Judith 16:21-25
New Catholic Bible
Epilogue
21 When those days ended, they all returned to their homes. Judith went to Bethulia and remained on her estate. For the rest of her life she was honored throughout the whole country. 22 Even though she received many proposals of marriage, she gave herself to no man from the time that her husband Manasseh died and was gathered to his ancestors. 23 Her reputation continued to grow as her years increased, and she lived in her husband’s house until her death at the advanced age of one hundred and five. She set her maid free, died in Bethulia, and was buried in the cave where her husband Manasseh was interred. 24 The house of Israel mourned her for seven days. Prior to her death she distributed her property to the close relatives of her husband Manasseh and to her own relatives.
25 During the lifetime of Judith and for a long time after her death, no one again dared to threaten the Israelites.[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judith 16:25 The Book ends on the same note as the ending of some of the stories in the Book of Judges: during the lifetime of Judith and for a long time after her death, no one again dared to spread terror among the Israelites (see Jdg 3:11, 30; 5:31; 8:28). The last part of the Book is also reminiscent of events in Judges. Bagoas’s discovery of Holofernes’s body recalls the discovery of Eglon (see Jdg 3:23-25); the fake attack by the Israelites recalls Gideon’s ploy (see Jdg 7:16-22); and the person of Judith recalls Deborah and Jael (Jdg 4–5). The Book also recalls the pattern of the stories in Judges: (1) the people are afflicted; (2) they call upon the Lord; (3) the Lord sends them a judge; (4) they are favored with peace throughout the lifetime of the judge.
The Vulgate adds a note at the end of the chapter (v. 31) concerning the feast day on which Judith’s victory is celebrated: “31The day of festivity of this victory is received by the Hebrews in the number of their holy days, and is religiously observed by them from that day to this” [see Est 9:27f]. Although there is no evidence of this in the calendar, in Jewish folklore, the story of Judith is connected with the Feast of Hanukkah, the celebration of the purification of the temple at the time of the Maccabees (when the Book was most likely written). Some authors maintain that Judith was read in the synagogue at Hanukkah. Judith thus has a relation to Passover, Weeks, and Sukkoth.
