Introduction to
Judith: This book is another one of the apocryphal books. It is in St.
Jerome’s Latin (Vulgate) version of the bible (late 4th century); it
was translated by Jerome from the Aramaic. Like Tobit, which is also part of
the apocrypha, Judith is not intended to be historical. It uses historical
personages to convey a larger message – in the case of Judith, the ability of
God’s chosen people to be victorious over its enemies. The editors of the New Jerusalem bible say “The narrative .
. . has a close affinity with apocalyptic writings. Holofernes, the henchman of
Nebuchadnezzar, is the incarnation of the powers of evil. Judith (her name
means ‘the Jewess’) represents the cause of God . . . This cause is apparently
forlorn, but God makes use of the weak hands of a woman to procure his triumph
and his chosen people go in triumph to Jerusalem. This book has clear points of
contact with Daniel, Ezekiel and Joel; the action takes place on the plain of
Esdraelon near the plain of Armageddon, where St John later places the great
eschatological battle of Revelation . . . Judith’s triumph is the reward of
prayer and exact observance of the rules of legal purity; yet the horizon of
the book is not narrowly nationalist: the safety of Jerusalem is assured at
Bethulia, in that very Samaria so hated by all ‘rightminded’ Jews, and the
religious significance of the struggle is expressed by Achior, who is an
Ammonite . . . and is later converted to the true God” (Boadt 603).
Judith 1 – This “historical”
references the book opens with are not really historical – they are literary; Nebuchadnezzar
II, who as the Neo-Babylonian leader conquered Jerusalem, destroyed its Temple
in 587 BC and sent its people into exile represents the ultimate of “worldly”
power.
Here the “character” Nebuchadnezzar is going to war with Arphaxad,
the ruler of the Medes and he sends out a call to the leaders of many kingdoms
in the western part of the Middle East, and none of them come. They are not
afraid of him, because he seems “isolated” to them.
Nebuchadnezzar swears to avenge himself on them all. He is
successful at defeating Arphaxad, and that is meant to show how incredible his
power is because Arphaxad had constructed very strong defenses and
Nebuchadnezzar is all alone, without allies. He
captures and kills Arphaxad. Then he and his troops take to feasting and celebrating
for 120 days.
Judith 2 – Nebuchadnezzar
decides he will take revenge on all those kingdoms to the west that had left
him hanging in his fight against Arphaxad.
He orders his commander Holofernes to look on “no one with
clemency. Hand them over to slaughter and plunder . . . For by my life and by the living power of my kingdom, I
have spoken” (2:11-12).
Holofernes has a force of 120,000 and cavalry of 12,000
along with chariots, camels and donkeys. He follows a path from Nineveh to the
plain of Bectileth to the highlands of Upper Cilicia and on to the Euphrates,
across Mesopotamia and the territories of Cilicia towards the coastal area.
People are in a complete panic.
Hebrews 3 – We are told we
should “turn [our] minds to Jesus” (3:1), our Apostle and High Priest. He was
endowed with even “more glory than Moses.” While Moses was a faithful servant, Christ was “master of
the house” (3:6) and “we” believers ARE the “house” (3:6).
We
must “listen to him today [and] not harden [our] hearts” (3:8). This “today” is of uncertain duration,
but we must live faithfully in it to the end (3:13).
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