Judith 7

The next day Holofernes gave orders to his whole army, and to all the people who had come to join his side, that they should move their camp against Bethulia, take the climbing paths up into the hill country first, and make war on the people of Israel.

1The next day Holofernes commanded all his army, and all his people which were come to take his part, that they should remove their camp against Bethulia, to take aforehand the ascents of the hill country, and to make war against the children of Israel.

NoteBethulia is the town at the center of this story. No place of that name is known outside the book of Judith, and its position here, holding a pass in the hills above the open plain, is what makes it the gate to the rest of the country. The "ascents of the hill country" are the narrow climbing roads an army had to use to get up out of the plain.

2So their fighting men moved their camps that day. The army of men of war was 170,000 foot soldiers and 12,000 horsemen, not counting the supply train and the other men who went on foot among them, a very great crowd.

2Then their strong men removed their camps in that day, and the army of the men of war was an hundred and seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand horsemen, beside the baggage, and other men that were afoot among them, a very great multitude.

3They camped in the valley near Bethulia, by the spring. They spread out wide, over Dothaim as far as Belmaim, and long, from Bethulia to Cynamon, which is across from Esdraelon.

3And they camped in the valley near unto Bethulia, by the fountain, and they spread themselves in breadth over Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from Bethulia unto Cynamon, which is over against Esdraelon.

NoteDothaim (Dothan), Belmaim and Cynamon are towns in the hill country. Esdraelon is the Greek form of Jezreel, the broad plain that cuts across the north of the country. Naming these places draws the line of the camp along the edge of the open ground below the hills.

4Now when the people of Israel saw how many of them there were, they were badly shaken, and each man said to his neighbor, "These men will lick up the whole face of the earth. Not the high mountains, not the valleys, not the hills can hold their weight."

4Now the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, were greatly troubled, and said every one to his neighbour, Now will these men lick up the face of the earth; for neither the high mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, are able to bear their weight.

Note"Lick up the face of the earth" is a stock image for an army so large that it strips bare everything it crosses, the way fire or a swarm of locusts does.

5Then every man picked up his weapons of war, and when they had lit fires on their towers, they stayed there and kept watch all that night.

5Then every man took up his weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires upon their towers, they remained and watched all that night.

NoteFires on the towers were watch fires and signal fires at once: they lit the wall for the sentries through the night and told the surrounding country that the town was under alarm.

6But on the second day Holofernes led out all his horsemen where the people of Israel in Bethulia could see them,

6But in the second day Holofernes brought forth all his horsemen in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia,

7and he looked over the ways up to the city. He came to the springs that gave them their water, took them, and set armed guards over them. Then he himself went back to his people.

7And viewed the passages up to the city, and came to the fountains of their waters, and took them, and set garrisons of men of war over them, and he himself removed toward his people.

8Then all the chief men of the children of Esau, and all the leaders of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast came to him and said,

8Then came unto him all the chief of the children of Esau, and all the governors of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast, and said,

Note"The children of Esau" are the Edomites, reckoned as descendants of Jacob's brother Esau and living to the south and east. Moab lay east of the Dead Sea. "The captains of the sea coast" are the leaders of the coastal cities. All three are subject peoples serving alongside the invading army rather than troops of its own homeland.

9"Let our lord now listen to a word from us, so that there will be no losses in your army.

9Let our lord now hear a word, that there be not an overthrow in thine army.

Note"Let our lord now hear a word" is court speech. Subordinates address a commander in the third person instead of saying "you", and ask leave before offering advice, so that a suggestion cannot be taken as a challenge.

10These people of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains where they live, because it is not easy to climb to the tops of their mountains.

10For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains wherein they dwell, because it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains.

11So now, my lord, do not fight them the way armies meet in battle, and not so much as one man of your people will die.

11Now therefore, my lord, fight not against them in battle array, and there shall not so much as one man of thy people perish.

12Stay in your camp and keep every man of your army safe, and let your servants take hold of the spring of water that flows out at the foot of the mountain.

12Remain in thy camp, and keep all the men of thine army, and let thy servants get into their hands the fountain of water, which issueth forth of the foot of the mountain:

NoteA hill town's water usually came from a spring at the foot of the slope, outside the walls, because springs rise where the rock meets lower ground. Seizing the spring was the standard way to take a strong position without the cost of storming it.

13For all the people living in Bethulia get their water from there. So thirst will kill them, and they will give up their city. Then we and our people will go up to the tops of the mountains nearby and camp on them, watching so that no one gets out of the city.

13For all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence; so shall thirst kill them, and they shall give up their city, and we and our people shall go up to the tops of the mountains that are near, and will camp upon them, to watch that none go out of the city.

14So they and their wives and their children will be destroyed by hunger, and before the sword ever comes against them, they will be brought down in the streets where they live.

14So they and their wives and their children shall be consumed with fire, and before the sword come against them, they shall be overthrown in the streets where they dwell.

NoteThe King James "consumed with fire" differs from the Greek, which says they will be consumed by hunger and thirst, the sense the rendering follows. The King James translators were working here from a text that read differently.

15In this way you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled and did not come out to meet you in peace."

15Thus shalt thou render them an evil reward; because they rebelled, and met not thy person peaceably.

NoteCustom in ancient warfare gave a town the chance to come out and accept terms before fighting began. A town that refused was counted as having rebelled, and whatever was then done to it was treated as a just payment rather than an atrocity.

16These words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and he gave orders to do just as they had said.

16And these words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and he appointed to do as they had spoken.

17So the camp of the children of Ammon moved out, and with them five thousand of the Assyrians, and they set up camp in the valley. They took the waters and the springs that gave water to the people of Israel.

17So the camp of the children of Ammon departed, and with them five thousand of the Assyrians, and they pitched in the valley, and took the waters, and the fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.

Note"The children of Ammon" are the Ammonites, from east of the Jordan. Assur, used later in the chapter, is the old name of the Assyrian homeland and of its chief city, and the book uses it for the empire Holofernes serves.

18Then the children of Esau went up with the children of Ammon and camped in the hill country across from Dothaim. They sent some of their men toward the south, and toward the east across from Ekrebel, which is near Chusi, on the brook Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army camped in the plain and covered the whole face of the land. Their tents and baggage were pitched there in a very great crowd.

18Then the children of Esau went up with the children of Ammon, and camped in the hill country over against Dothaim: and they sent some of them toward the south, and toward the east over against Ekrebel, which is near unto Chusi, that is upon the brook Mochmur; and the rest of the army of the Assyrians camped in the plain, and covered the face of the whole land; and their tents and carriages were pitched to a very great multitude.

NoteEkrebel, Chusi and the brook Mochmur are places in the hills south of Dothan; most cannot be identified today. "Carriages" in 1611 English meant the things that are carried, that is an army's baggage and gear, not wheeled vehicles.

19Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord their God, because their courage failed them. All their enemies had surrounded them, and there was no way to escape from among them.

19Then the children of Israel cried unto the Lord their God, because their heart failed, for all their enemies had compassed them round about, and there was no way to escape out from among them.

20So the whole force of Assur stayed around them, their foot soldiers, chariots, and horsemen, for thirty-four days, until every water container of everyone living in Bethulia ran dry.

20Thus all the company of Assur remained about them, both their footmen, chariots, and horsemen, four and thirty days, so that all their vessels of water failed all the inhibitants of Bethulia.

Note"Four and thirty" is the older way of saying thirty-four. The "vessels of water" are the jars and skins each household kept filled.

21The cisterns, the pits that held their stored water, were emptied, and they did not have water to drink their fill for even one day, because their drink was handed out by measure.

21And the cisterns were emptied, and they had not water to drink their fill for one day; for they gave them drink by measure.

NoteCisterns were plastered pits cut into the rock under houses and courtyards. Winter rain running off the roofs filled them, and a town drew on them through the dry summer. Once the spring outside the walls was taken, the cisterns were all Bethulia had. "They gave them drink by measure" means water was rationed out in fixed amounts.

22So their young children lost heart, and their women and young men fainted from thirst. They fell down in the streets of the city and in the passages of the gates, and there was no strength left in them.

22Therefore their young children were out of heart, and their women and young men fainted for thirst, and fell down in the streets of the city, and by the passages of the gates, and there was no longer any strength in them.

Note"Out of heart" means worn down and discouraged. "The passages of the gates" are the roofed passageways cut through the thickness of the city wall, where people gathered for shade and for public business.

23Then all the people gathered around Ozias and the chief men of the city, the young men and the women and the children, and they cried out with a loud voice and said in front of all the elders,

23Then all the people assembled to Ozias, and to the chief of the city, both young men, and women, and children, and cried with a loud voice, and said before all the elders,

NoteOzias is the chief magistrate of Bethulia, named earlier in the book as one of three rulers of the town. "The elders" are the senior heads of families, who governed the town together and settled its disputes.

24"Let God judge between us and you, because you have done us a great wrong in not asking the children of Assur for terms of peace.

24God be judge between us and you: for ye have done us great injury, in that ye have not required peace of the children of Assur.

Note"God be judge between us and you" is the opening of a formal accusation, calling God in as judge of a dispute between two parties. "Required peace" means asked for terms of surrender.

25For now we have no one to help us. God has sold us into their hands, so that we are thrown down in front of them by thirst and great ruin.

25For now we have no helper: but God hath sold us into their hands, that we should be thrown down before them with thirst and great destruction.

Note"God hath sold us into their hands" is an idiom for handing a person over into another's power, the way an owner transfers a slave. It carries no suggestion that anything was paid.

26So now call them to you, and hand the whole city over as plunder to the people of Holofernes and to all his army.

26Now therefore call them unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the people of Holofernes, and to all his army.

NoteTo "deliver the city for a spoil" is to hand it over to be plundered. The people are asking to become property rather than corpses: the usual alternative to death in a captured city was slavery, which is what "we will be his servants" means in the next verse.

27It is better for us to be taken as plunder by them than to die of thirst. We will be his servants, so that we may stay alive and not watch our babies die in front of our eyes, and not see our wives and our children die.

27For it is better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to die for thirst: for we will be his servants, that our souls may live, and not see the death of our infants before our eyes, nor our wives nor our children to die.

28We call heaven and earth to witness against you, and our God, the Lord of our fathers, who punishes us for our sins and the sins of our fathers: let him not deal with us as we have said today."

28We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth, and our God and Lord of our fathers, which punisheth us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers, that he do not according as we have said this day.

Note"We take to witness against you the heaven and the earth" is an oath formula. The speakers summon things that outlast everyone present, so that the charge stands whatever becomes of the people making it. The clause that follows is difficult in the Greek and has been read two ways: as a plea that God not do to them what they have just described, or as a demand that the rulers do exactly what the people have said. The rendering follows the first.

29Then all of them together wept loudly in the middle of the assembly, and they cried out to the Lord God with a loud voice.

29Then there was great weeping with one consent in the midst of the assembly; and they cried unto the Lord God with a loud voice.

30Then Ozias said to them, "Brothers, take courage. Let us hold out five more days. In that time the Lord our God may turn his mercy back toward us, for he will not leave us for good.

30Then said Ozias to them, Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure five days, in the which space the Lord our God may turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly.

31But if these days pass and no help comes to us, I will do what you have said."

31And if these days pass, and there come no help unto us, I will do according to your word.

32Then he sent the people away, each one to his own camp, and they went off to the walls and towers of their city. He sent the women and children into their houses. They were brought very low in the city.

32And he dispersed the people, every one to their own charge; and they went unto the walls and towers of their city, and sent the women and children into their houses: and they were very low brought in the city.

Note"Every one to their own charge" means each man back to the post on the wall he was responsible for. "They were very low brought" is older word order for "they were brought very low", that is worn down to the end of their strength.