I hope at least a few of you took the time to read my capsule of the Bible book of Esther last week. Here is another. These stories are like soap operas. This one is called the Book of Judith.
This story starts off in Assyria. Again, this is what we now call Iran. The king of the Assyrians was Nebuchadnazar (I'll call him Neby). He had been king for a while and, like all kings, wanted more land. He especially wanted to take over another small kingdom where that local king had built a mighty fortress. So Neby sent a message to a whole bunch of other kings that they needed to join with him in conquering this land. The other kings said "No deal." and this really ticked Neby off. So he promised he would build an army that would conquer every one of them, take their land, loot their valuables, kill them men - well, you get the picture.
Five years later, he took his revenge. He sent his armies to take over all of those who wouldn't help him. They did it! They were so strong that many of the little countries just gave up. They marched across what we now call Iraq, across Syria, through what we call Lebanon, and down the Mediteranean coast. All was going swimmingly well. Most of these countries sent a peace deligation to Neby asking for a deal.
Well, not all the tribes sent a peace deligation. This group they call the Israelites just built up their defenses. Neby's guys asked just who these Israelites were. They were told they were a people who had a single God in heaven who protected them as long as they didn't sin. Neby's men said they weren't afraid of them. So they prepared for battle. The Israelites also prepared and prayed to God for help.
Neby's army took a look at the mountainous terrain and decided the easiest way to defeat the Israelites was to cut off their source of water and starve them. It worked. The Israelites wanted to give up - no one had any strength without water. They were revolting against their leader.
Now, there was a woman living there named Judith. She was a beautiful young woman who was able to manage her dead husband's land. She heard what was going on. She told the Jewish leaders that they were wrong to go begging to God and blaming God for their problem. Tonight I will do something about this - don't ask me what I'm doing. You will find out in good time.
That night, after a long prayer to God, Judith, dressed in her finest, and her slave girl set out through the gates of the town. She and her slave were soon captured by an Assyrian patrol and taken to the head of the army. All the men were taken by her beauty and her story that they were running because the Israelites were about to be decimated by this army. She told them how bad things were in the other camp. Judith agreed to lead the Assyrian army and show them the way into the mountains to easily defeat the Hebrews. After a couple days, the commander of the Assyrian army threw a banquet and arranged for Judith to be brought to his tent and all others kept away. Judith prayed to God for instruction on just what to do. While the commander laid in his bed waiting for her, Judith grabbed his sword and chopped off his head with two mighty swipes. She put his head in a food beg, gave it to her slave and pretended to go off and pray as they had done before. Actually, they headed back to the Jewish settlement.
Judith told her people to hang the head on the town wall so anyone coming near could see it. The Assyrian army was in disarray and full of panic when they realized their leader was butchered and dead. They thought it must have been the God about whom they had been warned. They refused to attack. It was a victory for Israel.
This historical account is found in the Catholic and Christian Bibles but not the Jewish Bible.
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