—What can Judith mean to us today?
—What are connections between Judith and Hanukkah?
—Book of Judith and other extrabiblical texts
—Rishonim through early Acharonim (1000s-1500s)
—Modern Jewish feminism
[Judith is conspicuously absent from ancient rabbinic sources and the Dead Sea Scrolls!]
1:1-16 Nebuchadnezzar wars with Arphaxad and defeats him.
2:1-20 Nebuchadnezzar has Holophernes organize a vast military initiative.
2:21-3:10 Holophernes’ conquests.
4:1-15 The Israelites brace for war and pray to God, who hears their cries.
5:1-6:21 Achior describes the Israelites to Holophernes and is expelled to Bethulia.
7:1-32 Holophernes cuts off Bethulia’s water supply, causing the people of Bethulia to despair.
8:1-36 Judith is introduced. She summons and scolds the town’s leaders.
9:1-14 Judith’s prayer.
10:1-17 Judith prepares for her mission and leaves for the Assyrian army camp.
10:18-12:9 Judith’s first encounter with Holophernes and first days in the camp.
12:10-13:10 Judith parties with Holophernes and kills him as he sleeps.
13:11-14:10 Judith returns home to Bethulia and Achior converts to Judaism.
14:11-15:7 The Assyrians learn of Holophernes’ death and are defeated by the Israelites.
15:8-16:20 The Israelite victory is celebrated in song and with a visit to Jerusalem.
16:21-25 Epilogue.
—Parallels with Maccabees
—Judith : Hanukkah :: Esther : Purim
—Conflation of stories in medieval sources
[See Deborah Levine Gera, "Judith: A Chanukah Heroine?" (TheTorah.com, 2015)]
31 The day of this victory was accepted by the Hebrews among their holy days, and is observed by the Jews from that time up to the present day.
7 She was beautiful in appearance and very lovely to behold. Her husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, male and female slaves, flocks and fields, and she watched over them. 8 No one spoke an ill word of her, because she feared God greatly. 9 Judith, then, heard the ill words of the people against their leader, since their spirits were low because of the scarcity of water. She also heard all that Uzziah had said to them and how he swore to surrender the city to the Assyrians in five days. 10 She sent her maid who was in charge of all her possessions and summoned Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, the elders of her city. 11 When they came to her she said to them, "Listen to me, leaders of the inhabitants of Bethulia. The words you have spoken to the people today are not right, nor is this oath which you took and pronounced between God and yourselves, saying that you would surrender the city to our enemies if the Lord does not turn to our aid within these days. 12 Who are you now, that you put God to the test today and take the place of God among mortals? ... 24 And now, brothers, let us serve as an example for our brothers, for their lives are in our hands, and the holy places, the temple, and the altar rest upon us. 25 In view of all this let us be grateful to the Lord our God, who is testing us, as he did our fathers. 26 Remember all he did with Abraham, and how much he tested Isaac, and all that happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia when he herded the flocks of Laban, his mother's brother. 27 He has not set us an ordeal by fire as he did with them to test their hearts, nor has he taken revenge upon us, but the Lord chastises those close to him as a warning." 28 Uzziah replied to her, "All that you have said was spoken with a true heart and there is no one who will oppose your words. 29 For your wisdom has been apparent not just from today, but from your earliest days the people have recognized your intelligence and that your heart's intentions are good. 30 But the people are very thirsty and they compelled us to do what we have promised them. They made us take an oath which we shall not transgress. 31 Pray for us now, for you are a devout woman. The Lord will send rain to fill our cisterns and we shall no longer be faint from thirst." 32 Judith replied to them, "Listen to me and I shall perform a deed which will be transmitted to generation after generation of our children. 33 Stand at the gate tonight and I shall go out with my maidservant. Within the days after which you said that you would surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will rescue Israel by my hand. 34 Do not inquire after my doings, for I shall not tell you until my deed is accomplished." 35 Uzziah and the leaders replied, "Go in peace and may the Lord God go before you to avenge our enemies." 36 They departed from her tent and went to their posts.
19 [Judith] took what her servant had prepared, and ate and drank opposite him. 20 Holophernes was delighted by her and drank a great quantity of wine, the like of which he had never drunk in a single day from the time he was born. 13:1 When evening came, his servants quickly departed. Bagoas closed the tent from the outside and dismissed the attendants from his master's presence. They all went to their beds, exhausted because of the excessive drinking. 2 Judith was left alone in the tent with Holophernes, who had fallen on his bed, since he was soused in wine. 3 Judith told her maid to stand outside the bedroom and to wait for her to come out, as she did every day, since, she said, she would be going out to her prayers. She said something similar to Bagoas too. 4 They all left and no one, small or great, remained in the bedroom. Judith stood near his bed and said in her heart, "Lord, God, of all might, look this hour upon the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. 5 For now is the time to lay claim to your heritage and to carry out my plan to shatter the enemies who have risen against us." 6 Approaching the bed post which was near Holophernes' head, withdrew his sword from it. 7 She came near the bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, "Make me strong, Lord, God of Israel, on this very day." 8 She then struck his neck twice with all her strength and cut off his head.
[See also Judah's prayers: 1 Macc. 4:30-33, 7:41-42; 2 Macc. 10:25-26, 15:21-27]
1 It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh... 20 The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord... 41 Last of all, the mother died, after her sons. 42 Let this be enough, then, about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.
[More on the mother in 4 Macc., e.g. Ch. 15; other extrabiblical women: Greek Additions to Esther, Susannah (Greek Daniel), Book of Biblical Antiquities (LAB), Sarah (Tobit)]
1 When the uproar of the men around the council had stopped, Holophernes, chief commander of the Assyrian army, spoke to Achior and all the Moabites, in front of the entire crowd of foreigners. 2 Who are you Achior—and the mercenaries of Ephraim—that you have acted the prophet among us today and said that we should not make war upon the people of Israel, because their God will defend them? Who is god, if not Nebuchadnezzar? He will send his might and utterly destroy them from the face of the earth. Their God will not rescue them. 3 But we, his servants, will strike them as if they were a single person. They will not be able to withstand the might of our cavalry. 4 We shall overwhelm them with our horses. Their mountains will be drunk with their blood and their plains filled with their corpses. Their footprints will not withstand us, but they shall utterly perish, says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of the entire earth. For he has spoken and his words shall not be in vain.
1 When Nicanor heard that Judas and his men were in the region of Samaria, he made plans to attack them with complete safety on the day of rest. 2 And when the Jews who were compelled to follow him said, "Do not destroy so savagely and barbarously, but show respect for the day which he who sees all things has honored and hallowed above other days," 3 the thrice-accursed wretch asked if there were a sovereign in heaven who had commanded the keeping of the sabbath day. 4 And when they declared, "It is the living Lord himself, the Sovereign in heaven, who ordered us to observe the seventh day," 5 he replied, "And I am a sovereign also, on earth, and I command you to take up arms and finish the king's business." Nevertheless, he did not succeed in carrying out his abominable design. 6 This Nicanor in his utter boastfulness and arrogance had determined to erect a public monument of victory over Judas and his men. 7 But Maccabeus did not cease to trust with all confidence that he would get help from the Lord. 8 And he exhorted his men not to fear the attack of the Gentiles, but to keep in mind the former times when help had come to them from heaven, and now to look for the victory which the Almighty would give them. 9 Encouraging them from the law and the prophets, and reminding them also of the struggles they had won, he made them the more eager.
11 At daybreak they hung Holophernes' head from the wall. All the men took up their arms and went out to the mountain passes in units. 12 When the Assyrians saw them, they sent to their leaders, who went to the generals, the captains of thousands, and all the other officers. 13 They came to Holophernes' tent and said to the one in charge of all his affairs, "Wake up our lord, for the slaves have dared to come down to us to make war, so that they will be utterly destroyed." 14 Bagoas went in and knocked on the curtain of the tent, since he supposed that he was sleeping with Judith. 15 Since no one responded, he opened the curtain and went into the bedroom. He found him thrown down on the threshold, a corpse, with his head taken away. 16 He cried in a loud voice, wailing, groaning, and shouting mightily, and tore his clothes. 17 Next he went into the tent where Judith had stayed, but did not find her. He then rushed out to the people shouting, 18 "The slaves have behaved treacherously. A single Hebrew woman has shamed the house of King Nebuchadnezzar. Look! Holophernes is on the ground without his head!" 19 When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard these words, they tore their tunics and their spirits were greatly shaken. Their cries and shouting were very loud throughout the camp. 15:1 When the people in the tents heard, they were terrified by what had happened. 2 Fear and trembling overtook them. Not a single person waited for another, but with one accord they rushed out and fled on every path in the plain and the highlands. 3 The men who were encamped in the highlands around Bethulia took to flight. Then the Israelites, every fighting man among them, rushed out against them. 4 Uzziah sent messengers to Betomasthaim, Hobai, and Kola, and to all the territory of Israel to report on what had happened and to urge everyone to rush out against the enemy and destroy them. 5 When the Israelites heard this, they all, with one accord, fell upon them and cut them down as far as Hoba. The men from Jerusalem and all the hill country also arrived, for they had been told of what had happened in the enemy camp. The men in Gilead and the Galilee outflanked the enemy, inflicting great casualties, until they reached Damascus and its territory. 6 The remaining inhabitants of Bethulia fell upon the Assyrian camp, plundered it, and acquired great wealth. 7 The Israelites returning from the slaughter seized the rest. The villages and settlements in the highlands and the plain also took much booty, since there was an enormous quantity.
39 Now Nicanor went out from Jerusalem and encamped in Beth-horon, and the Syrian army joined him. 40 And Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed and said, 41 "When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy, thy angel went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. 42 So also crush this army before us today; let the rest learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against the sanctuary, and judge him according to this wickedness." 43 So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. The army of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. 44 When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled. 45 The Jews pursued them a day's journey, from Adasa as far as Gazara, and as they followed kept sounding the battle call on the trumpets. 46 And men came out of all the villages of Judea round about, and they out-flanked the enemy and drove them back to their pursuers, so that they all fell by the sword; not even one of them was left. 47 Then the Jews seized the spoils and the plunder, and they cut off Nicanor's head and the right hand which he so arrogantly stretched out, and brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem. 48 The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a day of great gladness. 49 And they decreed that this day should be celebrated each year on the thirteenth day of Adar.
וְאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: נָשִׁים חַיָּיבוֹת בְּמִקְרָא מְגִילָּה, שֶׁאַף הֵן הָיוּ בְּאוֹתוֹ הַנֵּס.
And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levisaid: Women are obligated in the reading of the Megilla, as they too werein that miracle.
שאף הן היו באותו הנס. פירש רשב"ם שעיקר הנס היה על ידן בפורים על ידי אסתר בחנוכה על ידי יהודית בפסח שבזכות צדקניות שבאותו הדור נגאלו וקשה דלשון שאף הן משמע שהן טפלות ולפירושו היה לו לומר שהן לכך נראה לי שאף הן היו בספק דלהשמיד ולהרוג וכן בפסח שהיו משועבדות לפרעה במצרים וכן בחנוכה הגזירה היתה מאד עליהן.
As they too were in that miracle. Rashbam [Rabbi Samuel Ben Meir, early-mid 1100s] explained that the primary part of the miracle was done by them; Purim—by Esther, Chanukah—by Judith, Pesach—for they were saved in the merit of the righteous women of that generation. And this [interpretation] is difficult, for the language "as they too were" implies that they were secondary, and according to his [Rashbam's] interpretation, it should have said "since they were." Therefore, it seems to me that they were also potentially going to be wiped out and killed, and so too on Pesach, when they were enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt, and in Chanukah, the decrees applied to them too.
שאף הן היו באותו הנס. שגזרו יונים על כל הבתולות הנישאות שיבעלו להגמון תחילה וע"י אשה נעשה נס דאמרינן במדרש דבתו של יוחנן האכילה לראש האויבים גבינה לשכרותו וחתכה את ראשו וברחו כולם ועל זה נהגו לאכול גבינה בחנוכה:
As they too were in that miracle. As the Greeks commanded that all the maidens who were married be carried off to the general first, and by a woman was the miracle done: as it is written in a midrash, Yochanan's daughter fed the leader of the Greeks cheese to get him drunk, and she cut off his head and escaped; and because of this it's customary to eat cheese on Hanukkah.
—A Greek leader who forces brides to sleep with him first
—Setting of Judith during Hasmonean Revolt
—Explanation of custom to eat cheese on Hanukkah
אוֹדְךָ כִּי אָנַֽפְתָּ (בִּי) וַתָּֽשָׁב
אָזְנְךָ הִטִּֽיתָ שַׁוְעִי לִקְשׁוֹב
אֹיַֽבְתִּי כְּקַשׁ בְּעַלְעֹֽלֶת לִנְשׁוֹב.
אָבִֽינָה וְאֶזְכְּרָה יְמֵי קֶֽדֶם
אֲשֶׁר קְרָאֽוּנִי כְּנִכְתָּם אֹֽדֶם
אוֹתוֹתָם אַגִּֽידָה וְלֹא אֵרָֽדֶם.
אָשִֽׂיחָה צָרוֹת וְנִקְמַת אַנְטְיוּכַס
אִבַּח חֲסִידַי וּמְשִׁיחַי נָכַס
אֱוִילֵי עַמִּי כְּהִקְרִיצֽוּנִי לְהַרְכַּס. ...
כְּנִתְמַלֵּא סֶֽפֶק וְשַׁדַּי חָנַן
כִּנֵּס חַשְׁמֹנַי לְבַת יוֹחָנָן
כִּנְּסוּם לְחֻפָּה בְּמִשְׁתֶּה לְהִתְרוֹנָן.
כֹּל עֶדְיָהּ פָּחֲחָה הַכַּלָּה,
כּוֹס מָזְגָה לִקְרוּאֵי הַלּוֹלָה,
כָּבְשׁוּ פְנֵיהֶם מֵהַבִּיט צִלָּהּ.
כָּבֵד שֶֽׁצֶף הָאָח לְעֻמָּהּ
כַּבִּירִים קְרוּאִים פֶּה לְהַנְעִֽימָה
כְּנֶגְדָּם (אֵיךְ) עָמַדְתְּ כִּקְדֵשָׁה עֲרֵמָה?!
לָֽמוֹ הֵשִֽׁיבָה נְוַת יְפֵה־פִיָּה
לִי אֵיךְ תְּיַסְּרֽוּנִי בִּרְמִיָּה
לְעָרֵל וְטָמֵא תַּשְׁגִּילֽוּנִי (הַלַּֽיְלָה) עֶרְיָה.
לָבְשָׁה רוּחַ אָז יְהוּדָה
לִבּוֹ מְלָאוֹ גְּבוּרָה עֲנוּדָה
לָחַשׁ וַיְקַנֵּא קִנְאָה כְבֵדָה.
לִקֵּט הֲדַס וּמִינֵי בְשָׂמִים
לְהָכִין כְּמוֹ בְגִיל וְהֵינוֹמִים
לְהַתְעֹת עַוָּל כְּחֻקּוֹ מַשְׁלִימִים. ...
תִּמּוּם וַהֲרָגוּם תִּלֵּי תִלִּים
תּוֹדוֹת וְהַלֵּל סִיְּגוּ סְגוּלִים
תֹּֽקֶף הַנֵּס קָבְעוּ מַשְׂכִּילִים
תִּמֲמוּ הַלֵּל לִגְמוֹר שְׁמוֹנָה
תֹּֽכֶן נֵרוֹת לְהַעֲלוֹת בִּרְנָנָה
תָּמִיד בְּכֹל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה.
תֹּאֲמוּ הַיּוֹם שַׁבָּת (בראש חודש: וְרֹאשׁ חֹֽדֶשׁ) וַחֲנֻכָּה
תְּפֹאָר מֵעִנְיָנָם מֵעֲנֻגָּה וְרַכָּה
תְּעִידְךָ נֶֽצַח (כִּי) לְךָ הַמְּלוּכָה.
יְחִידֶֽיךָ וִידִידֶֽיךָ סֶֽלָה פְקָדֽוּךָ
בַּל נִדְמֵֽיתָ שִׂגְּבֽוּךָ לִבְּדֽוּךָ
מִשְּׁבִי הַדְרִירֵם,
וְהַכֹּל יוֹדֽוּךָ – קָדוֹשׁ.
In praise of You because you retracted Your anger
And You listened to my prayers, turning your anger against my enemy
And making her like straw in a whirlwind;
I remember and recall the past
And the results of scarlet [acts]
I will tell of the consequences and will not sleep;
I will talk about the sufferings and the vendetta of Antiochus
Who killed my pious and butchered my priests,
When some idiotic people slandered me thus bringing destruction; ...
When the glass was full, God gave charm
To the soon-to-be-married daughter of Yochanan the Hasmonean
Who gathered the people for the wedding feast;
The bride stripped off all of her clothing
And lifted a wineglass to the company
Who lowered their eyes so as not to look at her;
Her brother was in great rage against her
That the honored guests had seen this.
“How could you stand naked before them like a prostitute?”
To him the beautiful young woman replied:
“How dare you rebuke me so hypocritically
when you allow me to lie naked with an uncircumcised heathen?”
Then the spirit of God possessed Judah
And his heart was full of strength and courage.
He prayed and was possessed by an ardent zeal.
He gathered myrtle and spices
As was the custom to do for a wedding
In order to deceive the evil one, pretending to obey his law. ...
They killed them and made heaping piles of their bodies.
They sang hymns of thanksgiving.
The sages realized the great miracle that happened
And established reading the complete Hallel all eight days
And lighting specific lights
each year, forever.
Today Shabbat [on Rosh Ḥodesh add: “and Rosh Ḥodesh”] and Ḥanukkah coincide,
Praise be to You from your nation, still delicate and tender,
And this nation will forever declare that the Kingdom belongs to You.
Your beloved people always search for You
Because You did not stay silent, they exalted You and declared You unique.
Free them from their prison
And they will all pay homage, O Holy One.
(ב)ריבוי הסעודות שמרבים בהם הם סעודות הרשות שלא קבעום למשתה ושמחה: הגה וי"א שיש קצת מצוה בריבוי הסעודות משום דבאותן הימים היה חנוכת המזבח [מהר"א מפראג] ונוהגין לומר זמירות ושבחות בסעודות שמרבים בהם ואז הוי סעודת מצוה [מנהגים] י"א שיש לאכול גבינה בחנוכה לפי שהנס נעשה בחלב שהאכילה יהודית את האויב [כל בו ור"ן]:
(2) The many meals which we add on [Hanukkah] are voluntary meals, since [the Sages] did not establish them as [days of] feasting and joy. Rem"a: But some say that there is somewhat of a mitzvah in adding meals, because during those days was the Dedication of the Altar (Abraham Kara of Prague). It is the custom to recite hymns and songs of praise during the feasts added on them, and then they are mitzvah meals (Book of Customs). Some say that cheese should be eaten during Hanukkah, because a miracle was done though milk which Yehudit fed the enemy (Kol Bo and Ran).
I love Judith; she’s independent, clever, and brave... It’s true her story isn’t included in the Tanach, but in this day and age of sharing stories I hoped that more people would be aware of this audacious Biblical woman. And I know that just because I know her story doesn’t mean that everyone would... If people don’t know stories like Judith’s, what other stories don’t we know? Who are the other heroines throughout history who have performed acts of bravery and self-sacrifice that people have ignored or forgotten? And what on earth can we do about it? First of all, educate!
Already, at 8, the idea that my influence on my world was limited to my influence on the men around me, that I could never directly alter destiny by myself, was frightening... And yet, still, there was Judith. Judith who takes no orders, who invades a man’s tent and walks out with his head on her pike. Judith who attacks alone, who is neither punished nor silenced. Judith, who alters the destiny of her people, my people, independently of her generation’s male heroes. Judith, who does the work of the God of open miracles, the God who splits the sea—the God who does not merely influence, but acts. Every Hanukah since I learned her story, I do not just commemorate the victory of the small against the mighty, the miracle of a small bottle of oil lasting for eight nights. I celebrate the human miracle of a Jewish woman defined not by her marriage or children, but by her actions alone. And I pray that even in the ultra-Orthodox community of my youth, this may cease to be a miracle during my lifetime.
Probably most women who attempt to be both feminists and biblical scholars have, at some time in their lives, hoped that some of the female characters in the biblical material would turn out to be feminist characters who provide positive images of and for women. But I agree with [Toni] Craven that Judith is not, ultimately, a character who breaks the bounds of patriarchy. Personally, I would go much further than Craven to argue that we must not isolate fragments from this story and read them as feminist nuggets. By focusing on the occasional breaks in the boundaries of patriarchy we risk not seeing the price the female character might have to pay for such transgressions. Rather, we must carefully assess the impact of the whole book to determine what messages it conveys about women and femininity. (46) ... So what shall we do with Judith? I would suggest that feminist readers reject any suggestion that she is a feminist heroine or a feminist's heroine. As a character Judith is, instead, a seductive helper who effectively promotes gynophobia, not equity, in a patriarchal narrative. (55)
They said our city was lost, lost
and it was true that we were surrounded
they said our only hope lay with God
But I didn’t pray
I brushed my hair with oil of myrrh
and smiled at the general
while he drank his wine
I wondered as I watched him
did he have a wife at home
and would she grieve for her husband
as I grieved for mine