Judith 14

Then Judith said to them, "Listen to me now, my brothers. Take this head and hang it on the highest point of your walls.

1Then said Judith unto them, Hear me now, my brethren, and take this head, and hang it upon the highest place of your walls.

NoteThe "highest place of your walls" is the battlement, the top edge of the city wall. Fixing an enemy commander's head where both armies could see it was a recognized act of war: proof to your own side that he was dead, and a shock to his.

2As soon as morning comes and the sun rises over the earth, let each of you pick up his weapons, and let every fighting man go out of the city. Put a captain over them, as if you meant to go down into the plain toward where the Assyrians keep watch. But do not go down.

2And so soon as the morning shall appear, and the sun shall come forth upon the earth, take ye every one his weapons, and go forth every valiant man out of the city, and set ye a captain over them, as though ye would go down into the field toward the watch of the Assyrians; but go not down.

3Then they will pick up their armor and go into their camp and wake the captains of the army of Assur. They will run to the tent of Holofernes, but they will not find him. Then fear will fall on them, and they will run away from you.

3Then they shall take their armour, and shall go into their camp, and raise up the captains of the army of Assur, and shall run to the tent of Holofernes, but shall not find him: then fear shall fall upon them, and they shall flee before your face.

NoteAssur is the Greek form of Asshur, the name of the Assyrian homeland and of its old capital, used through this book to mean Assyria and its army.

4So you, and everyone who lives within the borders of Israel, will chase them and cut them down as they go.

4So ye, and all that inhabit the coast of Israel, shall pursue them, and overthrow them as they go.

NoteThe King James "coast" means border or territory, not seashore. Bethulia sits inland in the hills; nobody in this scene lives by the sea.

5But before you do these things, call Achior the Ammonite to me, so that he may see and know the man who looked down on the house of Israel and who sent Achior to us as if sending him to his death."

5But before ye do these things, call me Achior the Ammonite, that he may see and know him that despised the house of Israel, and that sent him to us as it were to his death.

NoteAchior is an Ammonite commander introduced earlier in the book. Asked by Holofernes about the Israelites, he warned that they could not be beaten unless they had sinned against their God; Holofernes had him bound and left outside Bethulia so that he would die along with the town when it fell. The Ammonites were a people east of the Jordan and long-standing rivals of Israel.

6Then they called Achior out of the house of Ozias. When he came and saw the head of Holofernes in a man's hand there in the gathering of the people, he fell on his face and lost consciousness.

6Then they called Achior out of the house of Ozias; and when he was come, and saw the head of Holofernes in a man’s hand in the assembly of the people, he fell down on his face, and his spirit failed.

NoteOzias, the Greek form of Uzziah, is the chief magistrate of Bethulia, its leading official, who took Achior into his own house when the townspeople cut him loose.

7But when they had brought him around, he fell at Judith's feet and bowed low to her and said, "You are blessed in every tent of Juda, and among all nations. Those who hear your name will be shaken.

7But when they had recovered him, he fell at Judith’s feet, and reverenced her, and said, Blessed art thou in all the tabernacles of Juda, and in all nations, which hearing thy name shall be astonished.

NoteThe King James "tabernacles" here simply means tents or dwellings, so "all the tabernacles of Juda" means every household in Judah. Juda is the Greek form of Judah.

8Now tell me everything you have done in these days." Then Judith told him, there in the middle of the people, all that she had done, from the day she went out until the hour she was speaking to them.

8Now therefore tell me all the things that thou hast done in these days. Then Judith declared unto him in the midst of the people all that she had done, from the day that she went forth until that hour she spake unto them.

9And when she had finished speaking, the people shouted with a loud voice and made a joyful noise in their city.

9And when she had left off speaking, the people shouted with a loud voice, and made a joyful noise in their city.

10And when Achior had seen all that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God deeply. He was circumcised, and he was joined to the house of Israel, and remains so to this day.

10And when Achior had seen all that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God greatly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined unto the house of Israel unto this day.

NoteCircumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin, was the physical mark of belonging to Israel, normally performed on a male infant on the eighth day. For an adult foreigner to accept it was to take on Israel's obligations and be counted as one of the people. The detail is pointed because Israelite law elsewhere barred Ammonites from the assembly (Deuteronomy 23:3). "Unto this day" means that at the time the book was written his line was still reckoned part of Israel.

11As soon as morning came, they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall, and every man took up his weapons, and they went out in companies to the ways up the mountain.

11And as soon as the morning arose, they hanged the head of Holofernes upon the wall, and every man took his weapons, and they went forth by bands unto the straits of the mountain.

NoteThe King James "straits" means narrow passes. Bethulia stood above the narrow routes up into the hill country, which is why the town mattered; the men are taking position at the head of those passes. "By bands" means in organized companies, not as a crowd.

12But when the Assyrians saw them, they sent word to their leaders, who went to their captains and tribunes and to every one of their rulers.

12But when the Assyrians saw them, they sent to their leaders, which came to their captains and tribunes, and to every one of their rulers.

NoteA tribune is an officer over a thousand men; the Greek word is chiliarch, literally "ruler of a thousand." The King James uses the familiar Roman army title for a rank in the Assyrian army.

13So they came to the tent of Holofernes and said to the man who was in charge of everything he owned, "Wake our lord now, for the slaves have dared to come down against us to fight, and they will be completely destroyed."

13So they came to Holofernes’ tent, and said to him that had the charge of all his things, Waken now our lord: for the slaves have been bold to come down against us to battle, that they may be utterly destroyed.

Note"Slaves" is contempt rather than description: the Assyrians speak of the peoples they expect to subjugate as slaves already. The man in charge of everything Holofernes owned is his household steward, named in the next verse as Bagoas.

14Then Bagoas went in and knocked at the door of the tent, for he supposed that Holofernes was sleeping with Judith.

14Then went in Bagoas, and knocked at the door of the tent; for he thought that he had slept with Judith.

NoteBagoas is a Persian name borne by several well-known court officials who were eunuchs, and that is his role here: the servant trusted with his master's private quarters and with the women brought into them. The commander's tent had an outer entrance and an inner sleeping chamber, so knocking outside and hearing nothing told Bagoas only that he should wait.

15But when no one answered, he opened it and went into the bedroom, and he found him thrown down dead at the doorway, and his head had been taken from him.

15But because none answered, he opened it, and went into the bedchamber, and found him cast upon the floor dead, and his head was taken from him.

NoteThe Greek word translated "the floor" is uncertain and may mean the threshold of the sleeping chamber or a footstool beside the bed. Either reading places the body away from the bed itself, where Judith rolled it after killing him in chapter 13.

16So he cried out with a loud voice, weeping and groaning and shouting, and he tore his clothes.

16Therefore he cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and sighing, and a mighty cry, and rent his garments.

NoteTearing one's own clothes was the standard public sign of grief, horror or outrage, a deliberate and instantly recognizable gesture; the ruined garment announced the disaster to everyone who saw it.

17After that he went into the tent where Judith was staying. When he did not find her, he rushed out to the troops and shouted,

17After he went into the tent where Judith lodged: and when he found her not, he leaped out to the people, and cried,

18"These slaves have betrayed us! One woman of the Hebrews has brought shame on the house of King Nabuchodonosor. Look, Holofernes is lying on the ground with no head!"

18These slaves have dealt treacherously; one woman of the Hebrews hath brought shame upon the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for, behold, Holofernes lieth upon the ground without a head.

NoteNabuchodonosor is the Greek form of Nebuchadnezzar. This book presents him as king of the Assyrians reigning at Nineveh, whereas the Nebuchadnezzar known to history was king of Babylon and reigned after Nineveh had already fallen. The book sets its story in a deliberately loose historical frame and uses the name for a great foreign conqueror. "The house of king Nabuchodonosor" means his royal court and dynasty, not a building.

19When the captains of the Assyrian army heard these words, they tore their tunics, and they were greatly troubled in themselves, and there was an outcry and a very great noise throughout the camp.

19When the captains of the Assyrians’ army heard these words, they rent their coats and their minds were wonderfully troubled, and there was a cry and a very great noise throughout the camp.

Note"Wonderfully" in 1611 English means amazingly or exceedingly, not "in a wonderful way": they were troubled to an extraordinary degree. "Rent their coats" is the same tearing of clothes described in verse 16; the coat is the tunic worn next to the body.