Judith 4: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The Israelites living in Judea hear what Holofernes has done to other nations, and they are afraid for Jerusalem and for the temple, which had lately been made holy again after being defiled. They send word through the whole region, take the mountain tops, fortify villages, and store up food, and the high priest Joacim writes to Bethulia and Betomestham telling them to hold the passes of the hill country. The people, their households, and the priests put on sackcloth, throw ashes on their heads, fast, and cry to God not to hand over their children, their wives, their cities, and the sanctuary. The chapter sets up Judea's defense and its prayer before the Assyrian army arrives.

Claim by Claim

1. 4:1
   • The children of Israel who lived in Judea heard all that Holofernes had done to the nations.
   • Holofernes was the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians.
   • They heard how he had plundered all the temples of those nations.
   • They heard how he had given those temples over to destruction.
2. 4:2
   • The children of Israel were exceedingly afraid at the presence of Holofernes.
   • They were troubled for Jerusalem.
   • They were troubled for the temple of the Lord their God.
3. 4:3
   • They had recently come back up from the captivity.
   • All the people of Judea had lately been gathered together.
   • The vessels, the altar, and the house had been sanctified after being profaned.
4. 4:4
   • They sent word into all the territory of Samaria.
   • They sent word to Kona, which the King James renders as the villages.
   • They sent word to Bethoron, Belmen, and Jericho.
   • They sent word to Choba, Esora, and the valley of Salem.
5. 4:5
   • They seized in advance all the tops of the high mountains.
   • They fortified the villages that were in those mountains.
   • They stored up food as provision for war.
   • Their fields had recently been harvested.
6. 4:6
   • Joacim the high priest wrote to those who lived in Bethulia and Betomestham.
   • Joacim was in Jerusalem in those days.
   • Betomestham lies opposite Esdraelon, facing the plain near Dothaim.
7. 4:7
   • Joacim charged them to hold the ascents of the hill country.
   • The entrance into Judea was by those ascents.
   • It was easy to stop those coming up.
   • The approach was narrow, wide enough for two men at the most.
8. 4:8
   • The children of Israel did as Joacim the high priest had commanded them.
   • The elders of all the people of Israel, who sat in Jerusalem, commanded this as well.
9. 4:9
   • Every man of Israel cried to God with great fervency.
   • They humbled their souls with great fervency.
10. 4:10
    • The men, their wives, their children, and their cattle took part.
    • Every resident foreigner, hired laborer, and servant bought with their money took part.
    • They put sackcloth upon their loins.
11. 4:11
    • Every man and woman of Israel, the little children, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the temple.
    • They cast ashes upon their heads.
    • They spread out their sackcloth before the face of the Lord.
    • They put sackcloth around the altar.
12. 4:12
    • They cried to the God of Israel with one consent and earnestly.
    • They asked that he not give their children up as prey.
    • They asked that he not give their wives up as spoil.
    • They asked that he not give the cities of their inheritance up to destruction.
    • They asked that he not give the sanctuary up to profanation and reproach.
    • They asked that he not make these things a thing for the nations to gloat over.
13. 4:13
    • The Lord heard their voice.
    • The Lord looked upon their affliction.
    • The people fasted many days throughout all Judea and Jerusalem.
    • They fasted before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.
14. 4:14
    • Joacim the high priest took part, along with all the priests who stood before the Lord and those who ministered to the Lord.
    • They had their loins girded with sackcloth.
    • They offered the continual burnt offering.
    • They offered the vows and the freewill gifts of the people.
15. 4:15
    • They had ashes on their headdresses.
    • They cried to the Lord with all their power.
    • They asked that he would look upon all the house of Israel for good.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

4:1

"Nabuchodonosor" is the Greek spelling of Nebuchadnezzar. The historical Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, and Assyria had already fallen before his reign, so the book's opening line mixes names and empires that do not belong together; ancient readers of the Greek text would have heard it as a story set in a legendary past rather than a dated chronicle. "Chief captain" means commander in chief of the whole army.

4:2

The temple in Jerusalem was the one building where Israel worshiped God and brought offerings. There was no second one anywhere else.

4:3

"The captivity" is the deportation of Judeans to Babylon and the return that followed it, generations earlier in real history but treated here as recent. The "vessels" are the bowls, lamps, and utensils used in temple worship, and "the house" is the temple building. To "profane" something was to put it to common or foreign use, which stripped it of its set apart status; once that happened it had to be formally cleansed and dedicated again before it could be used in worship.

4:4

In 1611 English "coasts" meant borders or the territory inside them, with no connection to the sea. Of the places named, Bethoron guarded the main road climbing from the coastal plain toward Jerusalem and Jericho lay in the Jordan valley; Belmen, Choba, Esora, and the valley of Salem cannot be located with any confidence, and some appear nowhere else.

4:5

The timing matters militarily: the grain harvest had just been gathered, so there was food available to haul up into the hill forts and less of it standing in the open fields for an invading army to live on.

4:6

Bethulia appears nowhere outside this book and has never been identified on the ground. Esdraelon is the Greek name for the valley of Jezreel, the broad plain cutting across northern Israel that armies used as a highway. Dothaim is the Dothan of Genesis, near the plain's southeastern edge.

4:7

The King James "straight" here is the old spelling of "strait," meaning narrow. The point is width, not direction: the path was so tight that only two men could walk it abreast, which is why a small force could hold it.

4:8

"The ancients" does not mean people of long ago. It means the elders, the senior men who governed as a standing council; the Greek word behind it is the one used for a senate.

4:9

"Humble their souls" is a fixed idiom for self denial, and above all for going without food. Verse 13 spells out what it meant in practice.

4:10

Sackcloth was coarse dark cloth woven from goat hair, the cheapest fabric there was, worn against the skin as a public and visible sign of grief or of desperate appeal. A "stranger" is a foreigner living permanently among them, a "hireling" is a laborer working for wages, and "servants bought with money" are slaves; all three counted as part of the household. Including the cattle is a deliberate extreme, the same gesture the king of Nineveh orders in Jonah 3.

4:11

Throwing ashes or dust on the head was a recognized gesture of mourning, the physical opposite of anointing the head with oil for a celebration. Draping sackcloth around the altar extends the mourning from the people's own bodies to the temple's furniture.

4:12

"Prey" and "spoil" both mean what a victorious army carries off, goods and people alike. "The cities of their inheritance" refers to land held as an allotted family and tribal portion passed down through generations, not property simply bought; losing it meant losing the family's standing permanently.

4:13

Fasting means going without food on purpose, sometimes for days. People did it while praying hard about something serious.

4:14

"Stood before the Lord" is an idiom for being on duty in the temple, since standing was the posture of a servant at work. "Loins girt with sackcloth" means the cloth was gathered and tied around the waist. The daily burnt offering was fixed by law: a lamb burned whole on the altar each morning and each evening, the regular rhythm of the temple. A "vow" offering was one promised in advance in exchange for help; a "free gift" carried no obligation at all.

4:15

A "mitre" here is not a bishop's hat but the priest's turban, a length of cloth wound around the head as part of his official dress. Ashes on it put the sign of mourning on the most formal and ceremonial thing they wore. "Look upon ... graciously" translates a phrase meaning to regard someone with favor and act for their good.