Where is judith and holofernes in the bible

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Magazine How one image captures 21 hours of a volcanic eruption. Science Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. Science The controversial sale of 'Big John,' the world's largest Triceratops. Science Coronavirus Coverage How antivirals may change the course of the pandemic. Judith is of course aware of what is going on around her in the town of Bethulia.

She sends for the elders, including Uzziah , and when they come to her in her rooftop room she remonstrates with them. What follows is one of the great statements about what God is and is not We do not know what the person beside us is thinking, even if it is someone we love — just as they do not really know what we are thinking.

How then can we expect to know what is in the mind of God? See Bible Heroines: Judith for the words of this significant Bible passage. Uzziah brushes off her advice. She is after all only a woman, so he tells her that the best thing she can do is pray, leaving decision-making to the men. Judith, in turn, calmly brushes off his advice. She decides to act on her own initiative, telling Uzziah to meet her at the town gate so that she and her maid may leave the town that night.

She urges God to break their power by putting strength instead into the hands of a widow, herself. She audaciously asks God to make her a good liar — the only such prayer in the Bible. It is important here to keep in mind that deceit was a recognized and admired strategy in ancient warfare.

When she has finished her prayer she rises from the ground and calls her maid. Together they begin to prepare to carry out the plan. After that, she and her maid gather an assortment of ritually pure food and put it all in a large bag. Thus prepared, they made their way through the darkness to the town gate, where Uzziah and the elders are waiting. The town gates are opened, and she and her maid leave, heading down the valley towards the Assyrian camp.

Almost immediately she and her maid run into an Assyrian patrol, which challenges them. She tells the soldiers she is fleeing from the townspeople in Bethulia, and will give Holofernes secret information that will help him capture the town without losing a single soldier.

The soldiers are bowled over by her beauty, and escort her immediately to the tent of Holofernes. The general is resting on his luxurious bed, but he comes to the front of the tent and greets her. Beguiled, he tells her that he has never met a woman who is as beautiful in appearance and wise in speech as she is.

She delicately declines, pointing to the food she has brought, and the reader is thus aware that she is a pious Jew who will not eat ritually unclean food.

After eating, she sleeps until midnight, then, accompanied by a guard, she goes to the nearby spring to wash herself and pray. During each of the three days she is in the camp she stayed in the tent during daylight hours, and ate her own food each evening.

As he observes to his servant, it would be a disgrace to let her go without seducing her. When Judith comes into the tent and lies on the sheepskins, Holofernes is besotted.

He offers her something to drink, but she drinks only the wine given to her by her maid — was it watered down so she could stay sober? Holofernes, on the other hand, gets down to some serious drinking. Eventually the servants discreetly withdraw, and Judith is left alone in the tent with Holofernes, now dead drunk, stretched out on his bed.

The moment has come for Judith to act. But first she prays, asking God to give her strength for what she must do. She strikes once with all her strength, and then strikes again. With this, his head falls away from his body. She then rolls the headless body off the bed and pulls down the luxurious bed curtains, bundling them up so they can be carried. Pausing for a moment to gather her strength, she picks up the twitching head and takes it out to her maid, who places it in the food bag.

Her husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, men and women slaves, livestock, and fields; People from the region of northern Mesopotamia that includes modern-day Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

The Jewish holiday of lights, generally celebrated in November or December, that celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the Maccabean Revolt. Literally, "second canon"; refers to texts accepted by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as sacred scripture, but not included in the Hebrew Bible.

Not to be confused with Apocrypha, which include noncanonical works. Relating to the dynasty established by Simon Maccabeus that ruled Israel independently from B. It turned into full-scale war with Judah Maccabee taking the reins and paving the way for the Hasmonean dynasty. Of or belonging to any of several branches of Christianity, especially from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, whose adherents trace their tradition back to the earliest Christian communities.

Lowercase "orthodox" , this term means conforming with the dominant, sanctioned ideas or belief system. The world's largest Christian church organization administered by hierarchy made up of a single pope and a network of cardinals, bishops, priests, and renunciates such as nuns and monks.

Arphaxad Fortifies Ecbatana 1It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. In those days Ar The te So he was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this da Even to the tenth generation, none of their descendants shall be admitted to the assembly Site HarperCollins Dictionary.

People Home Judith. Add this:. Judith by Denise Dombkowski Hopkins The story of Judith would make a blockbuster movie, with its seduction, suspense, war, violence, and feisty, beautiful widow. Did you know…? Interpreters argue about whether Judith is a positive or negative role model for readers then and now. She moves from saintly widow to lying, seductive warrior and back to widow again.

Critics censure Judith for her lies, for acting like a man, and for using her beauty as a weapon to seduce Holofernes. Supporters see Judith as a brave liberator and independent woman. Judith may have been too radical and sexy for her time to become part of the canon.

Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, — Kentucky: expanded edition, Moore, Carey A. Garden City, NY: Have an update or correction? Let us know. Episode E. Lockhart's New Jewish Superhero. Jewish Women's Archive. Learn more. Judith: Apocrypha by Toni Craven. In Brief. The Introduction to Judith. Enter Judith.

Judith Victorious. Meyers, Carol, General Editor. Women in Scripture. New York: More Like This See Also:.