Judith 12

Then he ordered that she be brought in to where his silver dishes were set out. He told his servants to prepare some of his own fine food for her, and to give her his own wine to drink.

1Then he commanded to bring her in where his plate was set; and bade that they should prepare for her of his own meats, and that she should drink of his own wine.

Note"Plate" in 1611 means vessels made of silver or gold, not a dinner plate, and "meats" means food of any kind, not flesh only. Eating from a commander's own table and drinking his own wine was a public mark of high favor.

2Judith said, "I will not eat any of it, in case it causes an offense. Instead, let food be set out for me from the things I brought with me."

2And Judith said, I will not eat thereof, lest there be an offence: but provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought.

NoteJudith is objecting to the food itself, not to the company. Jewish law forbade many of the foods a Gentile table would serve and forbade wine that had been poured out to other gods, so eating it would have made her ritually unclean. The King James "offence" carries its older sense of a stumbling, an occasion of sin, rather than rudeness or insult.

3Then Holofernes said to her, "But if what you brought runs out, where would we get more of the same to give you? There is no one from your nation here with us."

3Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision should fail, how should we give thee the like? for there be none with us of thy nation.

4Judith answered him, "As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up what I have before the Lord does through me what he has decided to do."

4Then said Judith unto him As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine hand the things that he hath determined.

Note"As thy soul liveth" is a standard oath formula, roughly "as surely as you are alive." The rest of her sentence names no object for what God has decided to do, so it can be heard two ways at once: Holofernes can take it as a promise of his own victory.

5Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight. She got up toward the morning watch,

5Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,

NoteThe night was divided into watches for the setting of sentries. The morning watch was the last of them, running roughly from two in the morning until sunrise.

6and sent word to Holofernes, saying, "Let my lord give the order that your servant may go out to pray."

6And sent to Holofernes, saving, Let my lord now command that thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.

7So Holofernes ordered his guards not to stop her. She stayed in the camp three days, and at night she went out into the valley of Bethulia and washed herself at a spring of water by the camp.

7Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp.

NoteA "fountain" in the King James is a natural spring, not a built fountain. The washing is ritual: someone who had been living among Gentiles, their food and their images, was reckoned unclean, and washing in fresh water restored the state of cleanness expected before prayer.

8When she came out, she begged the Lord God of Israel to guide her way, so that the children of her people would be lifted up.

8And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.

9So she came back in clean, and stayed in the tent until she ate her food in the evening.

9So she came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did eat her meat at evening.

Note"Meat" in 1611 means food of any kind. "Clean" here is the ritual cleanness of verse 7, not the absence of dirt.

10On the fourth day Holofernes held a feast for his own servants only, and invited none of his officers to the banquet.

10And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants only, and called none of the officers to the banquet.

Note"His own servants" means his personal household attendants. The point of the verse is that the army's officers were deliberately left out, making this a small private party rather than an occasion of state.

11He said to Bagoas the eunuch, who was in charge of everything he owned, "Go now and persuade that Hebrew woman who is with you to come to us and eat and drink with us.

11Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had, Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee, that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us.

NoteA eunuch was a castrated male servant. Such men were trusted with the running of a great man's household and with access to its women, and could rise to considerable power; Bagoas is a Persian name borne by more than one court official in Persian history.

12Look, it would be a disgrace to us if we let such a woman go without having had her company. If we do not win her over, she will laugh at us."

12For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman go, not having had her company; for if we draw her not unto us, she will laugh us to scorn.

Note"Her company" is a euphemism for sex, here and again in verse 16. "A shame for our person" uses the plural of rank, as a great man speaking of his own dignity.

13So Bagoas left Holofernes and came to her and said, "Let this beautiful young woman not be afraid to come to my lord, and to be honored in his presence, and to drink wine and be merry with us, and to become this day like one of the daughters of the Assyrians who serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor."

13Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holofernes, and came to her, and he said, Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us and be made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor.

NoteNabuchodonosor is the Greek form of the name Nebuchadnezzar. To be made "one of the daughters of the Assyrians which serve in the house of Nabuchodonosor" means to be taken into the king's palace at the capital as one of its women, which is a polite way of describing what Holofernes intends.

14Judith said to him, "Who am I, to say no to my lord? Whatever pleases him I will do at once, and it will be my joy until the day I die."

14Then said Judith unto him, Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord? surely whatsoever pleaseth him I will do speedily, and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death.

Note"Gainsay" means to speak against, to contradict or refuse.

15So she got up and dressed herself in her clothes and all her women's finery. Her maid went ahead and spread soft fleeces on the ground for her, across from Holofernes, which she had gotten from Bagoas for her daily use, so she could sit and eat on them.

15So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel and all her woman’s attire, and her maid went and laid soft skins on the ground for her over against Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas for her daily use, that she might sit and eat upon them.

Note"All her woman's attire" means her full formal dress with its jewelry. Guests at such a banquet reclined on the ground rather than sitting on chairs; the fleeces are the ones Bagoas had issued her for her own daily use, so that she ate her own food, on her own bedding, beside him.

16When Judith came in and sat down, the heart of Holofernes was overcome with her, and his desire was stirred, and he greatly wanted her company; for he had been waiting for a chance to deceive her from the day he first saw her.

16Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes his heart was ravished with her, and his mind was moved, and he desired greatly her company; for he waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he had seen her.

Note"Ravished" in 1611 means carried away or overwhelmed, with none of the modern sense of rape; the violence of the word is in his feelings, not his actions. The Greek behind "deceive her" covers seduction, so the sentence means he had been watching for his chance to get her into bed.

17Then Holofernes said to her, "Drink now, and be merry with us."

17Then said Holofernes unto her, Drink now, and be merry with us.

18Judith said, "I will drink now, my lord, because my life means more to me today than on any day since I was born."

18So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.

Note"My life is magnified in me this day" is a literal rendering of the Greek and is deliberately open. It can be heard as nothing more than "this is the greatest day of my life."

19Then she took what her maid had prepared, and ate and drank it in front of him.

19Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared.

20Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank far more wine than he had ever drunk in a single day since he was born.

20And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank more wine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born.