JUDITH, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament, contains an account of the invasion of Syria and Judea by Holofernes, general of Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, and particularly of the siege of Bethulia, a town in Judo= ; and of the destruction of the Assyrian army, and of the death of Holofernes through the courage and strata gem of Judith, the widow of Mauasses, and an inhabitant of Bethulia. The historical and geographical difficulties of this book are so great, and its narrative so improbable, that a great number of critics are disposed to consider it as a religious romance, probably written in the time of the Maccabees, to encourage the Jews in their struggles against the Syrian monarchs. Grotius considers it an allegory, written in the time of Aittiochus Epiphanes ; and that " by Judith is meant Judaea ; by Bethulia, the temple or house of God ; and by the sword which went out from thence, the prayers of the saints; that Nabuehodnosor denotes the Devil ; and the kingdom of Assyria the Devil's pride," &c. Montfaucon (` La Verits5 de l'Histoire de Judith '), Huet (‘ Dem. ev. Prop.; iv., p. 366), and Prideaux (` Connection,' vol. i., pp. 65.74),
maintain, on the contrary, that it is a true history. Prideaux considers Nabuchodnosor to be the same person as Saosduehinus, the son of Esarhaddon, and grandson of Sennacherib ; and Arpbaxad, who is represented in Judith as the king of Media, to be only another name for Deioces. But in opposition to this, it should be remarked that there are many passages in the book which refer to a time subsequent to the Babylonian captivity. Josepline, also, who seldom neglects an opportunity of extolling the valour of his countrymen, takes no notice of this story.
The book of Judith was originally written in Chaldce, from which it was translated into Latin by Jerome. It was also translated into Greek and Syriac. The English translation in the authorised version was made from the Greek, and differs in many respects from the translation of Jerome, which is still extant in the Latin Vulgate.
There is a great similarity between the history of Judith and a tale which Quintus Curtius tells us respecting the death of Spitarnenes (viii. 3).
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