An Atheist Explores the Apocrypha Part 12: Judith Goes Full Black Widow (Judith 11-16)
Judith
11-16
Judith Goes Full Black Widow.
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP
And now:
Judith 11
“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.”
Holfernes receives Judith and offers her sanctuary if she is willing to serve, to which Judith replies “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”, which I suspect is going to be a literal truth at best.
Judith then goes on to explain that the God of the Israelites will only abandon them if they sin, but that in their dire need of food they are looking to eat forbidden foodstuffs – “the firstfruits of the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests" as well as “cattle” (which is a bit odd, as what else are the cattle for if not a source of food? Sacrificial animals, perhaps?)
Before they do this, though, they have sent a messenger to the “senate” in Jerusalem to ask for permission, and Judith tells Holofernes that she will know when they have done so, and thus broken the covenant with God. “I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem; and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd, and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at thee,” she promises, and Holofernes is impressed - “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”.
Judith 12
“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.”
Holofernes offers Judith food and drink, which she at first refuses, “lest there be an offence”, instead choosing to eat the provisions that she bought with her. She remains in the camp for three days, and on the fourth night Holofernes does the old “Have her scrubbed and bought to my quarters” thing. Actually, he’s a bit more delicate than that – “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”.
Judith says that she cannot refuse an order from the commander, and puts on all her “apparel, and her woman’s attire”. Soft skins are placed for her next to Holofernes, whose “heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company”. This time Judith drinks, but Holofernes “drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born”, which I don’t think is going to go well for him.
Judith 13
“And Judith was left alone in the tent, and Holofernes lying alone upon his bed: for he was filled with wine.”
Holofernes is drunk, has taken Judith to his chambers and probably thinks he’s going to have his way with her, but passes out. But we, the readers, can guess that Judith has other plans, and indeed she does. She takes his “fauchion” and “she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him”. If you want to Google images of Judith and Holofernes, you can now do so without spoilers. I mean, it’s pretty much a retread of the story of Rehum in the Song of Deborah, with a dash of Samson and Delilah, but never mind.
Judith has been even more cunning, however, because she has established an evening routine wherein her maid meets her and the two go off to pray outside the camp, and so now she does this again, her maid carrying Holofernes’ head in a sack, and the guard eunuch Bagaos suspects nothing untoward.
This time, however, Judith and her maid return to Bethulia where she shows the townsfolk the severed head of Holofernes, and makes sure to point out that “he not committed sin with me, to defile and shame me”.
Ozias congratulates her and claims “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”. Which to me is a strange juxtaposition that the creator of the entire universe would care about a minor general in a relatively brief empire, but, you know, this is supposed to be the God that particularly favours one settlement in the Middle East. Well done Judith for her devious but winning tactics, but what happened to not lying and not killing according to the commandments? I suppose this doesn’t apply to enemies of Israel.
Judith 14
“Then said Judith unto them, Hear me now, my brethren, and take this head, and hang it upon the highest place of your walls.”
Here the results of Judith’s actions bear fruit. Her plan continues – to hang Holofernes’ head on the walls and then for the Israelites to act as if they are preparing for battle. This will cause the Assyrians to start mustering as well, during which they will discover that Holofernes is missing a head. Which then happens in the latter half of the chapter, causing Bagaos to declare “These slaves have dealt treacherously; one woman of the Hebrews hath brought shame upon the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for, behold, Holofernes lieth upon the ground without a head”.
In between, Judith sends for Achior so that he can see Holofernes’ head, which causes him to go a bit wobbly (“he fell down on his face, and his spirit failed”) and chop off his foreskin (“when Achior had seen all that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God greatly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin”).
That’s about it for this chapter.
Judith 15
“And fear and trembling fell upon them, so that there was no man that durst abide in the sight of his neighbour, but rushing out all together, they fled into every way of the plain, and of the hill country.”
When the Assyrians discover that Holfernes is dead, they panic and run away in all directions. Which speaks volumes to the need for a flexible military hierarchy and solid discipline, but evidently Judith is better at psy-ops than them.
Ozias sends word to the parts of Israel telling the locals what has happened and encouraging them to go on an Assyrian hunt, so the remnants of the Assyrian army are killed and harried out of Israel.
Meanwhile, Judith is given a heroine’s welcome and the spoils of Holofernes – “they gave unto Judith Holofernes his tent, and all his plate, and beds, and vessels, and all his stuff: and she took it and laid it on her mule; and made ready her carts, and laid them thereon”. Judith is feted by the women of Jerusalem with an interesting little cultural note – “Then all the women of Israel ran together to see her, and blessed her, and made a dance among them for her: and she took branches in her hand, and gave also to the women that were with her. And they put a garland of olive upon her and her maid that was with her, and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women: and all the men of Israel followed in their armour with garlands, and with songs in their mouths”.
The branches and garlands are not an unusual kind of accolade, but I wonder if they’re a holdover from the old days of the sacred groves of Baal? Because there’s nothing inherently tree-ish in the iconography and associations of Yahweh when you think about it; He’s more lions and fire and stormy skies and desert wind. It’s also interesting that the women take the lead here as well, and the men seem happy enough to let that happen thanks to this bold, beautiful widow with a knack for assassination.
Judith 16
“Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in all Israel, and all the people sang after her this song of praise”
Judith sings a song of praise, starting with a rhyme which I don’t know is a deliberate translation act or not – “Begin unto my God with timbrels, sing unto my Lord with cymbals”, but it’s pretty good. Sadly the rest of the “song” doesn’t rhyme, but it’s a pretty poetic recap of the previous chapters. If Judith is the one that comes up with this, though, it’s a little bit self-congratulatory – “Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her countenance”. And a few verses later we are told – “Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty took his mind prisoner, and the fauchion passed through his neck”. I really like the poetic structure of that, the three-fold symmetry of objects performing actions and the juxtaposition of beauty and killing. I do wonder about “ravishing” sandals, though. I did a quick image search for “ravishing sandals”, and it looks like they would need some of the following – a high heel, sparkly bits, or the kind that lace up your calf. So, imagine Judith in something like that!
This then segues into some stuff about great God is and how He’ll do some good old smiting to enemies of Israel – “Woe to the nations that rise up against my kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh; and they shall feel them, and weep for ever” and how “all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee, and all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt offering”.
The feasting continues, and then we move forward in time. Judith lives to be 105 years old, frees her maid who helped her, never remarries and gives all of her possessions away to her friends and, as we are told “here was none that made the children of Israel any more afraid in the days of Judith, nor a long time after her death”.
Aw. I rather liked that story. It had elements of Esther in it, and also Samson and Delilah, which was told from the other side. I mean, imagine how the Bible would treat a woman who seduced and killed an Israelite commander – I suspect she wouldn’t be a heroine. Although, to be honest, it would probably also pitch it that the commander was stupid for getting into that position in the first place.
Judith Goes Full Black Widow.
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP
And now:
Judith 11
“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.”
Holfernes receives Judith and offers her sanctuary if she is willing to serve, to which Judith replies “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”, which I suspect is going to be a literal truth at best.
Judith then goes on to explain that the God of the Israelites will only abandon them if they sin, but that in their dire need of food they are looking to eat forbidden foodstuffs – “the firstfruits of the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests" as well as “cattle” (which is a bit odd, as what else are the cattle for if not a source of food? Sacrificial animals, perhaps?)
Before they do this, though, they have sent a messenger to the “senate” in Jerusalem to ask for permission, and Judith tells Holofernes that she will know when they have done so, and thus broken the covenant with God. “I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem; and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd, and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at thee,” she promises, and Holofernes is impressed - “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”.
Judith 12
“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.”
Holofernes offers Judith food and drink, which she at first refuses, “lest there be an offence”, instead choosing to eat the provisions that she bought with her. She remains in the camp for three days, and on the fourth night Holofernes does the old “Have her scrubbed and bought to my quarters” thing. Actually, he’s a bit more delicate than that – “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”.
Judith says that she cannot refuse an order from the commander, and puts on all her “apparel, and her woman’s attire”. Soft skins are placed for her next to Holofernes, whose “heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company”. This time Judith drinks, but Holofernes “drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born”, which I don’t think is going to go well for him.
Judith 13
“And Judith was left alone in the tent, and Holofernes lying alone upon his bed: for he was filled with wine.”
Holofernes is drunk, has taken Judith to his chambers and probably thinks he’s going to have his way with her, but passes out. But we, the readers, can guess that Judith has other plans, and indeed she does. She takes his “fauchion” and “she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him”. If you want to Google images of Judith and Holofernes, you can now do so without spoilers. I mean, it’s pretty much a retread of the story of Rehum in the Song of Deborah, with a dash of Samson and Delilah, but never mind.
Judith has been even more cunning, however, because she has established an evening routine wherein her maid meets her and the two go off to pray outside the camp, and so now she does this again, her maid carrying Holofernes’ head in a sack, and the guard eunuch Bagaos suspects nothing untoward.
This time, however, Judith and her maid return to Bethulia where she shows the townsfolk the severed head of Holofernes, and makes sure to point out that “he not committed sin with me, to defile and shame me”.
Ozias congratulates her and claims “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”. Which to me is a strange juxtaposition that the creator of the entire universe would care about a minor general in a relatively brief empire, but, you know, this is supposed to be the God that particularly favours one settlement in the Middle East. Well done Judith for her devious but winning tactics, but what happened to not lying and not killing according to the commandments? I suppose this doesn’t apply to enemies of Israel.
Judith 14
“Then said Judith unto them, Hear me now, my brethren, and take this head, and hang it upon the highest place of your walls.”
Here the results of Judith’s actions bear fruit. Her plan continues – to hang Holofernes’ head on the walls and then for the Israelites to act as if they are preparing for battle. This will cause the Assyrians to start mustering as well, during which they will discover that Holofernes is missing a head. Which then happens in the latter half of the chapter, causing Bagaos to declare “These slaves have dealt treacherously; one woman of the Hebrews hath brought shame upon the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for, behold, Holofernes lieth upon the ground without a head”.
In between, Judith sends for Achior so that he can see Holofernes’ head, which causes him to go a bit wobbly (“he fell down on his face, and his spirit failed”) and chop off his foreskin (“when Achior had seen all that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God greatly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin”).
That’s about it for this chapter.
Judith 15
“And fear and trembling fell upon them, so that there was no man that durst abide in the sight of his neighbour, but rushing out all together, they fled into every way of the plain, and of the hill country.”
When the Assyrians discover that Holfernes is dead, they panic and run away in all directions. Which speaks volumes to the need for a flexible military hierarchy and solid discipline, but evidently Judith is better at psy-ops than them.
Ozias sends word to the parts of Israel telling the locals what has happened and encouraging them to go on an Assyrian hunt, so the remnants of the Assyrian army are killed and harried out of Israel.
Meanwhile, Judith is given a heroine’s welcome and the spoils of Holofernes – “they gave unto Judith Holofernes his tent, and all his plate, and beds, and vessels, and all his stuff: and she took it and laid it on her mule; and made ready her carts, and laid them thereon”. Judith is feted by the women of Jerusalem with an interesting little cultural note – “Then all the women of Israel ran together to see her, and blessed her, and made a dance among them for her: and she took branches in her hand, and gave also to the women that were with her. And they put a garland of olive upon her and her maid that was with her, and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women: and all the men of Israel followed in their armour with garlands, and with songs in their mouths”.
The branches and garlands are not an unusual kind of accolade, but I wonder if they’re a holdover from the old days of the sacred groves of Baal? Because there’s nothing inherently tree-ish in the iconography and associations of Yahweh when you think about it; He’s more lions and fire and stormy skies and desert wind. It’s also interesting that the women take the lead here as well, and the men seem happy enough to let that happen thanks to this bold, beautiful widow with a knack for assassination.
Judith 16
“Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in all Israel, and all the people sang after her this song of praise”
Judith sings a song of praise, starting with a rhyme which I don’t know is a deliberate translation act or not – “Begin unto my God with timbrels, sing unto my Lord with cymbals”, but it’s pretty good. Sadly the rest of the “song” doesn’t rhyme, but it’s a pretty poetic recap of the previous chapters. If Judith is the one that comes up with this, though, it’s a little bit self-congratulatory – “Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her countenance”. And a few verses later we are told – “Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty took his mind prisoner, and the fauchion passed through his neck”. I really like the poetic structure of that, the three-fold symmetry of objects performing actions and the juxtaposition of beauty and killing. I do wonder about “ravishing” sandals, though. I did a quick image search for “ravishing sandals”, and it looks like they would need some of the following – a high heel, sparkly bits, or the kind that lace up your calf. So, imagine Judith in something like that!
This then segues into some stuff about great God is and how He’ll do some good old smiting to enemies of Israel – “Woe to the nations that rise up against my kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh; and they shall feel them, and weep for ever” and how “all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee, and all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt offering”.
The feasting continues, and then we move forward in time. Judith lives to be 105 years old, frees her maid who helped her, never remarries and gives all of her possessions away to her friends and, as we are told “here was none that made the children of Israel any more afraid in the days of Judith, nor a long time after her death”.
Aw. I rather liked that story. It had elements of Esther in it, and also Samson and Delilah, which was told from the other side. I mean, imagine how the Bible would treat a woman who seduced and killed an Israelite commander – I suspect she wouldn’t be a heroine. Although, to be honest, it would probably also pitch it that the commander was stupid for getting into that position in the first place.
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