An Atheist Explores the Apocrypha Part Ten: The Conquests of Holofernes (Judith 1-5)
Judith 1-5
The Conquests of Holofernes.
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 1
“Even in those days king Nabuchodonosor made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is the plain in the borders of Ragau.”
This first chapter of Judith is a bit of scene-setting, and a bit of an info-dump. Nabuchadnezzar (I shall continue to use that spelling and not this version that seems to be common to the Apocrypha) is king of Assyria, and goes to war with Arhpaxad, king of Ecbatane.
We get a three verses remorselessly describing the scale of the defences of Ecbatane - “And he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and for the setting in array of his footmen”. Which comes to naught because in the end Nabuchadnezzar conquers it in a few verses (spoilers), but before that we also get a grand tour of all the lands of the Near East.
Nabuchadnezzar sends to all the neighbouring lands for support in his war, from Syria all the way across Egypt down to the “borders of Ethiopia”, and into Persia. But everybody rebuffs him – “for they were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from them without effect, and with disgrace”. Nabuchadnezzar reminds me of certain modern leaders because not only is he considered a joke by all the other leaders but he takes this as a personal insult “and sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all those coasts of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria, and that he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all Judea, and all that were in Egypt, till ye come to the borders of the two seas”.
I guess we are meant to see him as a wicked person for wanting to kill all the Moabites and the Ammonites, but those of you who were with me when I read through Joshua and Judges can probably guess my objection here. Apparently genocide of these peoples is the right and proper thing when commanded by God, but not if a king decides to do it off his own back.
Anyway, Nabuchadnezzar overthrows Arphaxad and “smote him through with his darts”, and as for Ecbatane, he “took the towers, and spoiled the streets thereof, and turned the beauty thereof into shame”. After which he returns to Nineveh for a victory feast.
Now… Tobias and family were supposed to have retired to Ecbatane to escape the conquest of Nineveh, and lived a long and peaceful life. And yet here we are seeing it despoiled. I can only guess that Tobias and Sara are no longer alive at this point; either that or the authors of Tobit and Judith didn’t compare notes.
Judith 2
“Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, and horsemen, and their chosen footmen.”
Nabuchadnezzar decides its time for revenge on those that slighted him, so he calls his captain Holofernes and gives him orders to take a host of warriors and to despoil and kill all in his way, all the way to the sea. And at this point I remember that “Judith and Holofernes” is the name of an artwork. In fact it turns out to be the name of many artworks, and do not look it up if you don’t want any spoilers. Suffice it to say, for now, that this isn’t going to be a heart-warming love story.
Holofernes musters 120,000 foot soldiers and 1200 mounted archers, plus assorted camels and oxen for beasts of burden and sheep for food, and also what sounds like a load of auxiliaries as well (“A great number also sundry countries came with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for the multitude was without number”.)
With this army he destroy Phud and Lud (wherever they are), crosses the Euphrates and conquers the cities on the river Arbonai, and various other places like Cilicia, Japheth and Madian, “and burned up their tabernacles, and spoiled their sheepcotes”. There’s a particularly descriptive destruction for Damascus – “Then he went down into the plain of Damascus in the time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all their fields, and destroyed their flocks and herds, also he spoiled their cities, and utterly wasted their countries, and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword”.
As a consequence, fear of Holofernes spreads across the region. It’s all very dramatic and I have to say the writing is pretty good for this bit.
Judith 3
“Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.”
All the various lands under threat of conquest send an embassy to Holofernes and, basically, surrender, promising “our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents lie before thy face”.
Holfernes accepts, and the nations accept his garrisons “with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels”. Which seems a bit craven to us, perhaps, but I think it was pretty a much a fact of ancient life to accept whichever king decided he was going to be your ruler this week as long as you get to live another day.
However, Holofernes cuts down the sacred groves because “he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god”. Somehow, I suspect this is not going to go over well with the Hebrews. And that’s pretty much where we leave the chapter, short as it is, with Holofernes setting up camp at “Geba and Scythopolis” to muster his forces.
Judith 4
“Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought.”
Told you. What’s odd here is that the Israelites are said to be “newly returned from the captivity”, so I’m confused by the time frame. Previously I’m pretty sure that it was Nabuchadnezzar that despoiled the Temple and carried off all the Hebrew slaves, who were only freed some 70 years later by either Cyrus or Darius, or both. None of the reports seem to be consistent. And now it looks like there’s another version. Were they captured by somebody before Nabuchadnezzar?
Anyway, Joachim the priest makes orders to prepare for a siege, bringing reaped grain and as many people as possible into fortified towns and cities, and orders the people of “Bethulia, and Betomestham” to guard narrow passes through hill country. For once it all sounds like pretty sensible precautions.
Of course, there’s also a lot of praying to God for help, including putting sackcloth on their loins and on the altar of the Temple. We are, however, told that “God heard their prayers, and looked upon their afflictions”. And that’s about it; another short chapter.
Judith 5
“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”
Note that’s “champaign” country, meaning low-lying arable land, and not “champagne” country, which may well have the same etymology. But we aren’t talking about sparkling wine here.
Holofernes asks for intelligence on these “Hebrews”, and a captain of the Ammonites, called Achior, gives him a brief history of the Jews, starting with the interesting nugget that “This people are descended of the Chaldeans”, who let their lands and entered Canaan, here called “Chanaan” where they multiplied until famine sent them down into Egypt. So that’s basically Abram to Joseph dealt with in short order. It’s also interesting to note that the fourth river “flowing out of Eden” was the Euphrates, suggesting that “Eden” is a reference to the ancestral Mesopotamian homeland of the Israelites.
Next Achior recounts how Pharaoh sought to enslave the Hebrews and how they were rescued by their God sending plagues and drying the Red Sea, after which they entered Canaan and “they cast forth before them the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many days”.
The Israelites, Achior points out, are successful when they honour their God, but fail when they do not (such as when “they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore, and were led captives into a land that was not their's, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies”). A coded warning, perhaps, to anybody Jewish reading this particular book. Again we’re faced with an odd timeline, since these Israelites are the ones that have returned from Exile, even though it appears to be that they are fighting the same king that captured them in the first place. Unless Nabuchnosor isn’t simply an alternate spelling of Nabuchadnezzar as I assumed, but an entirely different king.
Anyway, the key, Achior says, is to ascertain how well they Israelites currently stand with their God. “if there be any error against this people, and they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and let us go up, and we shall overcome them. But if there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world”.
For some reason, it reads like the other captains advise Holofernes to kill Achior (“and the chief men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should kill him”, assuming that “he” is Holofernes” and “him” is Achior; it is’t 100% clear). Because why ask for advice if you aren’t going to follow it; “we will not be afraid of the face of the children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power for a strong battle”.
Will arrogance be Holofernes’ downfall? Will Achior escape? Tune in next time….
The Conquests of Holofernes.
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 1
“Even in those days king Nabuchodonosor made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is the plain in the borders of Ragau.”
This first chapter of Judith is a bit of scene-setting, and a bit of an info-dump. Nabuchadnezzar (I shall continue to use that spelling and not this version that seems to be common to the Apocrypha) is king of Assyria, and goes to war with Arhpaxad, king of Ecbatane.
We get a three verses remorselessly describing the scale of the defences of Ecbatane - “And he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and for the setting in array of his footmen”. Which comes to naught because in the end Nabuchadnezzar conquers it in a few verses (spoilers), but before that we also get a grand tour of all the lands of the Near East.
Nabuchadnezzar sends to all the neighbouring lands for support in his war, from Syria all the way across Egypt down to the “borders of Ethiopia”, and into Persia. But everybody rebuffs him – “for they were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from them without effect, and with disgrace”. Nabuchadnezzar reminds me of certain modern leaders because not only is he considered a joke by all the other leaders but he takes this as a personal insult “and sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all those coasts of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria, and that he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all Judea, and all that were in Egypt, till ye come to the borders of the two seas”.
I guess we are meant to see him as a wicked person for wanting to kill all the Moabites and the Ammonites, but those of you who were with me when I read through Joshua and Judges can probably guess my objection here. Apparently genocide of these peoples is the right and proper thing when commanded by God, but not if a king decides to do it off his own back.
Anyway, Nabuchadnezzar overthrows Arphaxad and “smote him through with his darts”, and as for Ecbatane, he “took the towers, and spoiled the streets thereof, and turned the beauty thereof into shame”. After which he returns to Nineveh for a victory feast.
Now… Tobias and family were supposed to have retired to Ecbatane to escape the conquest of Nineveh, and lived a long and peaceful life. And yet here we are seeing it despoiled. I can only guess that Tobias and Sara are no longer alive at this point; either that or the authors of Tobit and Judith didn’t compare notes.
Judith 2
“Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, and horsemen, and their chosen footmen.”
Nabuchadnezzar decides its time for revenge on those that slighted him, so he calls his captain Holofernes and gives him orders to take a host of warriors and to despoil and kill all in his way, all the way to the sea. And at this point I remember that “Judith and Holofernes” is the name of an artwork. In fact it turns out to be the name of many artworks, and do not look it up if you don’t want any spoilers. Suffice it to say, for now, that this isn’t going to be a heart-warming love story.
Holofernes musters 120,000 foot soldiers and 1200 mounted archers, plus assorted camels and oxen for beasts of burden and sheep for food, and also what sounds like a load of auxiliaries as well (“A great number also sundry countries came with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for the multitude was without number”.)
With this army he destroy Phud and Lud (wherever they are), crosses the Euphrates and conquers the cities on the river Arbonai, and various other places like Cilicia, Japheth and Madian, “and burned up their tabernacles, and spoiled their sheepcotes”. There’s a particularly descriptive destruction for Damascus – “Then he went down into the plain of Damascus in the time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all their fields, and destroyed their flocks and herds, also he spoiled their cities, and utterly wasted their countries, and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword”.
As a consequence, fear of Holofernes spreads across the region. It’s all very dramatic and I have to say the writing is pretty good for this bit.
Judith 3
“Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in thy sight.”
All the various lands under threat of conquest send an embassy to Holofernes and, basically, surrender, promising “our houses, and all our places, and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds, and all the lodges of our tents lie before thy face”.
Holfernes accepts, and the nations accept his garrisons “with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels”. Which seems a bit craven to us, perhaps, but I think it was pretty a much a fact of ancient life to accept whichever king decided he was going to be your ruler this week as long as you get to live another day.
However, Holofernes cuts down the sacred groves because “he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as god”. Somehow, I suspect this is not going to go over well with the Hebrews. And that’s pretty much where we leave the chapter, short as it is, with Holofernes setting up camp at “Geba and Scythopolis” to muster his forces.
Judith 4
“Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought.”
Told you. What’s odd here is that the Israelites are said to be “newly returned from the captivity”, so I’m confused by the time frame. Previously I’m pretty sure that it was Nabuchadnezzar that despoiled the Temple and carried off all the Hebrew slaves, who were only freed some 70 years later by either Cyrus or Darius, or both. None of the reports seem to be consistent. And now it looks like there’s another version. Were they captured by somebody before Nabuchadnezzar?
Anyway, Joachim the priest makes orders to prepare for a siege, bringing reaped grain and as many people as possible into fortified towns and cities, and orders the people of “Bethulia, and Betomestham” to guard narrow passes through hill country. For once it all sounds like pretty sensible precautions.
Of course, there’s also a lot of praying to God for help, including putting sackcloth on their loins and on the altar of the Temple. We are, however, told that “God heard their prayers, and looked upon their afflictions”. And that’s about it; another short chapter.
Judith 5
“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”
Note that’s “champaign” country, meaning low-lying arable land, and not “champagne” country, which may well have the same etymology. But we aren’t talking about sparkling wine here.
Holofernes asks for intelligence on these “Hebrews”, and a captain of the Ammonites, called Achior, gives him a brief history of the Jews, starting with the interesting nugget that “This people are descended of the Chaldeans”, who let their lands and entered Canaan, here called “Chanaan” where they multiplied until famine sent them down into Egypt. So that’s basically Abram to Joseph dealt with in short order. It’s also interesting to note that the fourth river “flowing out of Eden” was the Euphrates, suggesting that “Eden” is a reference to the ancestral Mesopotamian homeland of the Israelites.
Next Achior recounts how Pharaoh sought to enslave the Hebrews and how they were rescued by their God sending plagues and drying the Red Sea, after which they entered Canaan and “they cast forth before them the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many days”.
The Israelites, Achior points out, are successful when they honour their God, but fail when they do not (such as when “they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore, and were led captives into a land that was not their's, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies”). A coded warning, perhaps, to anybody Jewish reading this particular book. Again we’re faced with an odd timeline, since these Israelites are the ones that have returned from Exile, even though it appears to be that they are fighting the same king that captured them in the first place. Unless Nabuchnosor isn’t simply an alternate spelling of Nabuchadnezzar as I assumed, but an entirely different king.
Anyway, the key, Achior says, is to ascertain how well they Israelites currently stand with their God. “if there be any error against this people, and they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and let us go up, and we shall overcome them. But if there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world”.
For some reason, it reads like the other captains advise Holofernes to kill Achior (“and the chief men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should kill him”, assuming that “he” is Holofernes” and “him” is Achior; it is’t 100% clear). Because why ask for advice if you aren’t going to follow it; “we will not be afraid of the face of the children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power for a strong battle”.
Will arrogance be Holofernes’ downfall? Will Achior escape? Tune in next time….
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