JUDITH. 



no freeman fhall be hurt in cither his perfon or property, 

 " nifi per legale judicium parium fuorum vel per legem 

 tcrrx." And this was ever eftccmed, in all countries, a 

 privilege of the higheft and mod beneficial nature. 



JUDITH, an apocryphal book, excluded by the Jews 

 from the canon of the Old Teilament, and fo called, becaufe 

 Judith is the principal perfon to whnfc hillory the book 

 refers. We (hall lirll give a fummary of the contents of this 

 book, and then inquire mto the 'ime in which it was written, 

 and ftate different opinions concerning the writer of it. 

 Nebuchodonofor, king of the Affyrians, who reigned in 

 Nineveh, having defeated Arphaxad, king of the Medes, and 

 taken him prifoner, formed a defign of extending his con- 

 quefts, and for this purpofe fent Holofernes with a powerful 

 army, who became mailer of Mefopotamia, Syria, Lybia, 

 and Cilicia. After thefe conquells, he took pofleffion of 

 Idumaa. Upon this the Ifraelites were alarmed, and taking 

 poffeffion of the hilly country, fortified their cities. The 

 high pried, Joachim, or Eliakim, encouraged their exertions, 

 and ordered them to confide in God, and to implore his iuc- 

 cour. Holofernes exprefFed furpnfe at their vigorous prepa- 

 rations for refnlanceagainft his powerful army, and enquired 

 of their neighbours, the Mo-ibites and Ammonites, what 

 force they could command, and what was the reafon of their 

 declining to fubmit to him. Achior, the chief of the Am- 

 monites, informs him, that thefe people were fometimes pro- 

 tefted, and fometimes forfaken by their God ; adding, that 

 if they had offended their God, he would dehver them into 

 his hands ; but if not, then God would defend them, and 

 his whole army could not conquer them. Holofernes re- 

 ceived this account with indignation, and ordered Achior 

 to be carried to B;thulia, which he immediately beficged, in- 

 tending to revenge himfelf of Achior, as foon as he had 

 taken that place. Onias, the governor of Bethuha, made 

 preparations for its defence ; but the inhabitants, dreading 

 the event of a prolonged fiege, wilhed to furrender the place, 

 and could fcarcely be induced to continue their refiitance 

 for five days. It was in thefe critical circumftances, that 

 Judith, faid to be of the tribe of Reuben, daughter of 

 Merari, and widow of Manaffeh, both opulent and beau- 

 tiful, refolved upon going into the camp of Holofernes, 

 in order to deftroy him. Accordingly (he left the city, 

 and was introduced to Holofernes. The conqueror was 

 captivated by the charms of her perfon, entertained 

 her with a fumptuous feail, and expefling to obtain 

 a coinplete triumph over this beautiful and rich widow, in- 

 dulged in drinking to excefs. In the evening, Bagoas, the 

 eunuch of Holofernes, who had introduced Judith, with her 

 maid-fervant, to the feaft, fhut up the chamber-doors and 

 departed. Holofernes, overcome by the wine which he had 

 drank, fell into a found fleep. Judith availed herfelf of the 

 opportunity, cHt off the head of Holofernes witii his own 

 fabre, depofited it in her maid's bag, and taking advantage 

 of the hberty that was allowed her to vifit and leave the 

 camp at pleafurc, haftened back to Bethulia. When the 

 liead of Holofernes wasdifplayed to view on the walls of the 

 city, the befieiring army of the Affyrians was feizcd with 

 difmay, and fled in great difordcr. The Ifraelites purfued 

 them, killed many of them, and took poffeffion of a very 

 large fpoil. Judith took occafion to ling a hymn to the 

 Lord, to whom flie confecrated the arms of Holofernes, 

 and accompanied the people to Jenifalem to prefcnt their 

 public thankfgiving for this fignal deliverance. She returned 

 afterwards to Bethulia, hved there to the advanced age of 

 105 years, and was buried with her hufband in this city. 

 The people lamented her death for feven days ; and the day 



on which tliis viftory was obtained was reckoned by the 

 Hebrews among their feftivals. 



The greateft difficulty in this narration is to fix the time, 

 when the event, which it records, happened. Some place 

 it before, others after the captivity ; and fomc finding in- 

 fuperable difficulties in reconciling it with the hillory of tiie 

 Jews, Affyrians and Medes, have maintained, that it is only 

 a parable and allegory, and not a true hillory. The Greek 

 and Syriac verfioi-.s feem to prove, that it occurred after 

 the captivity of Babylon. The Vulgate may be explained 

 as referring to the time preceding the captivity. Neither 

 facred nor profane hillory, in the time of Manaffeh, or in 

 that of Zedekiah, either before or after the captivity, fay 

 any thing of a king of Nineveh, named Nebuchodonofor, 

 who in the 12th and 17th years of his reign conquered a 

 king of the Medes, called Arphaxad. It would alfo be 

 hard to find at this particular time an high-prieft of the 

 Jews, whofe name was Joachim or Eliakim. We ffiould 

 likewife meet with invincible difficulties, in reconciling the 

 Greek text and the Syriac with the Latin of St. Jerom ; 

 nor would there be perhaps lefs, if we were to adhere only 

 to the Vulgate, and rejed the Greek, Syriac, and old Italic 

 verfions. If the names were granted, it is not eafy to de- 

 termine whether we fhould adopt the Greek or the Latin 

 text. As to the Syriac, it was taken from the Greek, 

 and from the Greek only one might infer, that the ftory of 

 Judith was tranflated and written after the captivity ; but if 

 we follow the Latin, it may be placed before the captivitv. 

 The Greek text is very ancient : fume fuppofe it to be 

 Theodotion's, who lived under Commodus, after A. D. i8o; 

 but it mull be more ancient, becaufe it is cited by Clemens 

 Romanus in his epillle to the Corinthians, written above 

 120 years before. The Syriac hkcwife is very ancient, and 

 trandated from feme Greek text more correct than any we 

 have at prefent; but the fame as to fubftance. The Latin 

 Italic verfion, or the old Vulgate, is made likewife from the 

 Greek, but it is very defedlive. St. Jcrom's Vulgate was 

 tranflated from a Chaldee text, which St. Jcrom took to be 

 the genuine original of Judith ; but he leaves the fubjeft 

 in a very perplexed and unfatisfaftory ftate. With the old 

 Latin verfion before him, he omitted what was fuperfluous ; 

 and referved all that was found agreeing with the Chaldee, 

 and probably added what was wanting, fo that his ver- 

 fion is rather a reform of the old, than a trauflation alto- 

 gether new ; and fome words are obferved in it which are 

 taken from the old Italic. They who maintain, that the 

 hiftory of Judith contained what paffcd before the captivity, 

 and in ManaffL-h"s time, believe it fuflicient to demon Urate, 

 that there is nothing in the hillory repugnant to this af- 

 fertion. The opinion, which places the hldoiy of J;idith 

 after the captivity of Babylon, is founded principally on 

 the authority of the Greek verlion, which is certainly, as we 

 have already faid, very ancient , and it may pafs for an ori- 

 ginal, there being nothing more ancient and authentic ; for 

 it is dubious, whether St. Jcrom's Chaldee were the ori- 

 ginal text of this work. A ter all, what fcems demon- 

 llrative for the opinion, which places this after the return 

 from the Babylonifh captivity, is :he import of tne Greek, 

 chap. iv. 2. In this opinion almoft all the ancients, and 

 many of the moderns, have c-ncurrcd. Eufebius places it 

 in the reign of Cambyfes, SynccUus in that of Xerxes, 

 Sulpitius Severus in that of Ochus ; others under An- 

 tiochus Epiphanes, and in the time of the Maccabees. 



Dr. Prideaux fuppofes, that tiie Nebucliudonofor of the 

 book of Judith is Saofduchinus, king ot Babylon, who com- 

 menced his reign in the 31ft year of Manaffeh, and that Ar- 

 phaxad 



