The book of judith second or early first century b. Torrey, however, goes too far when he says see jewish encyclopedia, book of judith that the writer aimed at nothing more than to write a tale that would amuse. The story revolves around judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her jewish countrymen for not trusting. Two hebrew versions are known at present, a long one practically identical with the greek text, and a short one which is entirely different. Medieval hebrew versions understood the story in the context of the hasmonean revolt. Encyclopedias of general content in hebrew and yiddish outside of israel. The book of judith is a story of balance and counterbalance that makes the. The book contains numerous historical anachronisms. Judith, book of the 1901 jewish encyclopedia bible. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and in the roman catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded by jews and protestants. Judith, book of international standard bible encyclopedia. Nov 18, 2016 what happens in judith, if it is meant as a historical book, might have happened during this time, since judith mentions that militia that attacked judith s city was syrian. The editors of the jewish encyclopedia identified holofernes. A descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the jewish people from earliest times.
However, the subject of its ethical attitudes in this book is rarely mentioned. Now lord without the article can be only the hebrew yahweh, read always. It covers diverse areas of the jewish world and civilization, including jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, language, scripture, and religious teachings. Bethulia is clearly distinguished from jerusalem judith 4. For an english translation of jeromes letter, see the catholic encyclopedia. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded by. In the book of susanna, susanna represents the community besieged by internal problems. Book of judith, apocryphal work excluded from the hebrew and protestant biblical. After having devastated many countries, holofernes reached esdraelon, and encamped between geba and scythopolis to collect his forces. Judith returns to the city with his head, and the jews rout the enemy.
The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded from jewish texts and assigned by protestants to the apocrypha. Book of judith, apocryphal work excluded from the hebrew and protestant biblical canons but included in the septuagint greek version of the hebrew bible and accepted in the roman canon. The book of judith has a dramatic setting that appealed to jewish patriots and. The book contains numerous historical anachronisms, which is why some scholars now accept it as nonhistorical. She gains the favor of holofernes, who seeks an opportunity to seduce her. This article was most recently revised and updated by amy tikkanen. Though a tale of jewish patriotism written originally in hebrew, this book was never admitted into the hebrew canon, and the same applies to the book of tobit. Jul 01, 2003 if judith is a roman a clef, the original jewish audience could have figured out the real names of its characters, just as filmgoers in 41 figured out that the movie character charles foster kane was really hearst. From an article on catholic italian magazine famiglia cristiana, the new oxford annotated. The book of judith has a dramatic setting that appealed to jewish patriots and it warned of the urgency of adhering to mosaic law, generally speaking, but what accounted for its enduring appeal was the drama of its narrative. The first hebrew encyclopedias were translations or adaptations of arabic works, which were intended as systematic presentations of the sciences in the medieval aristotelian scheme, not usually arranged in alphabetical order.
Judith is included with the apocrypha in the king james version. Other women wordsmiths in the biblical text are lady wisdom proverbs 89, abigail 1 samuel 25. The oldest extant text of judith is the preservation of 15. Whatever the reasons, the rabbis did not count judith among their scriptures, and the reformation adopted that position. Judith definition of judith by the free dictionary. The book of judith bible scriptures articles learn. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded from the hebrew canon and assigned by protestants to the apocrypha. In the bible, a jewish heroine who rescued her people by slaying an assyrian general. But the church has always maintained its canonicity. Even though the book of judith is not part of the official jewish religious canon, it regained popularity among jews in the medieval period and remains widely read.
The book of judith is similar to the biblical book of esther in that it also describes how a woman saved her people from impending massacre the book relates that nebuchadrezzar, king of assyria, sent his general holofernes on an expedition against palestine. Judith synonyms, judith pronunciation, judith translation, english dictionary definition of judith. A book of jewish holidays reading railroad gross, judy, weissman, bari on. The name judith is hebrew praised or jewess, the feminine form of judah. Unfortunately, at this late date it is difficult for us to do so with the book of judith. As in other hellenistic narratives, the principal female character represents the community under attack. In judith the names of persons and localities are introduced in such profusion and with such minuteness of detail as have no parallel in the other old jewish compositions of this class. Judith is the fourth book of the old testament apocrypha in those versions of the bible following the greek septuagint generally roman catholic and orthodox versions.
The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and. The view that bethulia is merely a symbolic name for jerusalem or a fictitious town, has met with little favor, even among those who deny the historical character of the book. Book of judith project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The book of judith is a parable, or perhaps the first historical novel according to jewish authorities, who do not place it among the writings of the tanakh or hebrew bible. The apocrypha are works writtencollected at the same time as most books of the bible but not included in the hebrew canon. In the book of judith, for example, judith represents the community under siege, protecting its cultic boundaries from foreign penetration. At the start of this war nebuchadnezzar orders all the city states in surrounding kingdoms to send him a levy of soldiers, but they flout his command. The book of judith is included in the septuagint, which was translated into greek for the use of hellenized jews in alexandria. The early church, however, held this book in high honor.
The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book of the christian bible. The book of judith is relatively often discussed nowadays, mainly because of its interest for feminist studies. Nebuchadnezzar for information about babylon and its king. Just as judith s act reminds us of yaels killing of enemy general sisera in the book of judges thats the gentle story where yael put a tent peg through his head, her celebration of victory reminds us of miriams timbrels after crossing the reed sea. Encyclopedia judaica project gutenberg selfpublishing. A tone of religious fervor and of intense patriotism runs through the narrative, and no opportunity of enforcing the claims of the jewish law is lost. But both judith and tobit were recognized as canonical by the council of carthage 397 ad and by the council of trent 1545 ad. The book of judith has a tragic setting that appealed to jewish patriots and it warned of the urgency of adhering to mosaic law, generally speaking, but what accounted for its enduring appeal was the drama of its narrative. The book of judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the septuagint and the catholic and eastern orthodox christian old testament of the bible, but excluded by jews and assigned by protestants to the apocrypha. Judith tops them all with two long statementsfirst to uzziah and the other bethulian magistrates judith 8. The book of judith does not exist in the hebrew bible, and is consequently excluded from the protestant canon of holy scripture. The encyclopaedia judaica is a 26volume englishlanguage encyclopedia of the jewish people and their faith, judaism.
Bethulia, a besieged jewish city, is about to surrender when judith, a jewish widow of great beauty and piety, takes it upon herself to enter the enemy camp. It is not clear whether the book of judith was originally written in hebrew or in greek. According to the book of judith, holofernes is said to have been despatched by nebuchadnezzar with an army of 120,000 foot and 12,000 horse for the purpose of taking vengeance on all the earth judith ii. Book of judith article about book of judith by the free. The book of judith is a story of balance and counterbalance that makes the point that gods people have all they need to survive if they rely wholeheartedly on the covenant. Although the story is set in the babylonian period, the book of judith is thought to have originated at the time of the maccabees. Jerome, while rejecting in theory those books which he did not find in his hebrew manuscript, yet consented to translate judith because the synod of nicaea. The book of judith is a story written for household reading, while it may properly be classed as didactic, yet it is one of those popular tales in which the chief concern of the writer is with the telling of the story rather than with the pointing of a moral, and in which the wish to interest takes precedence even of the desire to instruct.
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