Judith counter seduces Holofernes

While Judith was a guest of Holoferness, staying in the Assyrian camp, she kept to her religious dietary requirements. Holoferness ordered his men to let her practise her customs including diet, praying and so on. By the fourth day, Holoferness could not control himself any longer and revealed his plans to his servant to seduce Judith. Finally, receiving the invitation, Judith went to the banquet and seduced Holofernes instead, getting him very drunk.


12  Judith as a Guest of Holofernes
Then he commanded them to bring her in where his silver dinnerware was kept, and ordered them to set a table for her with some of his own delicacies, and with some of his own wine to drink. 2 But Judith said, “I cannot partake of them, or it will be an offense; but I will have enough with the things I brought with me.” 3 Holofernes said to her, “If your supply runs out, where can we get you more of the same? For none of your people are here with us.” 4 Judith replied, “As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up the supplies I have with me before the Lord carries out by my hand what he has determined.”

5 Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight. Toward the morning watch she got up 6 and sent this message to Holofernes: “Let my lord now give orders to allow your servant to go out and pray.” 7 So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp three days. She went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp.[a] 8 After bathing, she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his[b] people. 9 Then she returned purified and stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening.

Judith Attends Holofernes’ Banquet
10 On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his personal attendants only, and did not invite any of his officers. 11 He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs, “Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and to eat and drink with us. 12 For it would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without having intercourse with her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.”

13 So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and approached her and said, “Let this pretty girl not hesitate to come to my lord to be honored in his presence, and to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to become today like one of the Assyrian women who serve in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.” 14 Judith replied, “Who am I to refuse my lord? Whatever pleases him I will do at once, and it will be a joy to me until the day of my death.” 15 So she proceeded to dress herself in all her woman’s finery. Her maid went ahead and spread for her on the ground before Holofernes the lambskins she had received from Bagoas for her daily use in reclining.

16 Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes’ heart was ravished with her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. 17 So Holofernes said to her, “Have a drink and be merry with us!” 18 Judith said, “I will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life.” 19 Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him. 20 Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.

Judith makes Holofernes think he will win against Israelites.

In the last chapter we were kept in suspense as to what Judith would do, because she seemed to have detected to the Assyrians. If that was her plan to pretend to be a traitor and later double cross the Assyrians, then she would need to lie and thus going against her usual moral self.
However, it is amazing how things unfolded here. She told the Assyrians the blatant truth in a way that the Assyrians thought the outcome is good for them. That is true in a way, as Judith said, if the Israelites continue in their sin, then the Israelites would be defeated. Holofernes, the Assyrian general liked this part, but what he did not ponder too much on was that if there Israelites repented, then the Assyrians would be defeated.

Judith 11 
Then Holofernes said to her, “Take courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth. ² Even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them. They have brought this on themselves. ³ But now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us. In any event, you have come to safety. Take courage! You will live tonight and ever after. ⁴ No one will hurt you. Rather, all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar.”

Judith Explains Her Presence

⁵ Judith answered him, “Accept the words of your slave, and let your servant speak in your presence. I will say nothing false to my lord this night. ⁶ If you follow out the words of your servant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes. ⁷ By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to direct every living being! Not only do human beings serve him because of you, but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live, because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. ⁸ For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you alone are the best in the whole kingdom, the most informed and the most astounding in military strategy.

⁹ “Now as for Achior’s speech in your council, we have heard his words, for the people of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you. ¹⁰ Therefore, lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true. Indeed our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their God.

¹¹ “But now, in order that my lord may not be defeated and his purpose frustrated, death will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them by which they are about to provoke their God to anger when they do what is wrong. ¹² Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their livestock and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. ¹³ They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in Jerusalem—things it is not lawful for any of the people even to touch with their hands. ¹⁴ Since even the people in Jerusalem have been doing this, they have sent messengers there in order to bring back permission from the council of the elders. ¹⁵ When the response reaches them and they act upon it, on that very day they will be handed over to you to be destroyed.

¹⁶ “So when I, your slave, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world wherever people shall hear about them. ¹⁷ Your servant is indeed God-fearing and serves the God of heaven night and day. So, my lord, I will remain with you; but every night your servant will go out into the valley and pray to God. He will tell me when they have committed their sins. ¹⁸ Then I will come and tell you, so that you may go out with your whole army, and not one of them will be able to withstand you. ¹⁹ Then I will lead you through Judea, until you come to Jerusalem; there I will set your throne.^[a] You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you. For this was told me to give me foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you.”

²⁰ Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants. They marveled at her wisdom and said, ²¹ “No other woman from one end of the earth to the other looks so beautiful or speaks so wisely!” ²² Then Holofernes said to her, “God has done well to send you ahead of the people, to strengthen our hands and bring destruction on those who have despised my lord. ²³ You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech. If you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world.”

Judith's plan to see Holoferness

Following the prayer to God, Judith seemed to embark on a plan or mission. She dressed herself in a seductive way. With a servant and some provisions, they left the city by coming through the main gate in the presence of the gatekeepers and King Uzziah.

Judith and her servant travelled straight out of the city and straight into the hands of the Assyrians. She told her Assyrian captors of her desire to reveal strategic secrets to gain access to Holofernes. Then in the presence of Holofernes, she offered herself. At this point , one would wait in suspense about what Judith's plans were.

Judith 10 NRSV

Judith Prepares to Go to Holofernes

When Judith^[a] had stopped crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words, ² she rose from where she lay prostrate. She called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her festal days. ³ She removed the sackcloth she had been wearing, took off her widow’s garments, bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed herself in the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. ⁴ She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her other jewelry. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men who might see her. ⁵ She gave her maid a skin of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with roasted grain, dried fig cakes, and fine bread;^[b]then she wrapped up all her dishes and gave them to her to carry.

⁶ Then they went out to the town gate of Bethulia and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the town, Chabris and Charmis. ⁷ When they saw her transformed in appearance and dressed differently, they were very greatly astounded at her beauty and said to her, ⁸ “May the God of our ancestors grant you favor and fulfill your plans, so that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted.” She bowed down to God.

⁹ Then she said to them, “Order the gate of the town to be opened for me so that I may go out and accomplish the things you have just said to me.” So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she requested. ¹⁰ When they had done this, Judith went out, accompanied by her maid. The men of the town watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley, where they lost sight of her.

Judith Is Captured

¹¹ As the women^[c] were going straight on through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met her ¹² and took her into custody. They asked her, “To what people do you belong, and where are you coming from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured. ¹³ I am on my way to see Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him a true report; I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain.”

¹⁴ When the men heard her words, and observed her face—she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful—they said to her, ¹⁵ “You have saved your life by hurrying down to see our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to him. ¹⁶ When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart, but tell him what you have just said, and he will treat you well.”

¹⁷ They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. ¹⁸ There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent. They came and gathered around her as she stood outside the tent of Holofernes, waiting until they told him about her. ¹⁹ They marveled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them by her. They said to one another, “Who can despise these people, who have women like this among them? It is not wise to leave one of their men alive, for if we let them go they will be able to beguile the whole world!”

Judith Is Brought before Holofernes

²⁰ Then the guards of Holofernes and all his servants came out and led her into the tent. ²¹ Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy that was woven with purple and gold, emeralds and other precious stones. ²² When they told him of her, he came to the front of the tent, with silver lamps carried before him. ²³ When Judith came into the presence of Holofernes^[d] and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She prostrated herself and did obeisance to him, but his slaves raised her up.

Judith's petition to God for help

This chapter is Judith's petition to God for help. The Assyrians has gathered an overwhelming army and laid siege to Judah. In the midst of helplessness, Judith prayed to God on behalf of her nation. Here are some exemplary phrases from her prayer:
- "O God, my God, hear me also, a widow." - perhaps knowing God has a heart for the defenseless, such as widows.
- "For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgment is with foreknowledge." - God is sovereign and all-knowing.
- "you are the Lord who crushes wars; the Lord is your name." - God the Almighty
- "you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope." - unlike most pagan gods, the Lord God protects the weak.
- "the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!”" - the God of Israel



Judith 9 NRSV

The Prayer of Judith
Then Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said,

2 “O Lord God of my ancestor Simeon, to whom you gave a sword to take revenge on those strangers who had torn off a virgin’s clothing[a] to defile her, and exposed her thighs to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for you said, ‘It shall not be done’—yet they did it; 3 so you gave up their rulers to be killed, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, was stained with blood, and you struck down slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones. 4 You gave up their wives for booty and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among your beloved children who burned with zeal for you and abhorred the pollution of their blood and called on you for help. O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.

5 “For you have done these things and those that went before and those that followed. You have designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. What you had in mind has happened; 6 the things you decided on presented themselves and said, ‘Here we are!’ For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgment is with foreknowledge.

7 “Here now are the Assyrians, a greatly increased force, priding themselves in their horses and riders, boasting in the strength of their foot soldiers, and trusting in shield and spear, in bow and sling. They do not know that you are the Lord who crushes wars; the Lord is your name. 8 Break their strength by your might, and bring down their power in your anger; for they intend to defile your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns[b] of your altar with the sword. 9 Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the strong hand to do what I plan. 10 By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman.

11 “For your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope. 12 Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! 13 Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. 14 Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!”

Judith Rebukes King Uzziah

In this eighth chapter of the Book of Judith, the person and character of Judith is finally revealed. She is a wealthy widow, attractive, devoted to God and respected. The King Uzziah had just recently promised the people that God will deliver them.

When Judith heard about this, she summoned the king - this action itself shows her standing in the kingdom. Furthermore she rebuked the king and his councils that it is not right to make such an oath to test and force God to deliver the people. She recognized the sovereignty of God and that the people should pray to God for deliverane rather than put God to the test.

Finally, seemingly to correct the wrong, she promised the king that she would do something about it. She may be preparing to leave the city but did not tell the king of her plans, but did promise to deliver Israel.


Judith 8 (NRSV)

The Character of Judith
8 Now in those days Judith heard about these things: she was the daughter of Merari son of Ox son of Joseph son of Oziel son of Elkiah son of Ananias son of Gideon son of Raphain son of Ahitub son of Elijah son of Hilkiah son of Eliab son of Nathanael son of Salamiel son of Sarasadai son of Israel. 2 Her husband Manasseh, who belonged to her tribe and family, had died during the barley harvest. 3 For as he stood overseeing those who were binding sheaves in the field, he was overcome by the burning heat, and took to his bed and died in his town Bethulia. So they buried him with his ancestors in the field between Dothan and Balamon. 4 Judith remained as a widow for three years and four months 5 at home where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house. She put sackcloth around her waist and dressed in widow’s clothing. 6 She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except the day before the sabbath and the sabbath itself, the day before the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the festivals and days of rejoicing of the house of Israel. 7 She was beautiful in appearance, and was very lovely to behold. Her husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, men and women slaves, livestock, and fields; and she maintained this estate. 8 No one spoke ill of her, for she feared God with great devotion.

Judith and the Elders
9 When Judith heard the harsh words spoken by the people against the ruler, because they were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzziah said to them, and how he promised them under oath to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days, 10 she sent her maid, who was in charge of all she possessed, to summon Uzziah and[a] Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her town. 11 They came to her, and she said to them:

“Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to the people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. 12 Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of[b] God in human affairs? 13 You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you will never learn anything! 14 You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brothers, do not anger the Lord our God. 15 For if he does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our enemies. 16 Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God; for God is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by pleading. 17 Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him.

18 “For never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or family or people or town of ours that worships gods made with hands, as was done in days gone by. 19 That was why our ancestors were handed over to the sword and to pillage, and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies. 20 But we know no other god but him, and so we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation. 21 For if we are captured, all Judea will be captured and our sanctuary will be plundered; and he will make us pay for its desecration with our blood. 22 The slaughter of our kindred and the captivity of the land and the desolation of our inheritance—all this he will bring on our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves; and we shall be an offense and a disgrace in the eyes of those who acquire us. 23 For our slavery will not bring us into favor, but the Lord our God will turn it to dishonor.

24 “Therefore, my brothers, let us set an example for our kindred, for their lives depend upon us, and the sanctuary—both the temple and the altar—rests upon us. 25 In spite of everything let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is putting us to the test as he did our ancestors. 26 Remember what he did with Abraham, and how he tested Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia, while he was tending the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother. 27 For he has not tried us with fire, as he did them, to search their hearts, nor has he taken vengeance on us; but the Lord scourges those who are close to him in order to admonish them.”

28 Then Uzziah said to her, “All that you have said was spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words. 29 Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart’s disposition is right. 30 But the people were so thirsty that they compelled us to do for them what we have promised, and made us take an oath that we cannot break. 31 Now since you are a God-fearing woman, pray for us, so that the Lord may send us rain to fill our cisterns. Then we will no longer feel faint from thirst.”

32 Then Judith said to them, “Listen to me. I am about to do something that will go down through all generations of our descendants. 33 Stand at the town gate tonight so that I may go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the town to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand. 34 Only, do not try to find out what I am doing; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do.”

35 Uzziah and the rulers said to her, “Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you, to take vengeance on our enemies.” 36 So they returned from the tent and went to their posts.

Esau and Moab plans siege against Israel using the Assyrians

The general of the Assyrian army Holoferness started the invasion as his amassed forces marches against Bethulia. The immense forces marched out across the valleys and plains before Bethulia where the Israelites saw in fear. However, the Israelites were still in a geographically strategic position since they were on higher ground. A significant change in strategy was brought by the people of Esau and the Moabites who convinced Holofernes, that it is strategically better to cut out the water supply and lay siege rather than a frontal assault.

Strategically, Esau and Moab's plans made sense to Holofernes. Besides giving this free advice, they also offered to stay on the mountains to keep watch if the Israelites tried to escape. This devastating siege of the Israelites, was keenly participated by Esau and Moab because perhaps of their long hatred and jealousy of their distant relatives, the Israelites. They would later on meet their justice with God.


Judith 7
The Campaign against Bethulia
The next day Holofer′nes ordered his whole army, and all the allies who had joined him, to break camp and move against Bethu′lia, and to seize the passes up into the hill country and make war on the Israelites. 2 So all their warriors moved their camp that day; their force of men of war was one hundred and seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, together with the baggage and the foot soldiers handling it, a very great multitude. 3 They encamped in the valley near Bethu′lia, beside the spring, and they spread out in breadth over Dothan as far as Balba′im and in length from Bethu′lia to Cyamon, which faces Esdrae′lon.

4 When the Israelites saw their vast numbers they were greatly terrified, and every one said to his neighbor, “These men will now lick up the face of the whole land; neither the high mountains nor the valleys nor the hills will bear their weight.” 5 Then each man took up his weapons, and when they had kindled fires on their towers they remained on guard all that night.

6 On the second day Holofer′nes led out all his cavalry in full view of the Israelites in Bethu′lia, 7 and examined the approaches to the city, and visited the springs that supplied their water, and seized them and set guards of soldiers over them, and then returned to his army.

8 Then all the chieftains of the people of Esau and all the leaders of the Mo′abites and the commanders of the coastland came to him and said, 9 “Let our lord hear a word, lest his army be defeated. 10 For these people, the Israelites, do not rely on their spears but on the height of the mountains where they live, for it is not easy to reach the tops of their mountains. 11 Therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in battle array, and not a man of your army will fall. 12 Remain in your camp, and keep all the men in your forces with you; only let your servants take possession of the spring of water that flows from the foot of the mountain— 13 for this is where all the people of Bethu′lia get their water. So thirst will destroy them, and they will give up their city. We and our people will go up to the tops of the nearby mountains and camp there to keep watch that not a man gets out of the city. 14 They and their wives and children will waste away with famine, and before the sword reaches them they will be strewn about in the streets where they live. 15 So you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled and did not receive you peaceably.”

16 These words pleased Holofer′nes and all his servants, and he gave orders to do as they had said. 17 So the army of the Am′monites moved forward, together with five thousand Assyrians, and they encamped in the valley and seized the water supply and the springs of the Israelites. 18 And the sons of Esau and the sons of Ammon went up and encamped in the hill country opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men toward the south and the east, toward Acr′aba, which is near Chusi beside the brook Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army encamped in the plain, and covered the whole face of the land, and their tents and supply trains spread out in great number, and they formed a vast multitude.

The Distress of the Israelites
19 The people of Israel cried out to the Lord their God, for their courage failed, because all their enemies had surrounded them and there was no way of escape from them. 20 The whole Assyrian army, their infantry, chariots, and cavalry, surrounded them for thirty-four days, until all the vessels of water belonging to every inhabitant of Bethu′lia were empty; 21 their cisterns were going dry, and they did not have enough water to drink their fill for a single day, because it was measured out to them to drink. 22 Their children lost heart, and the women and young men fainted from thirst and fell down in the streets of the city and in the passages through the gates; there was no strength left in them any longer.

23 Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children, gathered about Uzzi′ah and the rulers of the city and cried out with a loud voice, and said before all the elders, 24 “God be judge between you and us! For you have done us a great injury in not making peace with the Assyrians. 25 For now we have no one to help us; God has sold us into their hands, to strew us on the ground before them with thirst and utter destruction. 26 Now call them in and surrender the whole city to the army of Holofer′nes and to all his forces, to be plundered. 27 For it would be better for us to be captured by them;[a] for we will be slaves, but our lives will be spared, and we shall not witness the death of our babes before our eyes, or see our wives and children draw their last breath. 28 We call to witness against you heaven and earth and our God, the Lord of our fathers, who punishes us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers. Let him not do this day the things which we have described!”

29 Then great and general lamentation arose throughout the assembly, and they cried out to the Lord God with a loud voice. 30 And Uzzi′ah said to them, “Have courage, my brothers! Let us hold out for five more days; by that time the Lord our God will restore to us his mercy, for he will not forsake us utterly. 31 But if these days pass by, and no help comes for us, I will do what you say.”

32 Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up on the walls and towers of their city. The women and children he sent home. And they were greatly depressed in the city.

Israelites honoured Achior and prayed, worshipped God

Previously we read that Achior, who told the invading Assyrians under Holofer'nes the general that the Israelites were winning victories with God's help and the favour of God was dependent on the obedience of the Israelites, was now being referred to by Holofer'nes as a hireling of the Israelites or E'phraim. Instead the Assyrians put up their king, Nebuchadnez'zar to god-status, claiming that with him, their side is invincible. Countless kingdoms, cultures, empires have put their leaders in such god-like positions, but none of them survived.

As an act of humiliation and punishment for Ach'ior who dared mention that another god was more powerful than the Assyrian king-god Nebuchanez'zar, Holofer'nes threatened Ach'ior with revenge and abandoned him in Israelite territory. As a contrast, the Israelites who found Ach'ior treated him with great hospitality although Ach'ior's people the Ammonites have been at war with the Israelites on different occasions. The Israelites held a banquet for Ach'ior as well as repented before Almighty God with all night prayer and petition.


Judith 6 
Achior Handed over to the Israelites
When the disturbance made by the men outside the council died down, Holofer′nes, the commander of the Assyrian army, said to Ach′ior and all the Mo′abites in the presence of all the foreign contingents:

2 “And who are you, Ach′ior, and you hirelings of E′phraim, to prophesy among us as you have done today and tell us not to make war against the people of Israel because their God will defend them? Who is God except Nebuchadnez′zar? 3 He will send his forces and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God will not deliver them—we the king’s[a] servants will destroy them as one man. They cannot resist the might of our cavalry. 4 We will burn them up,[b] and their mountains will be drunk with their blood, and their fields will be full of their dead. They[c] cannot withstand us, but will utterly perish. So says King Nebuchadnez′zar, the lord of the whole earth. For he has spoken; none of his words shall be in vain.

5 “But you, Ach′ior, you Am′monite hireling, who have said these words on the day of your iniquity, you shall not see my face again from this day until I take revenge on this race that came out of Egypt. 6 Then the sword of my army and the spear[d] of my servants shall pierce your sides, and you shall fall among their wounded, when I return. 7 Now my slaves are going to take you back into the hill country and put you in one of the cities beside the passes, 8 and you will not die until you perish along with them. 9 If you really hope in your heart that they will not be taken, do not look downcast! I have spoken and none of my words shall fail.”

10 Then Holofer′nes ordered his slaves, who waited on him in his tent, to seize Ach′ior and take him to Bethu′lia and hand him over to the men of Israel. 11 So the slaves took him and led him out of the camp into the plain, and from the plain they went up into the hill country and came to the springs below Bethu′lia. 12 When the men of the city saw them,[e] they caught up their weapons and ran out of the city to the top of the hill, and all the slingers kept them from coming up by casting stones at them. 13 However, they got under the shelter of the hill and they bound Ach′ior and left him lying at the foot of the hill, and returned to their master.

14 Then the men of Israel came down from their city and found him; and they untied him and brought him into Bethu′lia and placed him before the magistrates of their city, 15 who in those days were Uzzi′ah the son of Micah, of the tribe of Sim′eon, and Chabris the son of Gothon′iel, and Charmis the son of Mel′chiel. 16 They called together all the elders of the city, and all their young men and their women ran to the assembly; and they set Ach′ior in the midst of all their people, and Uzzi′ah asked him what had happened. 17 He answered and told them what had taken place at the council of Holofer′nes, and all that he had said in the presence of the Assyrian leaders, and all that Holofer′nes had said so boastfully against the house of Israel. 18 Then the people fell down and worshiped God, and cried out to him, and said,

19 “O Lord God of heaven, behold their arrogance, and have pity on the humiliation of our people, and look this day upon the faces of those who are consecrated to thee.”

20 Then they consoled Ach′ior, and praised him greatly. 21 And Uzzi′ah took him from the assembly to his own house and gave a banquet for the elders; and all that night they called on the God of Israel for help.

Ammonite Leader tells the story of Israel to Assyrian general

The general of the Assyrian Army, Holofernes is continuing with the conquest and was approaching Israel. He also learned that the Israelites had begun to fortify the region including the hilltops and the plain.

One of the Ammonites leaders called Achior began to tell the history of the Israelites starting from when Abraham, a Chaldean, left his country and went to Mesopotamia. Achior describes the history of the Israelites including their enslavement in Egypt, their Exodus and including the conquest of the surrounding lands. It seems that Achior and probably his people knew the history of Israel very well, which is also a testimony revealing God at work in His people that others can see.

It is also amazing that Achior also understood that the victories of the Israelites occurred when the Israeliets were obedient to God, and that Israel became weak without the help of God when they were disobedient to God.




Judith 5 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Council against the Israelites
When Holofer′nes, the general of the Assyrian army, heard that the people of Israel had prepared for war and had closed the passes in the hills and fortified all the high hilltops and set up barricades in the plains, 2 he was very angry. So he called together all the princes of Moab and the commanders of Ammon and all the governors of the coastland, 3 and said to them, “Tell me, you Canaanites, what people is this that lives in the hill country? What cities do they inhabit? How large is their army, and in what does their power or strength consist? Who rules over them as king, leading their army? 4 And why have they alone, of all who live in the west, refused to come out and meet me?”

Achior’s Report
5 Then Ach′ior, the leader of all the Am′monites, said to him, “Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth about this people that dwells in the nearby mountain district. No falsehood shall come from your servant’s mouth. 6 This people is descended from the Chalde′ans. 7 At one time they lived in Mesopota′mia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers who were in Chalde′a. 8 For they had left the ways of their ancestors, and they worshiped the God of heaven, the God they had come to know; hence they drove them out from the presence of their gods; and they fled to Mesopota′mia, and lived there for a long time. 9 Then their God commanded them to leave the place where they were living and go to the land of Canaan. There they settled, and prospered, with much gold and silver and very many cattle. 10 When a famine spread over Canaan they went down to Egypt and lived there as long as they had food; and there they became a great multitude—so great that they could not be counted. 11 So the king of Egypt became hostile to them; he took advantage of them and set them to making bricks, and humbled them and made slaves of them. 12 Then they cried out to their God, and he afflicted the whole land of Egypt with incurable plagues; and so the Egyptians drove them out of their sight. 13 Then God dried up the Red Sea before them, 14 and he led them by the way of Sinai and Ka′desh-bar′nea, and drove out all the people of the wilderness. 15 So they lived in the land of the Am′orites, and by their might destroyed all the inhabitants of Heshbon; and crossing over the Jordan they took possession of all the hill country. 16 And they drove out before them the Canaanites and the Per′izzites and the Jeb′usites and the She′chemites and all the Ger′gesites, and lived there a long time. 17 As long as they did not sin against their God they prospered, for the God who hates iniquity is with them. 18 But when they departed from the way which he had appointed for them, they were utterly defeated in many battles and were led away captive to a foreign country; the temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their cities were captured by their enemies. 19 But now they have returned to their God, and have come back from the places to which they were scattered, and have occupied Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and have settled in the hill country, because it was uninhabited. 20 Now therefore, my master and lord, if there is any unwitting error in this people and they sin against their God and we find out their offense, then we will go up and defeat them. 21 But if there is no transgression in their nation, then let my lord pass them by; for their Lord will defend them, and their God will protect them, and we shall be put to shame before the whole world.”

22 When Ach′ior had finished saying this, all the men standing around the tent began to complain; Holofer′nes’ officers and all the men from the seacoast and from Moab insisted that he must be put to death. 23 “For,” they said, “we will not be afraid of the Israelites; they are a people with no strength or power for making war. 24 Therefore let us go up, Lord Holofer′nes, and they will be devoured by your vast army.”

Judea in mass repentance led by Jo'akim

The reputation of the conquest of Holofernes has reached Judea and the whole nation was greatly terrified. They first considered the valuable things they could lose and the main loss would be the Temple and all its precious items. Then they assessed strategically how they would defend Judea, including identifying the high grounds and most likely route of invasion. The high priest Jo'akim seemed to have directed the defense planning and coordinated with the people.

Beyond the practical defense planning, the Jo'akim also led the entire nation of Judea into a great period of mourning and repentance. They considered the loss of their women and children, destruction of their cities. They did all the things of mourning and repentance including crying to God, fasting, put on sackcloth, prostate themselves before the temple, ashes on heads. Jo'akim performed the offerings and joined them in mourning and praying. This is a sign of a nation of God, realizing their sins, know that physical defence is inadequate, only the Lord can save them.


Judith 4
Judea on the Alert
By this time the people of Israel living in Judea heard of everything that Holofer′nes, the general of Nebuchadnez′zar the king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered and destroyed all their temples; 2 they were therefore very greatly terrified at his approach, and were alarmed both for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God. 3 For they had only recently returned from the captivity, and all the people of Judea were newly gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been consecrated after their profanation. 4 So they sent to every district of Samar′ia, and to Kona and Beth-hor′on and Belma′in and Jericho and to Choba and Aesor′a and the valley of Salem, 5 and immediately seized all the high hilltops and fortified the villages on them and stored up food in preparation for war—since their fields had recently been harvested. 6 And Jo′akim, the high priest, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethu′lia and Betomestha′im, which faces Esdrae′lon opposite the plain near Dothan, 7 ordering them to seize the passes up into the hills, since by them Judea could be invaded, and it was easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, only wide enough for two men at the most.

Prayer and Penance
8 So the Israelites did as Jo′akim the high priest and the senate of the whole people of Israel, in session at Jerusalem, had given order. 9 And every man of Israel cried out to God with great fervor, and they humbled themselves with much fasting. 10 They and their wives and their children and their cattle and every resident alien and hired laborer and purchased slave—they all girded themselves with sackcloth. 11 And all the men and women of Israel, and their children, living at Jerusalem, prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord. 12 They even surrounded the altar with sackcloth and cried out in unison, praying earnestly to the God of Israel not to give up their infants as prey and their wives as booty, and the cities they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles. 13 So the Lord heard their prayers and looked upon their affliction; for the people fasted many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty. 14 And Jo′akim the high priest and all the priests who stood before the Lord and ministered to the Lord, with their loins girded with sackcloth, offered the continual burnt offerings and the vows and freewill offerings of the people. 15 With ashes upon their turbans, they cried out to the Lord with all their might to look with favor upon the whole house of Israel.

Holofernes sets up Nebuchadnez′zar as god

The fear of Nebuchadnez′zar fell on the people of the nations, as his chief general, Holofernes continues to defeat the surrounding nations. In this chapter, several of the nations tried to pre-empt the invasion, by sending envoys of peace to Nebuchadnez′zar.

Holofernes went on to the coast, and the people he encountered welcomed him like one would welcome a liberator. In this case, it was probably because the people realised what he could do so they rather treat him like a hero. It is also recorded that when Holofernes entered the land, he destroys their existing religion. Instead he setup Nebuchadnez′zar as god and made people worship Nebuchadnez′zar.




Judith 3   Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Entreaties for Peace
3 So they sent messengers to sue for peace, and said, 2 “Behold, we the servants of Nebuchadnez′zar, the Great King, lie prostrate before you. Do with us whatever you will. 3 Behold, our buildings, and all our land, and all our wheat fields, and our flocks and herds, and all our sheepfolds with their tents, lie before you; do with them whatever you please. 4 Our cities also and their inhabitants are your slaves; come and deal with them in any way that seems good to you.”

5 The men came to Holofer′nes and told him all this. 6 Then he went down to the seacoast with his army and stationed garrisons in the hilltop cities and took picked men from them as his allies. 7 And these people and all in the country round about welcomed him with garlands and dances and tambourines. 8 And he demolished all their shrines[a] and cut down their sacred groves; for it had been given to him to destroy all the gods of the land, so that all nations should worship Nebuchadnez′zar only, and all their tongues and tribes should call upon him as god.

9 Then he came to the edge of Esdrae′lon, near Dothan, fronting the great ridge of Judea; 10 here he camped between Geba and Scythop′olis, and remained for a whole month in order to assemble all the supplies for his army.

The stranger inherits the land

Ezekiel 47:23 
And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God

The stranger here means those who are not biologically from the line of Jacob. This makes it clear that the inheritance can be passed on to those who are adopted into God's family, and that the promises that are made to the descendants of Israel are eligible to those with or without a biological connection. Very clear that God does not discriminate on race.