Judith is a novella written shortly after the Maccabean revolt, probably 150-100 B.C. Carey Moore suggested Judith is reminiscent of the general spirit of the days of Judas Maccabeus” (“Judith, Book of,” ABD 3:1123). The book appears in the Apocrypha and tells the story of a threat to the Israelite village Bethulia. Judith is a beautiful widow who acts bravely and saves both her village and all of Israel from the Assyrian threat. The story is reminiscent of other Jewish women in the Hebrew Bible, including Rahab, Jael, Ruth, and Esther.
Judith 4:12 may allude to Antiochus’s desecration of the Temple in 167 B.C., “the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles.” The defeat of Nicanor in 1 Maccabees 7:43-50 is remarkably similar to Judith’s assassination of Holofernes. Nebuchadnezzar demands to be worshiped as a god, recalling Daniel 3. Some place names which can be identified in the book suggest a date after 107 BC, after Alexander Janneus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. Judith is only known in Greek although Jerome was familiarity with Aramaic version of the book. It does not appear in the Qumran library and is not mentioned in rabbinic literature.
Even if Judith was rarely considered canonical, the book important for both Christians and Jews. The book was included in the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate and the Syriac Peshitta, and appears in many early and important Greek Bible (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus). Although it was never considered part of the Jewish canon, it is considered canonical in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox traditions.
Moore suggests a major problem for Jewish acceptance of the book is the conversion of Achior, an Ammonite. Deuteronomy 23:2 specifically states, “no Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation.” Achior is a gentile convert to Judaism who submitted to circumcision but is not baptized. Later Halakah required both for a Gentile to become a Jew (Moore, “Judith, Book of,” ABD 3:1124).
In his recent commentary on Judith, Lawrence Wills suggests Judith may have been known by the authors of Greek Esther and Pseudo-Philo, Biblical Antiquities (Wills, Judith, 2), but there are no citations or clear allusions to Judith. He suggests the reason Judith was never canonized may be as simple as the language, since it was not written in Hebrew it was considered secondary from the beginning.
Some early readers may have found the character Judith to be too brazen (Toni Craven, Artistry and Faith in the Book of Judith, 117). Yet her actions are not too different than Ruth or Esther. She was not too brazen to keep the book out of the western Christian canon.
Both Clement of Alexandria and the council of Nicaea considered Judith canonical, as did most of the western church fathers. Luther questioned the canonicity of the book but treated it allegorically as a “passion play.” For modern Protestants, the historical anachronisms are enough to reject the book. The historical and geographical errors are a problem for anyone who holds to biblical inerrancy. However, modern studies of Judith treat these obvious errors as a sign to the reader that the story is fictional. For conservatives like Geisler and Nix, Judith is “subbiblical and, at times, even immoral,” citing God’s assistance and approval of Judith’s lies (9:10-13; A General Introduction to the Bible, Rev. ed.; [Moody, 1986], 271). It may be the case Geisler and Nix forgot about the prostitute Rahab’s lies (Joshua 2:4-7).
Even though the story of Judith is fiction, it reflects what some Jews thought about the struggle between Hellenism and Judaism. In Daniel, the four young men resisted the imposition of the empire and were willing to die rather than compromise. In Judith, resistance to the empire takes a more violent turn as Judith assassinates the Assyrian general Holofernes, forcing the invading foreigners back to their own territory.
Does story of Judith support to the Hasmoneans? Perhaps, but it may be the case the readers of Judith looked back to Judas Maccabees as the ideal defender of Israel rather than the later Hasmonaean kings.
When reading the blog post “What is the book of Judith?” Paired with the supplemental reading of the book of Judith there is much to gain. One major connection that is made in the blog post and by anyone who is familiar with the scripture is that Judith relates on so many levels with women in the Bible like Ruth, Esther, and Rahab. Judith fought for and protected her village putting her trust in a higher authority. Scholars often refer to Judith as the “Greek Esther”, readers also commonly state that this story is unbiblical and immoral because of the lies that are told throughout the story.
As we know the story of Judith is fiction, it was written at a desperate time for the Jews. At this time they were under persecution from the Maccabean revolt. The people groups were coming in, attempting to change their foundational beliefs and cultural traits. The Jews took these challenges to their beliefs and ancersory to heart. A time where they needed a word of encouragement, a story of bold faith, and radical moves, and Judith did just that. As visited above it was a motivating and refreshing story for the Jews in the same way Esther and Ruth are to those in the Christian faith.
I really like the connection between Judith and the Maccabees and the comparison between Judith and Daniel. During the Old Testament times of exile, Jewish people were commanded to live in peace with the Babylonians but stand firm on their laws and morals. Daniel refused to eat the unclean food of the Babylonians and was willing to die for his faith. It is safe to say that Daniel would not have used the same actions of deceit, seduction and murder as Judith did. Sometime in between the time of Daniel and the Maccabean Revolt, that mindset seemed to change into being willing to lie and kill for their faith. I am guessing that this change happened during the period of Hellenism because the stakes were so extreme. The Jewish people the Jewish people were being attacked and killed for any signs of Judaism. According to deSilva, there are many correlations between this book and the events of the Maccabean Revolt (deSilva). DeSilva explains the similarities between the cult imposed by Antiochus IV and Holofernes’s plan to destroy the native sanctuaries in Judith (deSilva). The author of Judith may have been using the book as a sort of propaganda to encourage violent resistance instead of remaining peaceful. Perhaps they realized that the past peaceful resistances were unsuccessful and were ready to stand up for their faith in violent ways. This could also be a reason for the inaccurate names and places in the story, they did not want it to be clear who they were talking about.
During the time of the writings of Judith the cultural threat of hellnism weighed over the lives the Jews. The literature of Judith gives the reader today the literature that came out of a post Maccabean revolt era. The book of Judith encompasses the fight between the dominant gentile culture surrounding the Jewish day to day life. Judith is a God-fearing Jewish woman who desire to honor God with how she serves her people in time of war. “The book of Judith tells the story of a contest between the dominant Gentiles, with their claims about the gods, and the God of Israel—a prominent dynamic that runs throughout the history of Israel from the exodus through the Second Temple period” (DeSilva,2018, Pg.38). This book brings strong connections to the writings of Daniel. However, Daniel was a story of maintaining one obedience to God in a peaceful way, while Judith is a story that is filled with murder and aggression. This follows similarly to most intertestamental period literature. “In Judith, resistance to the empire takes a more violent turn as Judith assassinates the Assyrian general Holofernes, forcing the invading foreigners back to their own territory” (Long,2021). This moral tale is one that is used to teach the Jewish people the obedience one must have for the law of God in the mist of gentile oppression and pressure to integrate to the nations around them.
That was a really good take and reference from page 38. I agree the cultural threat of Helleism was a powerful force during this time period. Daniel and Judith story are also in fact a bit different in terms of how to go about adversity. Great takeaway.
After reading this writing of Judith, I can make the takeaway that Judith portrays a strong, fiery heroine who defies traditional gender roles in order to save her people. Her role is similar to other similar biblical women such as Esther and Ruth. Although the Book of Judith was never part of the Jewish writing, it holds significant value in Catholc and Orthodox traditions that reflect faith and courage. The story of Judith reflects Jewish resistance against foreign oppression, echoing the spirit of the Maccabean Revolt and the desire for Jewish autonomy.