Chapter Twelve

1–9. Three days in the camp of Holofernes. 10–20. A feast with an invitation to Judith.

Judith 12:1. And he ordered her to be brought to the place where his silver vessels were kept, and he commanded her to eat from his table and to drink of his wine. 1. “To the place where his silver vessels were kept,” that is, to the dining room, for which these vessels were also a rich decoration.

Judith 12:2. But Judith said: I will not eat of these, lest there be a stumbling block, but let them serve me what was brought with me. 2. It should be noted here Judith’s wise caution in explaining the reasons for her refusal of Holofernes’ food. She avoids revealing her disinclination toward the food of pagans, as unclean from the point of view of a later Jew, but shifts the center of gravity to the nature of the food itself, forbidden by God in the Jewish law. This was bound to strengthen even more the confidence in Judith, who had just explained her flight from the Jews precisely by zeal for the law, which was endangered by a similar violation through consumption of the sacred, inviolable.

Judith 12:3. Holofernes said to her: But when what you have brought is used up, where shall we get the like for you? For there is no one of your nation among us. 3. “There is no one of your nation among us,” that is, who could obtain lawful food and know how to prepare it for Judith according to her tastes and convictions.

Judith 12:4. Judith answered him: As your soul lives, my lord; your servant will not consume what she has with her before the Lord accomplishes by my hand what He has determined. 4. “As your soul lives, my lord!” —a special kind of oath, strengthened by the force of the wish for health to the one before whom one swears and whom one desires to see as the necessary witness of the fulfillment of what is confirmed by this oath. “Your servant will not consume what she has with her before the Lord accomplishes by my hand what He has determined.” By such an artfully ambiguous expression, Judith designates the very subject or content of the oath, dispelling Holofernes’ remaining doubts. It is also noteworthy here the confidence with which Judith treats the deed she has planned, as the deed of the direct hand and determination of God. Evidently, only a true chosen one and messenger of God can speak and act thus, however one may reason about the intentions of her historian, who gave such an edifying and captivating account of her.

Judith 12:5. And the servants of Holofernes brought her to the tent, and she slept until midnight; and before the morning watch she arose 5. “The servants of Holofernes brought her to a tent”—this was apparently a completely separate, unoccupied tent, not far from the tent of Holofernes (cf. Jdt 14:17). The latter is confirmed by the fact that Holofernes’ bodyguards were also bodyguards for Judith (verse 7).

Judith 12:6. and sent word to Holofernes: Let my lord give orders that your servant be allowed to go out to pray. 6. “Let my lord give orders that your servant be allowed to go out to pray.” Judith makes this request earlier to Holofernes also—Jdt 11:17: “let your servant go out at night to the valley to pray to God,” and there is indicated an important explanation of both these outings and the prayers themselves: “He (God) will reveal to me, when they (the Jews) have committed their transgression” (cf. Jdt 11:13-15). “Your servant,” “your servant”—are expressions not only of the utmost politeness, but also of actual dependence, finding its pleasantness in the magnanimity and good intentions of the one appearing in relation to this servant as “my lord.”

Judith 12:7. Holofernes commanded his bodyguards not to hinder her. And she remained in the camp three days, and at night she went out into the valley of Bethulia, washed at the spring of water in the camp. 7. “Washed at the spring of water in the camp”—for cleansing from the inevitable contact with pagans and the pagan, which violated the purity of a Jew, in his view.

Judith 12:8. And, going out, she prayed to the Lord, God of Israel, that He would direct her way to the deliverance of His people. 8. “Going out, she prayed,” that is, going out from the water of the spring used for her ablutions.

Judith 12:9. Upon her return she remained in the tent pure, and in the evening they brought her food. Judith 12:10. On the fourth day Holofernes made a feast for his own servants and did not call any of those appointed to the service. 10. At the feast arranged for the sake of Judith, Holofernes invited “only his own servants and did not call any of those appointed to service,” that is, he invited only the nearest, most important persons of his retinue, and excluded from participation in the feast official persons, officials appointed to office (προς ταίς χρείαις). This was clearly done because a large gathering of guests and numerous witnesses would have been quite inconvenient for achieving his dishonorable designs on Judith, whom he decided to seduce.

Judith 12:11. And he said to the eunuch Bagoas, who was in charge of all his affairs: Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is with you to come to us and to eat and drink with us: 11. The name of the eunuch—Bagoas (Βαγώας)—is Persian—quite often appears precisely in denoting the name of eunuchs. “Persuade the Hebrew woman who is with you”—that is, under your care and supervision.

Judith 12:12. It is disgraceful for us to leave such a woman alone, without speaking with her; she will mock us if we do not invite her. 12. “It is disgraceful for us to leave such a woman alone, without speaking with her; she will mock us if we do not invite her.” By justifying such an obvious stretch to persuade Bagoas of the invitation of Judith, Holofernes either wished to hide from Bagoas and others his real intention toward Judith, or simply was prompting Bagoas in what delicate form he should make the invitation to Judith, so as not to embarrass her too much and to avoid the need to use obvious force against her.

Judith 12:13. Bagoas, going out from Holofernes, came to her and said: Do not hesitate, beautiful young woman, to come to my lord, so that you may receive honor before him, and drink wine with us in gladness, and become this day like one of the daughters of the Assyrians who wait upon Nebuchadnezzar. 13. The invitation of Judith by Bagoas is indeed made in expressions sufficiently delicate, though sufficiently transparent in hinting at what may await Judith (“to become... like one of the daughters of the Assyrians who wait upon Nebuchadnezzar”).

Judith 12:14. Judith said to him: Who am I that I should disobey my lord? I will hasten to perform all that will be pleasing to my lord, and this will be a joy to me until the day of my death. 14. For her own purposes, nothing could be better and more desirable for Judith than the invitation made to her, and she could fully express joy at this invitation and full readiness for everything, showing the appearance of slight resistance as if from desire to observe at least a shadow of feminine modesty and delicacy: “Who am I that I should disobey my lord?” Some commentators, admittedly, understood Judith’s answer differently, understanding by the Greek κύριος the Lord God (“I will hasten to perform all that will be pleasing to my lord”—to my God) and adding to the word “all” the limitation “insofar as this will be consistent with my honor and duty”; but there is no need for the indicated distortion of Judith’s words; she could fully have spoken as she did, not promising anything more than what was actually part of her plans and was ambiguous for Holofernes to be “until the day of my death” her “joy.”

Judith 12:15. She rose and dressed in her clothing and all her woman’s adornment; and her maidservant went and spread out for her on the ground before Holofernes the carpets that she had received from Bagoas for her everyday use, to eat while reclining on them. Judith 12:16. Then Judith came and reclined. The heart of Holofernes was moved toward her, and his soul was greatly stirred: he desired greatly to lie with her, and had been seeking an opportunity to seduce her from the very day he saw her. 16. “His soul was greatly stirred”: the soul here—as the seat of sensuality, lust.

Judith 12:17. And Holofernes said to her: Drink and be merry with us. Judith 12:18. And Judith said: I will drink, my lord, for my life has been magnified in me more than on all the days since my birth. 18. “My life has been magnified in me more than on all the days since my birth.” A remarkable subtlety of ambiguity that combines in itself complete non-ambiguity—different and diametrically opposite for the speaker and the listener. For Holofernes, these lofty flattering words were unambiguous, promising him the successful achievement of his lustful desires. For Judith, these words were unambiguous, expressing her solemn confidence in the imminent death of Holofernes and the deliverance of the Jews from him by her hand.

Judith 12:19. And she took and ate and drank before him what her maidservant had prepared. Judith 12:20. And Holofernes gazed upon her and drank a great quantity of wine, more than he had ever drunk on any day since his birth. 19–20. “And she took and ate and drank before him what her maidservant had prepared.” In this way, even at the feast, Judith remained faithful to her former strictness with regard to food. But Holofernes forgets all caution, and, flattered by the imagined victory over Judith’s heart, drinks so much as he had “never, on any day since his birth.” Our Telegram channel