We left Judith when she had just pitched her betrayal to Holofernes, and he offered to convert to Judaism if she truly helped him destroy the Jewish people. That can’t be a good sign for Holofernes.
1 Then he commanded them to bring her in to where his plate was set, and he directed them to prepare for her from his own meats and that she should drink from his own wine. 2 And Judith said, “I will not eat of it, lest I offend. But provisions will be made for me from the things which I have brought.”
3 Then Holofernes said to her, “If your provisions should fail, how can we give you the like? For there are none among us from your nation.”
4 Then Judith said to him, “As your soul lives, my lord, your handmaid will not use up those things which I have before the Lord works by my hand the things he has determined.”
Classic melodrama.
5 Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch. 6 And she sent to Holofernes, saying, “Let my lord now command that your handmaid may go forth to prayer.” 7 Then Holofernes commanded his guard not to prevent her; thus she resided in the camp for three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia and washed herself in a spring of water by the camp. 8 And when she came out, she beseeched the Lord God of Israel to direct her way in order to accomplish the raising up of the children of her people. 9 So she came in clean and remained in the tent until she ate her meat in the evening.
Judith could be seen as representative of the best of the Jewish diaspora. Though in the house of the threatening conquerer, she manages her precarious position with grace and faithfulness to her native religious practices. If, as some think, it was written outside of Palestine around 100 BC, the writer of Judith might well have been really speaking about the diaspora instead of a Palestinian-dwelling Jewish woman when he wrote it.
10 And on the fourth day, Holofernes made a feast for his own servants only, and he called none of the officers to the banquet. 11 Then he said to Bagoas the eunuch, who was in charge of all that he had, “Go now and persuade this Hebrew woman who is with you that she should come to us, and eat and drink with us. 12 For see, it will be a shame upon our person if we let such a woman go without having had her company; for if we do not draw her to us, she will laugh at us in scorn.”
13 Then Bagoas went from the presence of Holofernes, and he came to her and said, “Let not this fair gentlewoman fear to approach my lord and be honored in his presence, and to drink wine and be merry with us, and to become this day like one of the daughters of the Assyrians, who serve in the house of Nebuchadnezzar.”
14 Then Judith said to him, “Who am I now to contradict my lord? Surely whatever pleases him I will do without hesitation, and it will be my joy until the day of my death.”
15 So she arose and decked herself out with her apparel and all her woman’s attire. And her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her opposite Holofernes, which she had received from Bagoas for her daily use, so that she might sit and eat upon them. 16 Now when Judith came in and sat down with Holofernes, his heart was inflamed with her, and his mind was stirred up, and he greatly desired her company; for he had been waiting for some time to deceive her, from the very first day he had seen her.
To deceive her. What an odd way to put it.
17 Then Holofernes said to her, “Drink now and be merry with us.”
18 So Judith said, “I will drink now, my lord, because my life is exalted in me this day more than all the days since I was born.” 19 Then she took and ate and drank before him the things which her maid had prepared. 20 And Holofernes took great delight in her, and he drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born.
Uh oh. Looks like there won’t be any deception going on tonight. Up until this point, the entire book has centered around the power of Holofernes / the Empire and the weakness of Judith / Jewry. Now, for the first time in this book, the situation is reversed. Through careful attention to strategy, the strong is weak and the weak is strong.
(As usual, all text of Judith is taken from the uncopyrighted World English Bible, but with minor alterations here and there for stylistic reasons. For a copyrighted, professionally made version with notes, see here.)
Deuterocanonical Friday: Judith 12
We left Judith when she had just pitched her betrayal to Holofernes, and he offered to convert to Judaism if she truly helped him destroy the Jewish people. That can’t be a good sign for Holofernes.
Classic melodrama.
Judith could be seen as representative of the best of the Jewish diaspora. Though in the house of the threatening conquerer, she manages her precarious position with grace and faithfulness to her native religious practices. If, as some think, it was written outside of Palestine around 100 BC, the writer of Judith might well have been really speaking about the diaspora instead of a Palestinian-dwelling Jewish woman when he wrote it.
To deceive her. What an odd way to put it.
Uh oh. Looks like there won’t be any deception going on tonight. Up until this point, the entire book has centered around the power of Holofernes / the Empire and the weakness of Judith / Jewry. Now, for the first time in this book, the situation is reversed. Through careful attention to strategy, the strong is weak and the weak is strong.
(As usual, all text of Judith is taken from the uncopyrighted World English Bible, but with minor alterations here and there for stylistic reasons. For a copyrighted, professionally made version with notes, see here.)
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