Judith 5

Then Holofernes, the commander in chief of the army of Assur, was told that the people of Israel had made ready for war. They had closed off the passes into the hill country, built defenses on all the high hilltops, and put up barriers across the flat open land.

1Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Assur, that the children of Israel had prepared for war, and had shut up the passages of the hill country, and had fortified all the tops of the high hills and had laid impediments in the champaign countries:

Note"Assur" is the Greek spelling of Asshur, that is, Assyria, the empire centered on the Tigris in what is now northern Iraq. Judith uses old Assyrian names for a story whose other details belong to much later periods, so the setting is a composite rather than a datable moment.

2This made him very angry, and he called for all the princes of Moab, the commanders of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast.

2Wherewith he was very angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea coast,

NoteMoab and Ammon were small kingdoms east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan. The "governors of the sea coast" are the rulers of the Mediterranean coastal cities, who had already surrendered to Holofernes earlier in the book. All these men are vassals brought along on the campaign.

3He said to them, "Tell me now, you sons of Chanaan, who are these people who live in the hill country? What cities do they live in? How large is their army? Where does their power and strength lie? What king rules them, or what commander leads their army?

3And he said unto them, Tell me now, ye sons of Chanaan, who this people is, that dwelleth in the hill country, and what are the cities that they inhabit, and what is the multitude of their army, and wherein is their power and strength, and what king is set over them, or captain of their army;

Note"Chanaan" is the Greek spelling of Canaan, the old name for the land between the Jordan and the sea. Holofernes calls these men "sons of Chanaan" because they are locals: the point of the address is that they should know the region's peoples when he does not.

4And why have they decided not to come out and meet me, alone of all the people who live in the west?"

4And why have they determined not to come and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of the west.

NoteFrom an Assyrian point of view "the west" meant everything from Syria down to Egypt. The King James "more than all the inhabitants of the west" means "unlike every other people of the west," who had all submitted without a fight.

5Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites, said, "Let my lord listen to a word from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth about this people who live near you in the hill country. No lie will come out of the mouth of your servant.

5Then said Achior, the captain of all the sons of Ammon, Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth concerning this people, which dwelleth near thee, and inhabiteth the hill countries: and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant.

NoteAchior is a fictional character, the chief of the Ammonite contingent. Speaking of himself as "thy servant" rather than "I" is the ordinary polite form for addressing a superior at court, not an unusual show of humility.

6These people are descended from the Chaldeans.

6This people are descended of the Chaldeans:

NoteThe Chaldeans were the people of southern Mesopotamia, the region around the city of Ur. Achior is about to summarize the whole story of Israel from Genesis onward for a foreign audience, which is why he starts with the ancestors' place of origin.

7In an earlier time they lived as foreigners in Mesopotamia, because they were not willing to follow the gods of their fathers, who were worshiped in the land of Chaldea.

7And they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldea.

NoteTo "sojourn" is to live somewhere as a resident foreigner, without land of one's own or the rights of a citizen. The word recurs through this speech and marks a status, not just a stay.

8They left the way of their ancestors and worshiped the God of heaven, the God they knew. So they were driven out from the presence of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia and lived there as foreigners for a long time.

8For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days.

Note"The God of heaven" was the standard title Jews used for their God when speaking to foreigners in the Persian and Greek periods, since it named him in terms a non Jew would recognize. Note also that in this retelling the family is expelled by its own people for abandoning the ancestral gods, where the account in Genesis has Abraham simply called to leave.

9Then their God ordered them to leave the place where they were living and to go into the land of Chanaan. They settled there, and they grew rich in gold and silver and very large herds of cattle.

9Then their God commanded them to depart from the place where they sojourned, and to go into the land of Chanaan: where they dwelt, and were increased with gold and silver, and with very much cattle.

10But when a famine spread over the whole land of Chanaan, they went down into Egypt and lived there as foreigners while they were provided for. There they became a huge crowd, so many that no one could count their nation.

10But when a famine covered all the land of Chanaan, they went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, while they were nourished, and became there a great multitude, so that one could not number their nation.

11So the king of Egypt turned against them. He dealt with them by tricks, and he wore them down with hard labor making bricks, and made them slaves.

11Therefore the king of Egypt rose up against them, and dealt subtilly with them, and brought them low with labouring in brick, and made them slaves.

NoteIn 1611 "subtil" meant crafty or scheming, not faint or delicate. The brick making refers to the forced labor described in Exodus, where Israelite slaves made mud bricks for Egyptian building projects.

12Then they cried out to their God, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with plagues that could not be cured. So the Egyptians drove them out of their sight.

12Then they cried unto their God, and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable plagues: so the Egyptians cast them out of their sight.

13And God dried up the Red sea in front of them,

13And God dried the Red sea before them,

NoteThe Hebrew name behind "Red sea" is yam suph, "sea of reeds." Which body of water it meant has been argued over since antiquity.

14and brought them to mount Sina and Cades-Barne, and they drove out everyone who lived in the wilderness.

14And brought them to mount Sina, and Cades-Barne, and cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness.

Note"Sina" is Sinai, the mountain of the law. "Cades-Barne" is Kadesh-Barnea, an oasis in the desert south of Canaan where Israel camped for a long stretch during the wilderness years. Both names appear here in their Greek forms.

15So they settled in the land of the Amorites, and by their own strength they destroyed all the people of Esebon. Then they crossed the Jordan and took possession of all the hill country.

15So they dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they destroyed by their strength all them of Esebon, and passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country.

NoteThe Amorites held the territory east of the Jordan. "Esebon" is the Greek form of Heshbon, the capital city of King Sihon, whose defeat is told in Numbers. Crossing the Jordan from east to west is the entry into the land itself.

16They drove out ahead of them the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they lived in that country for a long time.

16And they cast forth before them the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all the Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many days.

NoteThis is the standard list of the peoples living in Canaan before Israel, given here in Greek spellings: Pherezite is Perizzite, Sychemite means the people of Shechem, Gergesites are the Girgashites. Such lists appear repeatedly in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy.

17And as long as they did not sin in the sight of their God, things went well for them, because the God who hates wrongdoing was with them.

17And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity was with them.

18But when they turned away from the path he had set for them, they were badly beaten in many battles and were taken away as prisoners into a land that was not theirs. The temple of their God was pulled down to the ground, and their cities were captured by their enemies.

18But when they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore, and were led captives into a land that was not their’s, and the temple of their God was cast to the ground, and their cities were taken by the enemies.

NoteThis compresses the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by Babylon in 587 BC and the deportation of much of the population, the period known as the exile.

19But now they have come back to their God. They have come up from the places where they had been scattered, and they have taken possession of Jerusalem, where their holy place is, and they have settled in the hill country, because it was empty.

19But now are they returned to their God, and are come up from the places where they were scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the hill country; for it was desolate.

NoteThe return from exile and the rebuilding of the sanctuary happened under Persian rule, long after Assyria itself had fallen. Achior's summary therefore places the story after an event that could not have coexisted with an Assyrian invasion, one of several deliberate anachronisms in Judith.

20So now, my lord and master, if there is any fault in this people, and they are sinning against their God, let us look closely at this thing that will be their downfall, and let us go up, and we will defeat them.

20Now therefore, my lord and governor, if there be any error against this people, and they sin against their God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and let us go up, and we shall overcome them.

Note"Error" and "iniquity" here both mean a fault of this people against their own God. Achior's advice turns entirely on that point: the whole history he has just told is arranged to show when they lose and when they do not.

21But if there is no wrongdoing in their nation, then let my lord pass them by. Otherwise their Lord may defend them and their God may be on their side, and we will be shamed in front of the whole world."

21But if there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be for them, and we become a reproach before all the world.

NoteTo "pass by" is to march past and leave them alone rather than attack. "A reproach before all the world" means an object of open mockery among the surrounding nations.

22When Achior had finished saying these things, all the people standing around the tent complained. The chief men of Holofernes, and all who lived by the sea coast and in Moab, said that he should be put to death.

22And when Achior had finished these sayings, all the people standing round about the tent murmured, and the chief men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should kill him.

Note"Murmured" in the King James is stronger than modern "murmur": it means grumbled in angry protest. Where the King James says "kill him," the Greek says cut him to pieces.

23For they said, "We will not be afraid of the people of Israel. Look, they are a people with no strength and no power to put up a hard fight.

23For, say they, we will not be afraid of the face of the children of Israel: for, lo, it is a people that have no strength nor power for a strong battle

Note"The face of the children of Israel" is a Hebrew turn of phrase in which "face" stands for the presence of a person, so the sense is simply "of the Israelites themselves."

24So now, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they will be prey for your whole army to devour."

24Now therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.