Book of Judith

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The Book of Judith is a

While the author was likely Jewish, there is no evidence aside from its inclusion in the Septuagint that the Book of Judith was ever considered authoritative or a candidate for canonicity by any Jewish group.^[11][12] The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible does not contain it; it is not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls or any early Rabbinic literature.^[12][13] Speculated reasons for its exclusion include the possible lateness of its composition, possible Greek origin, apparent support of the Hasmonean dynasty (to which the early rabbinate was opposed), and perhaps the brash and seductive character of Judith herself.^[14]

After disappearing from circulation among Jews for over a millennium, however, references to the Book of Judith and the figure of Judith herself resurfaced in the religious literature of crypto-Jews who escaped Christian persecution after the capitulation of the Caliphate of Córdoba.^[12] The renewed interest took the form of "tales of the heroine, liturgical poems, commentaries on the Talmud, and passages in Jewish legal codes."^[12] Although the text does not mention Hanukkah, it became customary for a Hebrew midrashic variant of the Judith story to be read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah as the story of Hanukkah takes place during the time of the Hasmonean dynasty.^[15]

That midrash, whose heroine is portrayed as gorging the antagonist on cheese and wine before cutting off his head, may have formed the basis of the minor Jewish tradition to eat dairy products during Hanukkah.

The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved.^[38] Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life.

Literary structure

The Book of Judith can be split into two parts or "acts" of approximately equal length. Chapters 1–7 describe the rise of the threat to Israel, led by the evil king Nebuchadnezzar and his

The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha identifies a clear chiastic pattern in both "acts", in which the order of events is reversed at a central moment in the narrative (i.e., abcc'b'a').^[39]

Part I (1:1–7:23)

A. Campaign against disobedient nations; the people surrender (1:1–2:13)

B. Israel is "greatly terrified" (2:14–3:10)

C. Joakim prepares for war (4:1–15)

D. Holofernes talks with Achior (5:1–6.9)

E. Achior is expelled by Assyrians (6:10–13)

E'. Achior is received in the village of Bethulia (6:14–15)

D'. Achior talks with the people (6:16–21)

C'. Holofernes prepares for war (7:1–3)

B'. Israel is "greatly terrified" (7:4–5)

A'. Campaign against Bethulia; the people want to surrender (7:6–32)

Part II (8:1–16:25)

A. Introduction of Judith (8:1–8)

B. Judith plans to save Israel (8:9–10:8), including her extended prayer (9:1–14)

C. Judith and her maid leave Bethulia (10:9–10)

D. Judith beheads Holofernes (10:11–13:10a)

C'. Judith and her maid return to Bethulia (13.10b–11)

B'. Judith plans the destruction of Israel's enemy (13:12–16:20)

A'. Conclusion about Judith (16.1–25)^[39]

Similarly, parallels within Part II are noted in comments within the New American Bible Revised Edition: Judith summons a town meeting in Judith 8:10 in advance of her expedition and is acclaimed by such a meeting in Judith 13:12–13; Uzziah blesses Judith in advance in Judith 8:5 and afterwards in Judith 13:18–20.^[40]

Literary genre

Most contemporary

It has also been called "an example of the ancient Jewish novel in the Greco-Roman period".[42] Other scholars note that Judith fits within and even incorporates the genre of "salvation traditions" from the Old Testament, particularly the story of Deborah and Jael (Judges 4–5), who seduced and inebriated the Canaanite commander Sisera before hammering a tent-peg into his forehead.^[43]

There are also thematic connections to the revenge of

Judith, the heroine of the book, introduced in chapter 8. A God-fearing woman, she is the daughter of Merari, a Simeonite,^[44] and widow of a certain Manasseh or Manasses, a wealthy farmer. She sends her maid or "waitingwoman"^[45] to Uzziah to challenge his decision to capitulate to the Assyrians if God has not rescued the people of Bethulia within five days, and she uses her charm to become an intimate friend of Holofernes, but beheads him allowing Israel to counter-attack the Assyrians. Judith's maid, not named in the story, remains with her throughout the narrative and is given her freedom as the story ends.^[46]

Holofernes, the villain of the book. He is a dedicated soldier of his king, general-in-chief of his army, whom he wants to see exalted in all lands. He is given the task of destroying the rebels who did not support the king of Nineveh in his resistance against Cheleud and the king of Media, until Israel also becomes a target of his military campaign. Judith's courage and charm occasion his death.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Nineveh and Assyria. He is so proud that he wants to affirm his strength as a sort of divine power, although Holofernes, his Turtan (commanding general), goes beyond the king's orders when he calls on the western nations to "worship only Nebuchadnezzar, and ... invoke him as a god".^[48] Holofernes is ordered to take revenge on those who refused to ally themselves with Nebuchadnezzar.

Achior, an Ammonite leader at Nebuchadnezzar's court; in chapter 5 he summarises the history of Israel and warns the king of Assyria of the power of their God, the "God of heaven",^[49] but is mocked. He is protected by the people of Bethulia and becomes a Jew and is circumcised on hearing what Judith has accomplished.^[50][a]

Bagoas, or Vagao (Vulgate),^[53] the eunuch who had charge over Holofernes' personal affairs. His name is Persian for a eunuch.^[54][b] He brought in Judith to recline with Holofernes and was the first one who discovered his beheading.

Uzziah or Oziah, governor of Bethulia; together with Cabri and Carmi, he rules over Judith's city. When the city is besieged by the Assyrians and the water supply dries up, he agrees to the people's call to surrender if God has not rescued them within five days, a decision challenged as "rash" by Judith.^[55]

Judith's prayer

Chapter 9 constitutes Judith's "extended prayer",^[56] "loudly proclaimed" in advance of her actions in the following chapters. This runs to 14 verses in English versions, 19 verses in the Vulgate.^[57]

Historicity of Judith

Today, it is generally accepted that the Book of Judith is ahistorical. The fictional nature "is evident from its blending of history and fiction, beginning in the very first verse, and is too prevalent thereafter to be considered as the result of mere historical mistakes."

It is of further interest that Šamaš-šuma-ukin's civil war broke out in 652 BC, the eighteenth year of Ashurbanipal's reign. The book of Judith states that "Nebuchadnezzar" ravaged the western part of the empire in the eighteenth year of his reign. If the events of this book did occur during Ashurbanipal's reign, it is possible that Assyrians did not record it because they were preoccupied with Šamaš-šuma-ukin's revolt, which was not crushed for years to come. Ashurbanipal's successful crushing of Šamaš-šuma-ukin's civil war also prevented the Assyrians from retaking Egypt, which gained independence from Assyria around 655 BC. Numerous theologians, including Antoine Augustin Calmet, suspect that the ultimate goal of the western campaign was for the Assyrians to sack Egypt, because Holofernes appeared to be heading directly towards Egypt on his campaign through the west. If Calmet and others are correct in suspecting that Holofernes was intending to sack Egypt, this would give further evidence to the theory that the book is set during the reign of Ashurbanipal, who had previously sacked Thebes in 663 BC. The view that the book of Judith was written during the reigns of Manasseh and Ashurbanipal was held by a great number of Catholic scholars, including Calmet, George Leo Haydock, Thomas Worthington, Richard Challoner, Giovanni Stefano Menochio, Sixtus of Siena, Robert Bellarmine, Charles François Houbigant, Nicolaus Serarius, Pierre Daniel Huet and Bernard de Montfaucon. Many of these theologians are cited and quoted by Calmet in his own commentary on Judith, the "Commentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l'ancien et du nouveau testament". Calmet listed all of "the main objections that can be made against the truth of Judith's Story" and spent the rest of his commentary on the book addressing them, stating: "But all this did not bother Catholic writers. There were a large number of them who answered it expertly, and who undertook to show that there is nothing incompatible in this history, neither with Scripture, nor even with profane history".^[72] There were other Catholic writers who held this view as well, such as Fulcran Vigouroux, who went even farther, identifying the battle between "Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians" and "Arphaxad, the king of the Medes" as the battle that occurred between Ashurbanipal and Phraortes.^[73] This battle occurred during the seventeenth year of Ashurbanipal's reign, and the book of Judith states that this battle occurred in the seventeenth year of "Nebuchadnezzar's" reign. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet expressed a similar view regarding this.^[74] The scholars used specific examples from the text that line up with Manasseh's reign. As argued by Vigouroux, the two battles mentioned in the Septuagint version of the Book of Judith are a reference to the clash of the two empires in 658–657 and to Phraortes' death in battle in 653, after which Ashurbanipal continued his military actions with a large campaign starting with the Battle of the Ulai River (652 BC) in the eighteenth year of his reign.

The identification of "Nebuchadnezzar" with Ashurbanipal was so widespread that it was the only identification in English Catholic Bibles for several hundred years. The 1738 Challoner revision of the

Although there is no historically recorded "Bethulia", the book of Judith gives an extremely precise location for where the city is located, and there are several possible candidates of ancient towns in that area that are now ruins. It has widely been speculated that, based on location descriptions in the book, that the most plausible historical site for Bethulia is

The Madaba Map mosaic from the 6th century AD, shows a settlement named "Betylion" (Greek Β[ΗΤ]ΥΛΙΟΝ). Many believe this to be Bethulia, but this is unlikely because it is located much farther south. This Betylion is located on the Egyptian border with Gaza, in modern-day Sheikh Zuweid.^[86] It is more likely that the name "Betylion" refers to the Arab Bedouin tribe.

Place names specific to the Book of Judith

Whilst a number of the places referred to are familiar

• 1:5 – the territory of Ragae, possible Rages or
  Rhages, cf. Tobit 1:16^[87]
• 1:6 – the rivers Euphrates and Tigris are mentioned, as well as the Hydaspes (Jadason in the Vulgate). Hydaspes is also the Greek name for the Jhelum River in modern India and Pakistan
• 2:21 – the plain of Bectileth,^[88] three days' march from Nineveh
• 4:4 – Kona
• 4:4 – Belmain
• 4:4 – Choba
• 4:4 –
  Aesora. The Septuagint calls it Aisora, Arasousia, Aisoraa, or Assaron, depending on the manuscript.^[89]
• 4:4 – The valley of Salem
• 4:6 and several later references – Bethulia, a gated city (Judith 10:6). From the gates of the city, the valley below can be observed (Judith 10:10)
• 4:6 – Betomesthaim or
  Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan.^[90] The Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to the "Plain of Esdraelon" as the plain between the Galilee hills and Samaria.^[91]
• 4:6 – A plain near Dothan (Dothian in the Vulgate)
• 7:3 – Cyalon or Cynamon,
  Jokneam", but its editors argue that there is "little evidence to support this conjecture".^[93]
• 7:18 – Egrebeh, which is near Chubi, beside the Wadi Mochmur.
• 8:4 – Balamon. Manasseh, Judith's husband, had been buried in a field between Dothan and Balamon (
  Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
  ).
• 15:4 – Along with Betomesthaim, some authorities also mention Bebai.[94]

Later artistic renditions

The character of Judith is larger than life, and she has won a place in Jewish and Christian lore, art, poetry and drama. Her name, which means "she will be praised" or "woman of Judea", suggests that she represents the heroic spirit of the Jewish people, and that same spirit, as well as her chastity, have endeared her to Christianity.^[39]

Owing to her unwavering religious devotion, she is able to step outside of her widow's role, and dress and act in a sexually provocative manner while clearly remaining true to her ideals in the reader's mind, and her seduction and beheading of the wicked Holofernes while playing this role has been rich fodder for artists of various genres.^[39]

In literature

The first extant commentary on The Book of Judith is by

At the same time she is the subject of a homily by the Anglo-Saxon abbot Ælfric. The two conceptual poles represented by these works will inform much of Judith's subsequent history.^{[citation needed]}

In the epic, she is the brave warrior, forceful and active; in the homily she is an exemplar of pious chastity for cloistered nuns. In both cases, her narrative gained relevance from the

In medieval Christian art, the predominance of church patronage assured that Judith's patristic valences as "Mulier Sancta" and Virgin Mary prototype would prevail: from the 8th-century frescoes in Santa Maria Antigua in Rome through innumerable later bible miniatures. Gothic cathedrals often featured Judith, most impressively in the series of 40 stained glass panels at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (1240s).^{[citation needed]}

In Renaissance literature and visual arts, all of these trends were continued, often in updated forms, and developed. The already well established notion of Judith as an exemplum of the courage of local people against tyrannical rule from afar was given new urgency by the Assyrian nationality of Holofernes, which made him an inevitable symbol of the threatening Turks. The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose Judith as one of the five subjects of her poetry on biblical figures.^[96]

A similar dynamic was created in the 16th century by the confessional strife of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Both Protestants and Catholics draped themselves in the protective mantle of Judith and cast their "heretical" enemies as Holofernes.^[97]

In 16th-century France, writers such as

The subject is one of the most commonly shown in the Power of Women topos. The account of Judith's beheading of Holofernes has been treated by several painters and sculptors, most notably Donatello and Caravaggio, as well as Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, Giorgione, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Titian, Horace Vernet, Gustav Klimt, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Trophime Bigot, Francisco Goya, Francesco Cairo and Hermann-Paul. Also, Michelangelo depicts the scene in multiple aspects in one of the Pendentives, or four spandrels on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Judy Chicago included Judith with a place setting in The Dinner Party.^[98]

In music and theatre

The famous 40-voice motet

I have no use for the biblical Judith. There, Judith is a widow who lures Holofernes into her web with wiles, when she has his head in her bag she sings and jubilates with all of Israel for three months. That is mean, such a nature is not worthy of her success [...]. My Judith is paralyzed by her deed, frozen by the thought that she might give birth to Holofernes' son; she knows that she has passed her boundaries, that she has, at the very least, done the right thing for the wrong reasons.[100]

The story of Judith has been a favourite of latter-day playwrights; it was brought alive in 1892 by Abraham Goldfaden, who worked in Eastern Europe. The American playwright Thomas Bailey Aldrich's Judith of Bethulia was first performed in New York, 1905, and was the basis for the 1914 production Judith of Bethulia by director D. W. Griffith. A full hour in length, it was one of the earliest feature films made in the United States. English writer Arnold Bennett in 1919 tried his hand at dramaturgy with Judith, a faithful reproduction in three acts; it premiered in spring 1919 at Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne.^[101] In 1981, the play "Judith among the Lepers" by the Israeli (Hebrew) playwright Moshe Shamir was performed in Israel. Shamir examines the question why the story of Judith was excluded from the Jewish (Hebrew) Bible and thus banned from Jewish history. In putting her story on stage he tries to reintegrate Judith's story into Jewish history. English playwright Howard Barker examined the Judith story and its aftermath, first in the scene "The Unforeseen Consequences of a Patriotic Act", as part of his collection of vignettes, The Possibilities. Barker later expanded the scene into a short play Judith.

Notes

References

1. ISBN 978-1783746767
   .
2. ^ See, for example, the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article, which though committed to the historicity of the book, admits and lists "very serious difficulties."
3. ^ "THE ARGVMENT OF THE BOOKE OF IVDITH - 1610 Douay Rheims Bible".
4. ^ ^{a b} "Jewish Encyclopedia - Book of Judith".
5. ^ "Prologue to Judith by Jerome".
6. ISBN 9780300139952
   .
7. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Book of Judith".
8. ISBN 9781990289064
   .
9. ISBN 978-1-906924-15-7
   .
10. ^ Greenspoon, Leonard (2010). "Studies in the Greek Bible: Essays in Honor of Francis T. Gignac (Review)". Hebrew Studies. 51 (1): 392–394.
11. ^ Senior, Donald & Collins, John J., The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible, Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 222, [1]
12. ^
    ISBN 978-1906924157
    .
13. ^ ^{a b} Flint, Peter & VanderKam, James, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity, Continuum International, 2010, p. 160 (Protestant Canon) and p. 209 (Judith not among Dead Sea Scrolls), [2]
14. ISBN 082646663X
    .
15. ^ Joel Lurie Grishaver (2001). Hanukkah: The Family Guide to Spiritual Celebration. Jewish Lights Publishing. ^{[ISBN missing]}.
16. ISBN 1-930143-31-1
17. ^ Kevin R. Brine, et al., The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, p. 30 (Open Book Publishers 2010).
18. ^ Zion & Spectre, at p. 241.
19. ^ R. Nosson Scherman, The Torah: With Ramban's Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated, Vol. VII, p. 524 (Mesorah Pubs. 2008) ^{[ISBN missing]}
20. ^ "Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 55: Examples of Such Love - Pope St. Clement of Rome".
21. ^ "On Monogamy - Tertullian".
22. ^ "The Stromata Book II, chapter 7: The Utility of Fear. Objections Answered - Clement of Alexandria".
23. ^ Gallagher, Edmon Louis, Hebrew Scripture in Patristic Biblical Theory: Canon, Language, Text, Brill, 2012, pp. 25–26, [3]
24. ^ Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (Jerome), Preface to the Books of Samuel and Kings, translated by Philip Schaff
25. ^ Hartmann, Wilfried, The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500, Catholic University of America Press, 2012, p. 95 [4]
26. ^ Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, iv. 33–37, c. 350 AD, translated by Edward H. Gifford
27. ^ Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion viii. 6, c. 385 AD, Translated by Frank Williams
28. ^ "The Argvment of the Booke of Ivdith - 1610 Douay Rheims Bible".
29. ^ "The Book of Saint Basil on the Spirit - Chapter VIII".
30. ^ Pope Innocent I, Letter to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, 405 AD
31. ^ "Philip Schaff: NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org.
32. ^ ^{a b} Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Book of Judith" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.: Canonicity: "..."the Synod of Nicaea is said to have accounted it as Sacred Scripture" (Praef. in Lib.). It is true that no documents about the canon survive in the Canons of Nicaea, and it is uncertain whether St. Jerome is referring to the use made of the book in the discussions of the council, or whether he was misled by some spurious canons attributed to that council"
33. ^ "The First Ecumenical Council on the Book of Judith?".
34. ^ Vanhoozer, Kevin J., Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, Baker Academic, 2005, p. 98 [5]
35. ^ Nigosian, S.A., From Ancient Writings to Sacred Texts: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, p. 29, [6]
36. ISBN 978-9004035959
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37. ^ "Torah of Yeshuah: Book of Meqabyan I–III".
38. ISBN 978-3110279948
    .
39. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-528961-9
    .
40. ^ Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Footnote a at Judith 13:12, accessed 2 November 2022
41. ^ Gianfranco Ravasi (2009-02-05). "Giuditta" [Judith]. Famiglia Cristiana (in Italian) – via Santi Beati.
42. ^ The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd edition (NY: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 32 AP. ^{[ISBN missing]}
43. ISBN 1-85075-566-3
    .
44. tribal ancestry, although some manuscripts, the Vulgate and the New American Bible Revised Edition
    include it.
45. ^ Judith 8:10 in Brenton's Septuagint Translation
46. ^ Judith 16:23 (Judith 16:28 in the Vulgate)
47. The Walters Art Museum
    .
48. ^ See footnote a at Judith 3:8 in the New American Bible Revised Edition and footnote b at the same verse in the Jerusalem Bible,
49. ^ Judith 5:8 (Judith 5:9 in the Vulgate)
50. ^ Judith 14:10
51. ^ Judith 14:6: Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition, based on the Vulgate
52. ^ Aquinas, T., Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas, FS: Treatise on Law, Q[105]: Of the Reason for the Judicial Precepts, Article 3, accessed 3 November 2022
53. ^ Judith 12:10
54. ^ ^{a b} Haydock, G. L., Judith 12: Notes & Commentary, accessed 31 October 2022
55. ^ Haydock, G. L., Judith 8: Notes & Commentary, accessed 16 October 2022
56. ^ Levine, A., 41. Judith, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 638
57. ^ Judith 9:1–19: Vulgate
58. ^ "Judith and Esther - Catholic Answers".
59. ^ "Babylon, Ishtar Gate - Livius.org".
60. ^ "Strabo, Geography - H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed".
61. ^ "Babylon - McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia".
62. ^ "Babylon - Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities".
63. ^ "Book of Judith - McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia".
64. ^ The Holy Bible: Translated from the Latin Vulgate ... : the Old Testament, First Published by the English College, at Douay, A.D. 1609, and the New Testament, First Published by the English College, at Rheims, A.D. 1582. With Annotations, References, Historical and Chronological Index, &c., the Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate ... J. Duffy. 1865.
65. ISBN 9780664220686
    – via Google Books.
66. ^ "THE BOOKE OF IVDITH Chap. IIII - 1610 Douay Rheims Bible".
67. ^ Roy Gane, The Role of Assyria in the Ancient Near East During the Reign of Manasseh, in Andrews University Seminary Studies, (Spring 1997, Vol. 35, No. 1), pp. 21–32.
68. ^ Study note on 2 Chronicles 33:11, in ESV Archaeology Study Bible, ed. John Currid and David Chapman (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 643.
69. ^ "Ashurbanipal". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
70. ^ "Ashurbanipal, Encyclopedia Britannica". 13 February 2024.
71. ^ "Cambridge Ancient History Vol.3 (assyrian Empire) - Internet Archive". 1925.
72. ^ Commentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l'ancien et du nouveau testament by Antoine Augustin Calmet, page 338. Pierre Emery. 1712.
73. ^ Les Livres Saints et La Critique Rationaliste, iv, 4th ed.
74. ^ "Discours sur l'histoire universelle: Dessein général de l'ouvrage by Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, 1627 - 1704". 1840.
75. ^ "Douay-Rheims Bible, Book of Judith - Chapter 1".
76. ^ "Haydock Biblical Commentary, Book of Judith - Chapter 1".
77. ^ "Ptolemy's Canon - Livius".
78. ^ "Saving Judith and Tobit by Jimmy Akin - Catholic Answers".
79. ^ ^{a b} Noah Calvin Hirschy, Artaxerxes III Ochus and His Reign, p. 81 (Univ. of Chicago Press 1909).
80. ^ A Pious Seductress: Studies in the Book of Judith (Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies 14), Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2012. ^{[ISBN missing] [page needed]}
81. ISBN 0-8254-2924-2
82. ISBN 0-567-02991-3. Clanton discusses the theory that the Books of Susanna, Greek Esther, and Judith all may be linked in that they may have been "used, if not composed, to serve as propaganda
    for the reign of Salome Alexandra."
83. ^ See Clanton, p. 41.
84. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bechtel, Florentine Stanislaus (1907). "Bethulia". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
85. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia - Book of Judith".
86. ^ Latin text of Theodosius at "Theodosius de situ Terrae sanctae im ächten Text und der Breviarius de Hierosolyma vervollständigt", J. Gildemeister (editor), published by Adolph Marcus, Bonn (1882), p.17. Accessed 28 June 2019.
87. ^ Haydock, G. L., Haydock Commentary Online: Judith 1, accessed 8 October 2022
88. ^ Judith 2:21: King James Version
89. ^ "Esora", in Cheyne & Black 1901
90. ^ Judith 4:6: New Revised Standard Version
91. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Plain of Esdraelon, updated 24 June 2004, accessed 12 October 2022
92. ^ Judith 7:3 in the World English Bible
93. ^ ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE – CYAMON (JOKNEAM), accessed 13 October 2022
94. ^ Judith 15:4: NRSV
95. ISBN 978-0-393-91247-0
    .
96. ISBN 978-1851097777
    .
97. OCLC 37836745
    .
98. ^ Place Settings. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved on 2015-08-06.
99. ^ Eric. R. Kandel. (2012). The Age of Insight.
100. ^ "Die Judith der Bibel kann ich nicht brauchen. Dort ist Judith eine Wittwe, die den Holofernes durch List und Schlauheit in's Netz lockt; sie freut sich, als sie seinen Kopf im Sack hat und singt und jubelt vor und mit ganz Israel drei Monde lang. Das ist gemein; eine solche Natur ist ihres Erfolgs gar nicht würdig [...]. Meine Judith wird durch ihre That paralysirt; sie erstarrt vor der Möglichkeit, einen Sohn des Holofernes zu gebären; es wird ihr klar, daß sie über die Gränzen hinaus gegangen ist, daß sie mindestens das Rechte aus unrechten Gründen gethan hat" (Tagebücher 2:1872)
101. ^ Arnold Bennett: "Judith", Gutenberg Ed.

Further reading

• Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, John Sutherland, eds. (1901). "Esora". Encyclopaedia Biblica. Vol. II E to K. New York: Macmillan.
• Friedrich Justus Knecht (1910). "The Heroic Judith" . A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. B. Herder.
• Pope, Hugh (1910). "Book of Judith" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Book of Judith

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Judith (Bible)

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• The Book of Judith Full text (also available in Arabic)
• Craven, Toni Judith: Apocrypha, The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women 31 December 1999 at Jewish Women's Archive
• Toy, Crawford Howell; Torrey, Charles C.JUDITH, BOOK OF at The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906
• O'Loughlin, Tom; Malcom, Matthew; Talbert, Andrew; Watts, Peter (2010). "Judith". Bibledex - A video about every book in the Bible. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
• Book of Judith public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha
Preceded by Tobit	R.Catholic & Orthodox Books of the Bible	Succeeded by Esther