Chapter Ten

1–5. Judith’s preparation for her journey. 6–10. Meeting with the rulers at the gates. 11–17. Meeting with the Assyrians. 18–19. Judith in the enemy camp. 20–23. Judith is presented to Holofernes in his tent.

Judith 10:1. When she ceased crying out to the God of Israel and finished all these words, Judith 10:2. she rose to her feet, called her maidservant, and went into the house in which she observed the Sabbaths and her feasts. 1–2. “She went into the house in which she observed the Sabbaths and her feasts,” meaning she went from the “tent” which “she had made for herself on the roof of her house,” for solitude after the loss of her husband (Jdt 8:5). Such tents, or otherwise “upper chambers” for solitary secret prayer and communion with God are often mentioned in other biblical passages and were evidently a feature of all devout Israelite houses (Tob 3:17; Acts 10:9 and others).

Judith 10:3. There she removed the sackcloth which she had put on, took off her garments of widowhood, washed her body with water, anointed herself with fragrant oil, combed her hair, and put a tiara on her head; she dressed in the garments of her gladness, in which she had dressed herself during the days of the life of her husband Manasseh; 3. According to Jdt 9:1 Judith had already before the prayer “removed the sackcloth,” so the second mention of this, after the conclusion of the prayer, should either be understood as a repetition of the first, or perhaps Judith put the sackcloth back on after the prayer and, having descended from the chamber into the house, had to remove it again along with the other garments—for her complete change of clothing, which she carried out with full care.

Judith 10:4. she put sandals on her feet, put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her ornaments, and adorned herself to captivate the eyes of all who should see her. 4. “She put sandals on her feet,”—as one of the means to captivate Holofernes (Jdt 16:9). At home she was able to do without them, but in this case they naturally had special significance, completing the beauty of her attire and the power of her charm.

Judith 10:5. She gave her maidservant a skin of wine and a vessel of oil, and filled a bag with parched grain and dried figs and pure bread, and wrapped all these provisions and placed them on her. 5. “Pure bread”—in contrast to pagan bread, which was forbidden to a Jew (Jdt 12:1-2).

Judith 10:6. They went out to the gate of the city of Bethulia and found standing by it Uzziah and the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmi. 6. See the explanation above on Jdt 8:10.

Judith 10:7. When they saw her and beheld the change in her face and dress, they greatly marveled at her beauty and said to her: Judith 10:8. “God, God of our fathers, grant you grace and complete your purposes for the joy of the sons of Israel and for the exaltation of Jerusalem.” She bowed down to God 8. “Grant you favor”—Gr. δώη σε εις χάριν, Slav. more precisely and in accordance with the Greek: “give you into favor,” that is, grant that you be in the full disposition and keeping of God’s favor and benevolence—in other words, “may God help and protect you by His grace!” “She bowed down to God and said to them...” According to the opinion of some interpreters, after the word “bowed” in the original should read ??? (“them”), but the translator took Heb. ??? for ??? and translated “bowed to God,” when it should have been translated “bowed to them,” that is, to the elders. Many manuscripts indeed have such a variation in this place. Other interpreters dispute the appropriateness of such a correction and, referring to how earlier Judith conducted herself toward the elders—far from in such a way that they could expect a bow from her (Chapter VIII)—say that a bow to God was far more appropriate here on the part of Judith, constituting as it were her “amen” to the wishes of the elders.

Judith 10:9. and said to them: “Order the gates of the city to be opened for me; I will go out to accomplish the deed of which we spoke together.” And the young men were ordered to open for her, as she said. Judith 10:10. They did so. And Judith went out with her maidservant; and the men of the city watched after her as she descended the hill, passed through the valley, and disappeared from their sight. Judith 10:11. They walked straight through the valley, and the advance guard of the Assyrians met Judith, Judith 10:12. and they took her and asked her: “Whose are you, where are you coming from, and where are you going?” She said: “I am a daughter of the Hebrews and I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be delivered to you for destruction. Judith 10:13. “I am going to Holofernes, the commander of your army, to bring him words of truth and to show him a path by which he will go and conquer all the hill country, so that not one of his men will fall and not one soul will be lost. 13. “Not one soul”—πνεύμα ζωής (Gen 6:17)—this expression is used here to strengthen the thought: “not one of his men will die in any way whatsoever.”

Judith 10:14. When they heard her words and gazed upon her face, they marveled greatly at her beauty and said to her: Judith 10:15. “You have saved your life by making haste to come to our lord; go to the tent of our commander, and some of our men will escort you and deliver you into his hands. 15. “You have saved your life,” that is, your life (see Ps 71:13 and Mark 3:4).

Judith 10:16. “When you stand before him, do not fear in your heart, but speak your words, and he will treat you well. Judith 10:17. And, choosing one hundred men from among them, they assigned them to her and to her maidservant, and they led them to the tent of Holofernes. 17. The number of escorts provided for Judith is somewhat large (100 men). This was probably needed not only for Judith’s protection, but also to express the special importance which the enemy felt in this unusual occurrence. Perhaps the regal bearing of Judith immediately inspired such a regal respect, which at once suggested assigning her a regal retinue for formal presentation to Holofernes. Finally, the fact that the enemy was in a foreign territory naturally explains the large number of Judith’s escorts, for the advance guard where Judith was captured was certainly not so close to the rest of the camp that communication with it would be entirely safe from all accidents; in all important cases communication naturally had to be conducted by entire detachments.

Judith 10:18. There was great commotion throughout the camp, for news of her coming spread through the tents; the soldiers gathered around her as she stood outside Holofernes’ tent, until he was informed about her; Judith 10:19. and they marveled at her beauty, and through her they marveled at the sons of Israel, and each said to his neighbor: “Who could despise a people that has such women? It is foolish to leave one man of them alive, for if left they could deceive the whole earth. 19. “Who could despise a people that has such women? It is foolish to leave one man of them alive, for if left they could deceive the whole earth.” The first of these sentences has a questioning character and expects no answer, because the second sentence replies with a completely different thought. Both sentences are presented as two independent extremes to which the conversations and judgments of the enemy reached upon seeing Judith. Some said that this people, the people of Judith, must probably be distinguished by outstanding virtues and deserve respectful treatment rather than contempt. The historian expressed this thought in the form of a question, implying an answer confirming the justice of what is asked (“who?...”—“no one”). Others, on the other hand, saw precisely in the virtues of this people an extreme danger to themselves and made the opposite conclusion—about the necessity of the complete destruction of the Jewish men. The historian opposed this as a response that destroys the persuasive force of the direct answer and accords more with the representation of the terrible danger threatening the Jews. “Deceive the whole earth”—κατασοφίσασθαι πάσαν τήν γήν—Vet. Lat. possidere totam terram. The ancient Latin text explains more precisely the meaning of the Greek, expressing “the survivors would be able to occupy (possidere) the whole earth.”—However, such an explanation takes from the original a very characteristic shade of thought. In the expression “deceive” is specially emphasized an outstanding property of the Jewish people, which made it, from the enemy’s viewpoint, a force difficult to overcome: this property is the power of their mind, reasonableness, strength of spirit, sufficient representations, of which could be given by the enchanting speeches of Judith. Here, thus, is confirmed once more that for victory over the Jews numerical superiority and physical strength are not sufficient (the thought of Achior): for this a special art is needed—“cunning”—the highest work of mind and spiritual powers generally, of which there is so much on the side of the Jews that, even defeated by their own weapon, they can extricate themselves from difficulty and hold the decisive significance of victory for themselves.

Judith 10:20. And those on guard at Holofernes’ side and all his servants went out and brought her into the tent. 20. “Those on guard at Holofernes’ side and all his servants,” that is, those who made up his guard, kept watch beside him.

Judith 10:21. Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy woven with purple and gold and emeralds and precious stones. Judith 10:22. When he was told about her, he came out to the front portion of his tent, and silver lamps were borne before him. 22. “Silver lamps were borne before him.” This was necessary not only according to the requirements of, perhaps, etiquette, but also by actual need for light—for a better examination of the captured Jewess, since the matter took place at night (Jdt 11:3, and earlier Jdt 8:33).

Judith 10:23. When Judith appeared before him and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She fell on her face, prostrated herself before him, and his servants lifted her up. 23. “She fell on her face and prostrated herself before him.” Jews generally avoided such expressions of respect to mere mortals, especially to pagans, considering such homage appropriate only to Jehovah—God. In the history of Esther we have an example of a sharp and decisive refusal on the part of Mordecai to render such honor to Haman. But in the same history we see that Esther herself falls at the feet of Artaxerxes with her petition (Esth 8:3). Evidently, this action of falling and prostration allowed different interpretations and some distinction in application to God and man, and was not applied by all with the scrupulousness we see in Mordecai.