
surprising because Esther, in its Hebrew form, never even mentions
God! We simply do not know why it failed to make it into the Hebrew
Canon. However, we must not assume that the book was not valued
by the Jews for such a conclusion would be false. The book became
associated with Hanukkah being read for centuries during that
festival.
Among Christians the book has always been popular and
often quoted as Scriptures by the Church Fathers. The earliest
influence of Judith can be discerned on some of the phraseology of the
NT. Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece (Greek NT) lists a number
of parallels to Judith. In Matthew 9 the evangelist describes Jesus’
compassion for the masses as he saw them as a “sheep without a
shepherd” (9.36) a phrase that comes from Judith 11.19. The
language of Judith is echoed in the description of God’s vengeance on
those who would oppress his people,
“Woe to the nations that rise up against my people!
The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them
in the day of judgment;
he will send fire and worms into their flesh;
they shall weep in pain forever” (16.17)
The image
of judgment by fire and flesh eating worms, along with endless weeping
figures prominently in Jesus’ depiction of that horrible day in
Matthew 24.51 and Mark 9.48. However, probably the strongest case for
a direct tie is with Paul in 1 Corinthians 2. 10-11 and v. 16 and
Judith 8.14. Here are the texts laid out:
“You
cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the
workings of the human mind: how do you expect to search out God; who
made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his
thought? (Judith 8.14).
“The
Spirit searches out all things, even the depths of God. For who
among human beings knows the things of a human being except the
spirit of the human being that is inside him? And in this manner no
one who has known the things of God except the spirit of God . . .
For “who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him?’”
(1 Cor. 2.10-11, 16)
Both
contrast the “depths” of a person with the “depths” of God. Both use
the peculiar terminology eraunto (search out) and bathos
(depth, deep things). There is a strong likelihood that Paul uses the
language of Judith to shape his own thinking at this point.
Judith’s influence in the early church is so abundant only
brief mention can be made. We read, before the close of the first
century, in Clement (an elder in Rome writing the same time that John
is writing his Revelation) of Judith being held high as an example of
selflessness, courage and prayer. Clement writes,
“Many
women being strengthened through the grace of God have performed
many manly deeds. The blessed Judith, when the city was
beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be suffered to forth
into the camp of the aliens. So she exposed herself to peril and
went forth for love of her country and of her people which were
beleaguered; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hand of a
woman” (1 Clement 55, The Apostolic Fathers,
p.36).
The text
of Judith is quoted by a number of second century writers like Origen
and Clement of Alexandria. Clement, a Christian in Alexandria in
Egypt, lived about 160 to 215 A.D. He quotes Judith several times in
his book, Stromata (written around 190). In Book IV he summarizes her
story while mentioning Esther and Susanna too. Clement had been
talking of overcoming our passions and holds Judith up as an example
(see Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, p. 431).
As we have already noted above Judith has had enduring
influence among play writes, artists and even movies. One of the
great classic “silent” movies features the story of Judith. I
encourage you to visit the following address to see the movie made in
1913 recounting the legend of Judith. I am sure you will enjoy
learning about this classic film:
www.silentsaregolden.com/featurefolder3/judithpage.html
Questions to Reflect On
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What
surprised you about this book?
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Did you
hear any “echoes” from this book in any of the New Testament?
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Did you
find anything in this book to be “edifying?” Did anything encourage
you in your walk with God?
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