JUDITH, THE BOOK OF, one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, of which the argument is as follows :—In the 12th year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar, who is described as king of Assyria, having his capital in Nineveh, makes war against Arphaxad, kind of Media, and overcomes him in his 17th year. He despatches his chief general Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west who had withheld their assistance. The children of Israel, newly returned from captivity, are apprehensive of a desecration of their sanctuary and resolve on resistance. The inhabitants of Bethulia (Betylua) and Betomestham in particular, directed by Joachim the high priest, guard the mountain passes near Dothaim and place their trust in God. Holofernes enquires of the chiefs who are with him about the Israelites, and Achior, the leader of the Ammonites, tells how the Israelites are invincible except when they have offended God. Achior is thereupon pun ished by being handed over to the Israelites, who lead him to Bethulia. Next day the siege begins, and after 4o days the fam ished inhabitants urge the governor Ozias (Uzziah) to surrender, which he consents to do unless relieved in five days. Judith, a beautiful widow of the tribe of Simeon, now appears on the scene with a plan of deliverance. Wearing rich attire, and accompanied by her maid, she goes over to the hostile camp, where she is con ducted to the general, whose suspicions are disarmed by the tales she invents. After four days Holofernes, smitten with her
charms, at the close of a sumptuous entertainment invites her to remain within his tent. No sooner is he overcome with sleep than Judith, seizing his sword, strikes off his head and gives it to her maid; both now leave the camp (as they had previously been accustomed to do, ostensibly for prayer) and return to Bethulia where the trophy is displayed amid great rejoicings and thanks givings. Achior now publicly professes Judaism, and at the in stance of Judith the Israelites make a sudden victorious onslaught on the enemy. Judith now sings a song of praise, and all go up to Jerusalem to worship with sacrifice and rejoicing.
The book in its fuller form was most probably written in the 2nd century B.C. The writer places his romance two centuries earlier, in the time of Ochus, as we may reasonably infer from the attack made by Holofernes and Bagoas on Judea; for Arta xerxes Ochus made an expedition against Phoenicia and Egypt in 350 B.C., in which his chief generals were Holofernes and Bagoas.