The majority of theologians down to the 19th century regarded the story of judith as pure history. In the context of the whole bible it cannot be sustained, as in the case of extermination practices described in joshua and 12 maccabees. Judith is the name of one of the two hittite wives of esau in the book of genesis 26. Judith is the only biblical woman who asks god to make her a good liar. Judith, book of international standard bible encyclopedia. Whatever the reasons, the rabbis did not count judith among their scriptures, and the reformation adopted that position. The oldest extant text of judith is the preservation of 15. Holofernes hears as deference to him, but judith means as reference to god. Reportedly, esaus two wives were a great deal of annoyance to his parents isaac and rebekah. Wolf 1861 and yon gumpach, protestant scholars in recent times are practically agreed that the book of judith is a historical novel with a purpose similar to daniel, esther and tobit.
Entry for judith, book of, cyclopedia of biblical, theological and ecclesiastical literature one of 8 bible encyclopedias freely available, this encyclopedia, with its nearly 50,000 entries and 17 millin words, dwarfs modern bible encyclopedias with the depth of knowledge. The sacred writer of this book is generally believed to be the high priest eliachim, called also joachim. Jan 02, 2020 this book of judith was believed to be written first in hebrew, but the septuagint scripture crafted in koine greek was accepted by the catholic church for its bible. The book of judith uncovering the deuterocanonical books. The original language of the book of judith was hebrew, aramaic, or greek. Even though it describes the time when king nabuchodonosor ruled, it is historically imprecise, so it is valued for its allegorical and moral content. Jan 31, 2020 the book of judithconsidered canonical by roman catholics, apocrypha literature by protestants, and noncanon by jewstells the story of the ignominious defeat of the assyrians, an army bent on world domination, by the hand of a hebrew woman judith. Judith overview george leo haydocks catholic bible commentary. The story of judith the bible text women in the bible.
The book of judith is the story of a jewish heroine living during the period of the. Taking the form of a jewish novel, judiths story unfolds in the context of war. According to the christian viewpoint, the bible is an anthology of books by divinely inspired followers of god and christ over a period of 600 to 1600 years, including. It is not clear whether the book of judith was originally written in hebrew or in greek. The apocrypha are works writtencollected at the same time as most books of the bible but not included in the hebrew canon. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and. Lxx, the ancient and celebrated greek translation of the hebrew scriptures. Book of judith biblical literature britannica encyclopedia britannica. First of all, females of importance are not common in the bible, and when they do appear they are aided andor in partnership with a male. Ruth, winner of the jewish book council award in womens studies in 2012. This neglect has also been due in part to the assumption that jewish and christian. This book of judith was believed to be written first in hebrew, but the septuagint scripture crafted in koine greek was accepted by the catholic church for its bible.
While not historically connected to the story of the maccabees, the book of judith shares the theme of jewish faith and courage overcoming a larger force. The book of judith considered canonical by roman catholics, apocrypha literature by protestants, and noncanon by jewstells the story of the ignominious defeat of the assyrians, an army bent on world domination, by the hand of a hebrew woman judith. Curt leviant, author of the novels king of yiddish and kafkas son masterfully written. But both judith and tobit were recognized as canonical by the council of carthage 397 ad and by the council of trent 1545 ad. She assassinates the assyrian general holofernes, but the book contains a mixture of allusions to assyrian, babylonian, and persian eras with several historical errors. Greek wikisource has original text related to this article. These texts are almost exclusively in biblical hebrew, with a few passages in biblical aramaic instead in the books of daniel and ezra, the verse jeremiah 10. Though a noble story in many regards, concerns are often expressed due to. The book of judith has an extraordinary teaching about what god is and is not judith 8. The enduring contributions of the old testaments leastknown women hendrickson, 2009. A jewish heroine whose legendary feats are told in the apocryphal book late 1st cent. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded from the hebrew canon and assigned by protestants to the apocrypha.
Judith 10 good news translation gnt judith goes to the camp of holofernes. The early church, however, held this book in high honor. Bible, the sacred scriptures of judaism and christianity. Judith and the hanukkah story jewish womens archive. Historical questions the events described in the book of judith supposedly took place in assyria, some time during the reign of nebuchadnezzar king of babylon. The transactions herein related, most probably happened in his days, and in the reign of manasses, after his repentance and return from captivity. The rabbis who included judith in their hanukkah narrative could not have imagined a time when the story of judith s bravery in the face of enormous danger would cease to be part of the. Judith, the character from whom the book takes its name, is not mentioned in the storys first half 1. For a different translation, with useful interpretative notes, check the new american bible text of this work on the web site of the united states conference of catholic bishops. A womens commentary, winner of the 2008 jewish book of the year award, and coauthor with t. It is written that when esau was age forty, he took judith, a hittite and the daughter of beeri, as his wife along with bashemath, another hittite and the daughter. In the first book, o theophilus, i have dealt with all that jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the holy spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. What we may consider a prophet, may end up in the writings section of the hebrew bible, and vice versa.
Glinerts indepth account of the sociolinguistic, historical, and cultural aspects of hebrew is entirely new. The book of judith is one of the historical books and the historians consider it to be the first moral story or parable. On a related note, there are several major opinions on what the bible is. Although the story is set in the babylonian period, the book of judith is thought to have originated at the time of the maccabees. Judith chapter 5 kjv king james version 1 then was it declared to holofernes, the chief captain of the army of assur, that the children of israel had prepared for war, and had shut up the passages of the hill country, and had fortified all the tops of the high hills and had laid impediments in the champaign countries. Women and violence in the hebrew bible bible odyssey. Whatever the reasons, the rabbis did not count judith among their scriptures. In judith, judith is the hero with the help of her servant, another female. For a trilingual english, greek, and latin presentation of the book of judith click here. The book of judith is a story of balance and counterbalance that makes the point that gods people have all they need to survive if they rely wholeheartedly on the covenant. It was also not considered part of the jewish scriptures, though it appears in the.
Book of judith, apocryphal work excluded from the hebrew and. Nebuchadnezzar for information about babylon and its king at the start of this war nebuchadnezzar orders all the city states in surrounding kingdoms to send him a levy of soldiers, but they flout his command. Apr 08, 2020 the book of judith is one of the apocryphal books of the bible. Scholars argue whether it was intended to support or criticize that regime. The book of judith is a story of balance and counterbalance that makes the point. The division of the hebrew bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10thcentury masoretes to record the verse. Among the hebrews the book of judith is found among the hagiographa, the authority of which toward confirming those which have come into contention is. The bible is the holy scripture of the christian religion, purporting to tell the history of the earth from its earliest creation to the spread of christianity in the first century a. These are not included in the hebrew bible, such as judith, bel and the dragon, etc. Nebuchadnezzars capital city was not nineveh and ecbatana was captured by cyrus in 550 bce, not by nebuchadnezzar.
One of only four women to lend her name to a biblical book esther and ruth in the hebrew bible and susanna in the apocrypha are the others, judith challenges stereotypes about women in both the ancient and the modern worlds. Judith chapter 1 1611 kjv king james version 1 in the twelfth yeere of. This article continues robin gallaher branchs discussion of the character judith, the remarkable heroine of the book bearing her name. It was probably written in hebrew, though no hebrew text has ever been discovered. Book of judith, apocryphal work excluded from the hebrew and protestant biblical canons but included in the septuagint greek version of the hebrew bible and accepted in the roman canon. Medieval hebrew versions understood the story in the context of the hasmonean revolt. Judith 15, new american bible, revised edition nabre the. Despite jeromes claim to have translated an aramaic text, no ancient aramaic or hebrew manuscripts have been found. The hebrew bible is also the textual source for the christian old testament. The book of judith relates the story of gods deliverance of the jewish people. The organization of the 24 or 39 books in our case will look different as well. The book of judith has a tragic setting that appealed to jewish patriots and it warned of the urgency of adhering to mosaic law, generally speaking, but what accounted for its enduring appeal was the drama of its narrative. This was accomplished by the hand of a femalea constant motif cf.
It says that god is not a human being to be bargained with or put to the test. Considered apocrypha literature by protestants, the book of judith is regarded as canon by roman catholics and as noncanonical by jews. Judith was a beautiful, clever, coolwitted widow in the ancient town of bethuliah. Judith, book of, cyclopedia of biblical, theological and. This video is the second in a series meant to explain the deuterocanonical texts of the old testament. The book, then, has far less currency than the book of samuel, a canonical book of the bible in all christian sects, and the source of david and goliaths story. The book of judith is not included in the protestant or jewish scriptures, perhaps because of its sexual content. The book relates that nebuchadrezzar, king of assyria, sent his general holofernes on an expedition against. Ambrose, and hilary of poitiers, considered judith sacred scripture, and pope. The bible was divided into chapters in the th century by stephen langton and into verses in the 16th century by french printer robert estienne and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse. Feb 27, 2018 the fact that judith is a female heroine is really striking to me. Though a tale of jewish patriotism written originally in hebrew, this book was never admitted into the hebrew canon, and the same applies to the book of tobit.
1182 620 914 444 88 951 147 253 269 510 1572 731 245 1305 1404 48 516 264 1655 285 233 165 1197 550 314 390 912 172 971 301 1110 959 425 107 1495 403 862 985 1150 1190 786 1048 1173 523 144