Judith
Judith had been a widow a long time. Not as long as some,
she supposed, but after three years of mourning, fasting, and secluding herself
in her home, her life with her husband Manasseh felt like a lifetime ago. Still,
Manasseh had left her gold and silver, menservants and maidservants, herds and
land; and she lived happily among all her possessions without anyone finding a
word to say against her because she devoutly feared God.
It was her devout faith, in fact, that brought Judith out of
seclusion. She couldn’t believe that her countrymen were so doubtful of the
Lord's faith! They had promised to surrender Israel to invaders if the Lord did
not help them within a set number of days! A set number of days! Did they know
nothing of God? You have no right to demand guarantees where the
designs of the Lord our God are concerned. For God is
not to be threatened as a human being is, nor is he, like a mere human, to be
cajoled. These men were so impatient with their desires, but not her. She had experienced
loss long before now and knew from experience that the Lord worked in his own
time, in his own way, in accordance to his own plan. He would not be rushed by
the petty demands of his servants.
Judith knew she had to act to help save Israel both from
invaders and the thoughtless demands of its own leaders. But knowing that the
only way she could accomplish anything was through the support and guidance of
God, she first prayed.
“Your strength does not lie in numbers,
nor your might in strong men,” Judith prayed. “Since you are the God of
the humble, the help of the oppressed, the support of the weak, the refuge of
the forsaken, the Savior of the despairing.”
It was this idea that finally motivated her to act. Was her
god not the God of sinners and lost causes? Did he not take pity on the weak
and raise them up to become strong? Yes she was a widower in a small town about
to be overrun, but she was also a servant of the Almighty God and that gave her
strength. Calling out to her maids, she stripped off her mourning clothing and
began to prepare.
Before getting married Judith had been quite sought after.
And even now, though she was older, she was still pleasing to the eye.
Capitalizing on this Judith and her maids walked through the gates of the city
toward the encampment of the enemy where their general, Holofernes, was
staying. Getting past the gates was easy but her nerves kicked in as the guards
called out to her.
“Which side are you on?” called one, grasping her arm.
“Where are you going?” came the voice of another, catching
her by the other arm.
“ I am on my way to see Holofernes, the general of your
army, to give him trustworthy information,” she replied, resisting the urge to
pull away from them.
The guards considered her for a moment and she could see
when they were taken by her beauty. How funny it was that beauty was so often
the undoing for men who seemed so unshaken by anything else – how on earth did
beauty, something given to her at birth through no fault of her own, mean she
was trustworthy? And yet the men let her go easily, directing her toward their
general, confident that someone who looked like her could only bring good things
to their encampment.
Finally they brought her to Holofernes tent. It was purple and gold and opulent and awful. A war tent, dressed this way? The idea that her people should suffer under such an obvious abuser of wealth enraged her.
"What it is it, women." Holofernes called his face aristocratic but cruel.
"I have come to offer myself as your guide through Judaea, to help you reach Jerusalem." Judith replied, ducking her head low.
"Why would you do this?" Holofernes asked, inching closer, entranced by her beauty.
"It is known throughout the world that your armies have no match and your men no true contenders." She said, hoping to appeal to his vanity. "A women like myself prefers to be on the winning side of these kind of wars."
"Agreed!" Holofernes replied, laughing with joy as his men did also. "There is no match for this army in all the world! I will take you up on your offer and in exchange you will dine with us tonight"
"You are too kind." Judith replied, before bowing again and being ushered away to ready herself for the feast.
----
Men really were blind Judith thought, glancing at Holofernes. Well not literally - he had certainly looked his fill when she had set down to join him at dinner, eyes pouring over her and her feminine adornments. But he was certainly blind to her as a threat, which was almost a little insulting. Not only was he intent to sleep with her, but it had only taken a little encouragement from her to begin drinking and now he was sodden with wine.
Minute by minute staff and servants left, eventually leaving her alone with Holofernes in his opulent tent. The man was fully reclined on his rugs, too drunk to hold his head up let alone do any of the seducing she had heard so much about over her meal. Standing up and brushing off her skirts she went over to wear his armour was stored and pulled out his sword.
This was the part of her plan that made her nervous. She had never taken a life before and while she was certain it was the right thing to do she wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. Deciding that a man could suredly not live without his head she heaved the heavy sword over her shoulder.
"Make me strong today, Lord God of Israel" Judith cried and then swung down.
And down.
And down again.
Three times before Holofernes' head was finally liberated from his body. Judith dropped the sword allowing it to clunk on the ground before grabbing a food back and stuffing the fallen generals head inside. Peeking her head out of the tent and seeing no one, she dashed away.
It was time to go home.
Finally they brought her to Holofernes tent. It was purple and gold and opulent and awful. A war tent, dressed this way? The idea that her people should suffer under such an obvious abuser of wealth enraged her.
"What it is it, women." Holofernes called his face aristocratic but cruel.
"I have come to offer myself as your guide through Judaea, to help you reach Jerusalem." Judith replied, ducking her head low.
"Why would you do this?" Holofernes asked, inching closer, entranced by her beauty.
"It is known throughout the world that your armies have no match and your men no true contenders." She said, hoping to appeal to his vanity. "A women like myself prefers to be on the winning side of these kind of wars."
"Agreed!" Holofernes replied, laughing with joy as his men did also. "There is no match for this army in all the world! I will take you up on your offer and in exchange you will dine with us tonight"
"You are too kind." Judith replied, before bowing again and being ushered away to ready herself for the feast.
----
Men really were blind Judith thought, glancing at Holofernes. Well not literally - he had certainly looked his fill when she had set down to join him at dinner, eyes pouring over her and her feminine adornments. But he was certainly blind to her as a threat, which was almost a little insulting. Not only was he intent to sleep with her, but it had only taken a little encouragement from her to begin drinking and now he was sodden with wine.
Minute by minute staff and servants left, eventually leaving her alone with Holofernes in his opulent tent. The man was fully reclined on his rugs, too drunk to hold his head up let alone do any of the seducing she had heard so much about over her meal. Standing up and brushing off her skirts she went over to wear his armour was stored and pulled out his sword.
This was the part of her plan that made her nervous. She had never taken a life before and while she was certain it was the right thing to do she wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. Deciding that a man could suredly not live without his head she heaved the heavy sword over her shoulder.
"Make me strong today, Lord God of Israel" Judith cried and then swung down.
And down.
And down again.
Three times before Holofernes' head was finally liberated from his body. Judith dropped the sword allowing it to clunk on the ground before grabbing a food back and stuffing the fallen generals head inside. Peeking her head out of the tent and seeing no one, she dashed away.
It was time to go home.
Authors Note:
The book of Judith is considered to be deuterocanonical which means literally "belonging to the second cannon" and traditionally has meant that the book is in the Christian Old Testament but not the Hebrew one. Many of these books are represented in some forms of the Bible, depending on the denomination. Judith is a perfect example of this - while originally a part of early Christian biblical studies it has since been removed from many, but is still present in many Catholic and Orthodox Christian Bibles. Judith represents a pretty major departure from other O.T. women. Widowed, sexual, and pretty handy with a sword, she doesn't exactly line up the Apostles Paul's suggestions in Corinthians that women "be in submission". But that's the great thing about Badass Biblical Women - there are women who submit themselves to their husbands and there are women who raise entire nations and there are women who behead Kings. I think the most important thing about writing about women is that they don't all need to be the same - there isn't only one acceptable form of bad-assery. What being a BBW really means is that you're a female character that has been written with all the complexity that male characters get. You're portrayed with all your faults and strengths during both your trials and your triumphs. And Judith certainly has that description is spades!
Book of Judith King James Version Online