Judith 14:1-16:20
New Catholic Bible
Triumph of the People of God
Response to the News of Holofernes’s Death
Chapter 14
Judith’s Counsel. 1 Then Judith said to them, “Listen to me, my friends. Take this head and hang it upon the parapet of your wall. 2 Then at daybreak, as soon as the sun rises, all of you should take up your weapons, and let all the able-bodied men march out of the city under the direction of a leader, as if you were about to march down to the plain to attack the Assyrian outpost. But do not go down. 3 Their soldiers will seize their weapons and go into the camp to rouse the commanders of the Assyrian army. When they rush to the tent of Holofernes and do not find him, panic will seize them and they will flee before you. 4 Then you and all who live within the borders of Israel will pursue them and cut them down in their tracks. 5 [a]But before you do all this, bring Achior the Ammonite to me so that he may see and recognize the man who treated the house of Israel with contempt and sent him to us as if to his death.”
Achior Summoned. 6 Therefore, they summoned Achior from the house of Uzziah. When he came and saw the head of Holofernes held up by one of the men in the assembly of the people, he fell forward in a dead faint. 7 After they revived him, he threw himself at the feet of Judith and did homage to her. “Blessed are you in every tent in Judah,” he said, “and the people of every nation who hear your name will be terror-stricken. 8 But now please tell me everything that you did during these days.”
In the presence of the people Judith recounted all that she had done from the day she left until the very moment she began speaking to them. 9 When she had finished speaking, the people raised a great shout, and the town resounded with their cries of jubilation. 10 Upon seeing all that the God of Israel had done, Achior believed firmly in God. Therefore, he was circumcised, and he became a member of the community of Israel, as he is to the present day.
11 Consternation in the Camp.[b] At daybreak they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall. Then all the Israelite men took up their weapons and marched out in companies to the mountain passes. 12 When the Assyrians saw them, they sent word to their leaders, who immediately notified the generals and captains and all the other officers. 13 These in turn came to the tent of Holofernes and said to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, “Wake up our master, for the slaves have had the audacity to come down to engage in battle against us, which will be their complete destruction.”
14 Bagoas went in and knocked at the entry of the tent, thinking Holofernes was sleeping with Judith. 15 But when no one answered, he parted the curtains, entered the bedchamber, and found him sprawled on the floor, dead, with his head missing. 16 He burst forth with a great cry, weeping and groaning and shouting, and he tore his garments. 17 Then he went into the tent that Judith had occupied, and when he did not find her, he rushed out to the assembled troops and shouted: 18 “The slaves have tricked us! A single Hebrew woman has brought disgrace on the house of King Nebuchadnezzar! Look! Holofernes is lying on the ground, headless!”
19 When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard these words, they tore their tunics and were greatly confounded. Loud cries and shouts arose in the camp.
Chapter 15
General Disbandment.[c] 1 When the men who were still in their tents learned what had happened, they were thrown into confusion. 2 Overcome with fear and trembling, they made no effort to band together in unity, but with one accord they all rushed out and fled by every road across the plain and through the mountains. 3 Those who had been stationed in the hills around Bethulia also took to flight. Then all the Israelite soldiers rushed out in pursuit of them.
4 Uzziah sent messengers to Betomasthaim, to Choba and Kona, and to the whole territory of Israel to inform them what had occurred and to urge all of them to attack the enemy and destroy them. 5 As soon as the Israelites heard the news, they all attacked the enemy with a unified spirit and cut them down all the way to Choba. Even the men from Jerusalem and the entire mountain region participated in the onslaught, for they too had been told of what had happened in the camp of the enemy. The men of Gilead and Galilee surrounded the flanks of the enemy and inflicted a great slaughter, even beyond Damascus and its borders.
6 The rest of the inhabitants of Bethulia fell on the camp of the Assyrians and plundered it, acquiring great riches. 7 And when the Israelites returned from the slaughter, they seized what remained. Even the villages and towns of the hill country and the plain acquired a great amount of booty, which was available in large quantities.
Ceremonies of Thanksgiving
The Honor of Our People![d] 8 Joakim the high priest and the elders of the Israelites who dwelt in Jerusalem came to witness for themselves the wonderful things that the Lord had done for Israel, and to meet Judith and offer her their congratulations. 9 [e]When they came into her presence, they all blessed her with one accord and said to her:
“You are the glory of Jerusalem,
the surpassing pride of Israel,
the great honor of our people.
10 You have done all this with your own hand;
you have been the source of much good to Israel,
and God has approved what you have wrought.
May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty
forever and ever.”
And all the people responded, “Amen!”
11 The entire populace looted the camp for thirty days. They presented Judith with the tent of Holofernes, all his silver dinnerware, his beds, his drinking vessels, and all his furniture. She accepted these gifts, harnessed her mules, hitched them to her wagons, and loaded the gifts on them.
12 All the women of Israel gathered to see her. They sang her praises and performed a dance in her honor. She took branches of ivy[f] in her hands and distributed them among the women around her, 13 while she and those women crowned themselves with olive wreaths. Then, at the head of the procession, she led the women as they danced, while the men of Israel, in full armor, followed them, wearing garlands and singing hymns.
Judith’s Hymn of Thanksgiving
14 In the presence of all Israel, Judith began this hymn of thanksgiving, and the people joined her in singing it:[g]
Chapter 16
1 “Break into song to my God with tambourines,
sing to the Lord with cymbals.
Offer to him a psalm of praise,
exalt him and invoke his name.
2 For the Lord is a God who crushes warfare
and establishes his camp in the midst of his people;
he delivered me from the hands of my oppressors.
3 “The Assyrian descended from the mountains of the north,
with myriads of his warriors he came.
Their troops choked the valleys
and their cavalry covered the hills.
4 He threatened to set my country aflame
and put my young men to the sword,
dash my infants to the ground,
seize my children as booty,
and carry off my virgins as spoil.
5 “But the Lord Almighty has thwarted them
by the hand of a woman.
6 For their mighty one was not brought low by young men;
no titans[h] struck him down,
nor did tall giants assault him.
But Judith, the daughter of Merari,
overcame him by the beauty of her face.
7 She laid aside her widow’s garb
to raise up the oppressed in Israel.
She anointed her face with perfume,
8 bound up her hair with a fillet,
and donned a linen gown to beguile him.
9 Her sandal attracted his gaze,
her beauty captivated his mind,
and the sword cut through his neck.
10 “The Persians quaked at her audacity,
the Medes cowered at her daring.
11 When my lowly ones shouted, they were terrified;
when my weak ones cried out, they trembled,
and when they raised their voices, the enemy took to flight.
12 The sons of slave girls ran them through
and wounded them like the children of deserters;
they perished before the army of my Lord.
13 “I will sing a new hymn to my God.
O Lord, you are great and glorious,
wonderful in strength, invincible.
14 Let all your creatures serve you,
for you spoke and they were made.
You sent forth your spirit and they were created;
no one can resist your voice.
15 The mountains are shaken to their foundations;
at your glance the rocks melt like wax.
“But to those who fear you
you still show compassion.
16 The fragrant offering of a sacrifice is a small thing,
as is the fat of all burnt offerings in your sight,
but whoever fears the Lord is great forever.
17 “Woe to the nations that rise up against my people.
The Lord Almighty will punish them on the day of judgment.
He will send fire and worms into their flesh;
they shall weep with pain forever.”
Thanksgiving at Jerusalem
18 The people then went to worship God at Jerusalem. As soon as the people were purified, they presented their holocausts, their free-will offerings, and their gifts. 19 Judith presented to God as a votive offering all the possessions of Holofernes that the people had given to her, as well as the canopy that she had taken for herself from his bedchamber. 20 For three months the people continued their celebration in Jerusalem before the sanctuary, and Judith stayed with them.
Footnotes
- Judith 14:5 The courage of Achior the Ammonite is rewarded: he gives glory to the true God and is received in the holy community of Israel. In being converted, Achior begins to realize what awaits Israel: the salvation of non-Jews (Sir 36:1-3; Isa 60).
- Judith 14:11 Judith has proved right. Believing themselves attacked, the Assyrian soldiers run to get their arms. They already are treating the besieged people as slaves. However, a surprise awaits them: they discover the cadaver of the general-in-chief.
- Judith 15:1 As at the time of Gideon, a divine terror sows panic in the camp of the enemies (Jdg 7:7-21). To the disbandment of the Assyrian army responds the regathering of the children of Israel: the effect is desired by the author.
- Judith 15:8 The leaders come from Jerusalem to celebrate the victory whose architect was Judith. The feast is organized according to Greek custom. In the acclamation to Judith, the Church sees the announcement of salvation with which another woman is associated, and she applies its words to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Judith 15:9 These verses are regularly applied to Mary, the Mother of God, by the Church, especially in her Liturgy. For example, they are found in Mass no. 43 of the new Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This Mass commemorates Mary as the “handmaid of our redemption” because she is the handmaid of the Lord (see Lk 1:38).
This can be done because Judith was a type of Mary. Just as Judith courageously freed her people from the siege by Holofernes, so Mary in her warfare against the serpent, the ancient enemy (see Gen 3:15), brought blessings upon the people of Israel and upon the whole Church.
In the same way, Mary is also the prophetess of the redemption of Israel. Becoming the voice of her people, she magnified the Lord, because, mindful of his mercy, he had come to the rescue of his people by redeeming them from slavery to sin (Lk 1:46, 54-55).
Thus, the Church shows that Mary is a loving Mother, given to us by God in his mercy, one who cares unceasingly with a mother’s love for all God’s children in their need, breaking the chains of every form of captivity, so that we might enjoy full liberty of body and spirit. - Judith 15:12 Branches of ivy: a Greek custom found only in one other place in the Bible: 2 Mac 10:7. The Jews waved palm branches in times of rejoicing (Lev 23:40; Jn 12:13; Rev 7:9).
- Judith 15:14 The hymn of Judith is regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of Hebrew poetry in its conciseness and vivacity.
- Judith 16:6 Titans and giants were current terms derived from Greek mythology.
