Judith 2

In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was talk in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians that he should take revenge on the whole earth, just as he had said.

1And in the eighteenth year, the two and twentieth day of the first month, there was talk in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians that he should, as he said, avenge himself on all the earth.

NoteYears were counted from the start of a king's reign, so this means the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule. The first month is Nisan, falling in March or April. Note that the book calls Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians reigning at Nineveh: the Nebuchadnezzar known to history was king of Babylon, and Nineveh had been destroyed some years before his reign began. The story combines names, titles and settings drawn from several different periods.

2So he called in all his officers and all his nobles, and shared his secret plan with them, and with his own mouth he settled the matter of bringing suffering on the whole earth.

2So he called unto him all his officers, and all his nobles, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and concluded the afflicting of the whole earth out of his own mouth.

3Then they issued an order to destroy every living thing that did not obey the command he had spoken.

3Then they decreed to destroy all flesh, that did not obey the commandment of his mouth.

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew expression covering every living creature, used here of the whole human population.

4When he had finished his council, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians called for Holofernes, the chief captain of his army, who was second in rank to the king himself, and said to him:

4And when he had ended his counsel, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army, which was next unto him, and said unto him.

5"This is what the great king, the lord of the whole earth, says: Listen. You are to go out from me and take with you men who trust in their own strength: a hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers and twelve thousand horses with their riders.

5Thus saith the great king, the lord of the whole earth, Behold, thou shalt go forth from my presence, and take with thee men that trust in their own strength, of footmen an hundred and twenty thousand; and the number of horses with their riders twelve thousand.

Note"Thus saith the great king" is the standard opening of a royal order, the exact words a messenger repeated when delivering it. "Great King" was a formal title actually used by Assyrian and Persian rulers, asserting authority over lesser kings; "lord of the whole earth" pushes the claim further.

6You are to march against the whole western country, because they disobeyed my command.

6And thou shalt go against all the west country, because they disobeyed my commandment.

NoteThe "west country" is everything west of Mesopotamia as seen from Nineveh: Syria, Phoenicia, the inland hill country and the coastal plain down toward Egypt.

7You are to tell them to have earth and water ready for me. For I will march out against them in my anger, and I will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of my army, and I will hand those people over to my soldiers as plunder.

7And thou shalt declare unto that they prepare for me earth and water: for I will go forth in my wrath against them and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of mine army, and I will give them for a spoil unto them:

NoteHanding over earth and water was a recognized formal act of surrender in the Persian empire, reported by the Greek historian Herodotus. Giving a token of soil and water conceded the land itself and everything on it to the king, before any fighting took place.

8Their dead will fill their valleys and their streams, and the river will be so full of their bodies that it overflows.

8So that their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks and the river shall be filled with their dead, till it overflow:

9And I will lead them away as prisoners to the farthest parts of the whole earth.

9And I will lead them captives to the utmost parts of all the earth.

NoteAssyrian and Babylonian kings routinely deported conquered populations to distant parts of the empire, breaking up a people's ties to its own land so that it could not easily revolt.

10So you are to go out and seize all their territory for me ahead of time. If they surrender to you, you are to keep them for me until the day when they are punished.

10Thou therefore shalt go forth. and take beforehand for me all their coasts: and if they will yield themselves unto thee, thou shalt reserve them for me till the day of their punishment.

NoteIn the King James Version "coasts" means borders or territory in general, not only seashore.

11But as for those who rebel, do not let your eye spare them. Put them to death and plunder them everywhere you go.

11But concerning them that rebel, let not thine eye spare them; but put them to the slaughter, and spoil them wheresoever thou goest.

Note"Let not thine eye spare them" is a Hebrew idiom for showing no mercy; the eye is where pity was thought to begin.

12For as surely as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, whatever I have said I will carry out with my own hand.

12For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, whatsoever I have spoken, that will I do by mine hand.

Note"As I live" is a formal oath in which the speaker stakes his own life on keeping his word. In the Hebrew scriptures this wording is normally spoken by God; here a human king uses it of himself.

13And be careful not to break a single one of your lord's commands. Carry them out in full, exactly as I have ordered you, and do not put off doing them."

13And take thou heed that thou transgress none of the commandments of thy lord, but accomplish them fully, as I have commanded thee, and defer not to do them.

14Then Holofernes left his lord's presence and called together all the governors, the captains, and the officers of the army of Assyria.

14Then Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors and captains, and the officers of the army of Assur;

Note"Assur" is the King James spelling of Asshur, the name of the Assyrian national god and of the old capital city, and the source of the name Assyria.

15He counted out the men chosen for battle, just as his lord had commanded him: a hundred and twenty thousand of them, along with twelve thousand archers on horseback.

15And he mustered the chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, unto an hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback;

16He drew them up in order, the way a great army is arranged for war.

16And he ranged them, as a great army is ordered for the war.

17He took a huge number of camels and donkeys to carry their baggage, and sheep and cattle and goats beyond counting for their food supply,

17And he took camels and asses for their carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision:

NoteIn the King James Version "carriages" means the loads that are carried, that is, baggage, not wheeled vehicles.

18and plenty of rations for every man in the army, and a great deal of gold and silver from the king's palace.

18And plenty of victual for every man of the army, and very much gold and silver out of the king’s house.

Note"Victual" is food supplies, the army's rations.

19Then he set out with his whole force, to go ahead of King Nebuchadnezzar on the march, and to cover the whole face of the earth toward the west with their chariots, their horsemen, and their picked foot soldiers.

19Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, and horsemen, and their chosen footmen.

Note"Voyage" in the King James Version means any journey, by land as readily as by sea. "All his power" means his whole armed force; "power" often meant fighting strength in 1611.

20A great crowd from many different countries went with them, like locusts and like the sand of the earth, for the throng was too large to count.

20A great number also sundry countries came with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth: for the multitude was without number.

Note"Sundry countries" means various nations: auxiliary troops levied from subject peoples, along with the traders and camp followers who trailed a large army.

21They marched out from Nineveh, a journey of three days, toward the plain of Bectileth, and they camped from Bectileth as far as the mountain that lies on the left side of Upper Cilicia.

21And they went forth of Nineve three days’ journey toward the plain of Bectileth, and pitched from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia.

NoteNineveh was the Assyrian capital, on the Tigris in what is now northern Iraq. A day's march for an army was roughly fifteen to twenty miles. Cilicia is the region in southeastern Asia Minor, today southern Turkey. Bectileth is not known from any other source, and the route described here cannot be traced consistently on a map.

22Then he took his whole army, his foot soldiers and horsemen and chariots, and went from there into the hill country.

22Then he took all his army, his footmen, and horsemen and chariots, and went from thence into the hill country;

23He destroyed Put and Lud, and plundered all the people of Rasses and the people of Ishmael, who lived along the edge of the desert south of the land of the Chellians.

23And destroyed Phud and Lud, and spoiled all the children of Rasses, and the children of Israel, which were toward the wilderness at the south of the land of the Chellians.

NotePut and Lud are names from the list of nations in Genesis 10, usually connected with Libya and with Lydia in Asia Minor; neither lies anywhere near the desert route described here. Rasses and the Chellians are otherwise unknown. The King James Version reads "the children of Israel" at this point, but most Greek manuscripts read Ishmael, meaning the desert-dwelling Ishmaelite tribes, which fits the geography of the verse; the rendering follows that reading.

24Then he crossed the Euphrates and went through Mesopotamia, and he tore down all the high walled cities along the river Arbonai, all the way to the sea.

24Then he went over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and destroyed all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai, till ye come to the sea.

NoteMesopotamia means the land between the rivers, that is, between the Euphrates and the Tigris. "High cities" are towns built on raised or fortified ground. The river Arbonai is unknown, and "the sea" is presumably the Mediterranean.

25He took over the territory of Cilicia and killed everyone who fought against him, and he came to the borders of Japheth, which lay to the south, facing Arabia.

25And he took the borders of Cilicia, and killed all that resisted him, and came to the borders of Japheth, which were toward the south, over against Arabia.

NoteJapheth is a name from the list of nations in Genesis 10, where it stands for the peoples to the north and west; no district of that name is known in the south facing Arabia. "Over against" means facing or opposite.

26He also surrounded all the people of Midian, burned their tents, and plundered their sheepfolds.

26He compassed also all the children of Madian, and burned up their tabernacles, and spoiled their sheepcotes.

NoteMidian was the desert region east and southeast of the Gulf of Aqaba, in northwestern Arabia, home to nomadic herders. "Tabernacles" in the King James Version simply means tents, and "sheepcotes" are sheepfolds, the walled or brushwood enclosures where flocks were penned at night.

27Then he went down into the plain of Damascus at the time of the wheat harvest. He burned all their fields, destroyed their flocks and herds, plundered their cities, laid their plains waste, and killed all their young men with the sword.

27Then he went down into the plain of Damascus in the time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all their fields, and destroyed their flocks and herds, also he spoiled their cities, and utterly wasted their countries, and smote all their young men with the edge of the sword.

NoteThe wheat harvest fell in late spring, around May and June. Burning the fields at that moment destroyed the grain while it still stood ripe and unreaped, wiping out an entire year's food at a stroke. "Smote with the edge of the sword" is a Hebrew idiom, literally the mouth of the sword, meaning put to death in battle or in massacre.

28So fear and dread of him fell on all the people living along the sea coast, on those in Sidon and Tyre, on those living in Sur and Ocina, and on all who lived in Jemnaan. Those living in Azotus and Ascalon were terrified of him.

28Therefore the fear and dread of him fell upon all the inhabitants of the sea coasts, which were in Sidon and Tyrus, and them that dwelt in Sur and Ocina, and all that dwelt in Jemnaan; and they that dwelt in Azotus and Ascalon feared him greatly.

NoteThese are the cities of the Mediterranean coast, listed roughly north to south. Sidon and Tyre were the great Phoenician trading ports in what is now Lebanon. Sur, Ocina and Jemnaan lay further south, Jemnaan being Jamnia, later Yavneh. Azotus and Ascalon are Ashdod and Ashkelon, two of the old Philistine cities in the southern coastal plain.