Chapter Four

1–3. The fear of the Jews before Holofernes. 4–8. Desperate preparations for defense. 9–15. Prayer to God for help.

Judith 4:1. When the children of Israel who lived in Judea heard of all that Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered all their sanctuaries and devoted them to destruction, Judith 4:2. they were greatly frightened and trembled for Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord their God; Judith 4:3. because they had only recently returned from captivity, all the people of Judea had been gathered together, and the sacred vessels, the altar, and the house of the Lord had been sanctified after defilement. 1–3. The fear of the Jews before Holofernes, as is plainly indicated, was primarily aroused by the fact that he plundered and destroyed the sanctuaries of the conquered peoples. The same danger obviously threatened the sanctuary of Jehovah, which had only recently been restored after the return from captivity.

Judith 4:4. They sent messengers throughout all the border of Samaria and Coni, and Betheron and Belmain, and Jericho, and to Choba and Esora, and to the plain of Salem, 4. “Coni”—Κωνάς, otherwise Κωνά, and according to some manuscripts even Κώμας (without the following καί), with this κώμας (village) establishing the dependent status of the following “Betheron” and so forth as a definition (in the villages of Bethoron, etc.). As an independent place by such a name it is difficult to identify anything. “Betheron”—Βαιθωρών—this is the present-day Beit-Ur. “Belmain”—Βελμέν, Alexandria Βελμαιν, otherwise ‘ Αβελμαείν, Latin Abelmam: a place somewhere near Dothan (further mentions of it: Jdt 7:3 — either Βελθεμ, or Βελβαίμ and Βελμέν, as well as ‘ Αβελμαεν, Vet. Lat. Abelme, Vulgate Belma, and Jdt 8:3 — Βελαμών) and Lamon. “To Choba”—Χωβά, or Χωβαι (Jdt 15:5)—north of Damascus (Gen 14:15). “Esora”—Αίσωρα, A σσαρών—this is probably the Hebrew corresponding to A σώρ—Azor. “The plain of Salem.”—Σασλήμ, the valley of Sharon—according to some; others understand here a region in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

Judith 4:5. they took possession of the summits of the high mountains, fortified with walls the villages standing on them, and laid up stores of grain in preparation for war, since their fields had recently been harvested, Judith 4:6. And the high priest Joiakim, who was in Jerusalem at that time, wrote to the inhabitants of Bethulia and Bethomesthem, which lay opposite Esdraelon, before the plain near Dothan, 6. The high priest Joiakim—according to some manuscripts bears the name Eliakeim (Ί λιακείμ). “Bethulia”—Βετυλούα, Βατυλώα, Βαιτουλία, Vulgate Bethalia—a place not mentioned anywhere else in this book. It is difficult to identify it with any known places. This uncertainty and obscurity of Bethulia gave some reason to suspect even its existence and to regard it as pure fiction, yet Modein, where Mattathias took refuge, is likewise mentioned nowhere else in the Bible and cannot easily be found among known places today, and yet to explain everything here as fiction would be quite unconvincing. Certain details in the Bible’s description of Bethulia help somewhat to determine, at least approximately, its position. It was adjacent to Israel and Dothan (Jdt 4:6), was situated on a mountain at the foot of which was a spring (Jdt 6:13); among present places, Sheik Shebel may most substantially fit this description. “Bethomesthem”—Βαιτομεσθαίμ, also mentioned in Jdt 15:4.

Judith 4:7. that they might occupy the mountain passes in the highlands, because it was through them that the entrance to Judea lay, and it was easy for them to prevent those coming, since the passage was narrow even for two men. Judith 4:8. The children of Israel did as the high priest Joiakim and the elders of all the people of Israel, who dwelt in Jerusalem, commanded them. 8. “The elders of all the people of Israel”—γερουσία, mentioned further on—Jdt 11:14. Some wanted to see here a reference to the Sanhedrin, and since the latter did not exist before the captivity, they dated the whole history of Judith to a time significantly later than the captivity. This, however, is poorly founded, since γερουσία here represents simply a translation of the frequently occurring biblical expression “the elders of Israel.”

Judith 4:9. And all the men of Israel cried out to God with great earnestness and humbled their souls with great earnestness: Judith 4:10. they and their wives and children and their cattle; and every foreign resident, and every hired laborer and every slave bought for money put sackcloth around their loins. Judith 4:11. And every man of Israel and every woman and the children and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the temple, put ashes on their heads, and spread their sackcloth before the Lord, Judith 4:12. and covered the altar in sackcloth and fervently and with one accord called upon the God of Israel that He would not deliver their children to spoiling, nor their wives to captivity, nor the cities of their inheritance to destruction, nor their holy places to profanation and contempt. 9–12. “And they cried out… and humbled their souls… they (all the men of Israel) and their wives and children and their cattle…” How the cattle were to take part in the sorrow of Israel is explained by a similar passage in the book of the prophet Jonah (Jonah 3:7-8), where it is told how the king of Nineveh, touched by the preaching of the prophet and himself the first to exchange his royal robes for penitential sackcloth, commanded his subjects “that neither people nor cattle nor oxen nor sheep taste anything, do not feed on grass or drink water, and that both people and cattle be covered in sackcloth and cry out to God with great strength.” The sorrow and grief of all that surrounded should have accompanied the sorrow of Israel and deepened his cry to God for mercy and hope for being heard. The altar itself—the sacred vessel of the people’s prayers and the mercies of Jehovah—was clothed in sackcloth, and with its heart-rending appearance it deepened the streams of repentant sorrowful tears and prayers.

Judith 4:13. And the Lord heard their voice and regarded their affliction; and throughout all Judea and Jerusalem the people fasted many days before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty. Judith 4:14. And Joiakim, the high priest, and all the priests who stood before the Lord, the servants, girded their loins with sackcloth and offered constant burnt offerings and vows and voluntary gifts of the people. Judith 4:15. On their turbans was ash, and they with all their strength cried out to the Lord, that He would visit with mercy the whole house of Israel. 13–15. The religious enthusiasm of the Jews, rare in its touching and universal character, was not only aroused by their helplessness and fear of the desperate position, but was at the same time a sign of their strong inner religious vitality, which the calamities of the last years of the Kingdoms had especially nurtured in the Jewish soul. This is what lent to the expressions of the Jews’ sorrow a special touching quality and moved the Lord to hear their voice and regard their affliction.