Commentaria in Judith
Chapter 13
Judith, praying, cuts off the head of Holofernes and carries the head to Bethulia. Wherefore Ozias the prince, Achior, and all the rest glorify God, and sing a hymn to Judith.
1. And when it grew late, his servants made haste to their lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors and went away. 2. And they were all fatigued with wine, 3. And Judith was alone in the chamber. 4. Now Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk. 5. And Judith had said to her maid that she should stand without before the chamber, and watch. 6. And Judith stood before the bed, praying with tears, and the motion of her lips in silence, 7. Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, believing it might be done by thee. 8. And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at his bed’s head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it. 9. And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour. 10. And she struck twice upon his neck, and cut off his head, and took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body. 11. And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet. 12. And they two went out according to their custom, as it were to prayer, and they passed the camp, and compassing the valley, came to the gate of the city. 13. And Judith said from afar to the watchmen on the walls: Open the gates, for God is with us, who hath shown his power in Israel. 14. And it came to pass when the men heard her voice, they called the ancients of the city. 15. And all ran to her, from the least to the greatest, for now they did not hope that she would come. 16. And lighting lamps, they gathered round about her: and she, going up to a higher place, commanded silence to be made. And when all had held their peace, 17. Judith said: Praise the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in him: 18. And by me his handmaid hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel: and hath killed the enemy of his people by my hand this night. 19. Then bringing forth the head of Holofernes out of the wallet, she showed it them, saying: Behold the head of Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, in which he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the hand of a woman. 20. But the same Lord liveth, for his angel hath been my keeper both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be defiled, but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance. 21. Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever. 22. And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nothing. 23. And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the most high God, above all women upon the earth. 24. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. 25. Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart from the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life for the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God. 26. And all the people said: So be it, so be it. 27. Then Achior being called for, came, and Judith said to him: The God of Israel, to whom thou gavest testimony, that he revengeth himself of his enemies, he hath cut off the heads of all the unbelievers this night by my hand. 28. And that thou mayst find that it is so, behold the head of Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel: and threatened death to thee, saying: When the people of Israel shall be taken, I will command thy sides to be pierced with a sword. 29. Then Achior seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with a great fear, fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned away. 30. But after he recovered his spirits, he fell down at her feet, and reverenced her, and said: 31. Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee.
1. “HIS SERVANTS MADE HASTE TO THEIR LODGINGS,”—lest, seen drunk and staggering in gait, they should be laughed at by the people, but sleeping at home in bed they might digest their wine and surfeit. “For they were all fatigued with wine,” verse 2; Vatablus: because all were wearied by long drinking. The providence of God brought this about, that all went away overcome with wine and sought sleep, that none might watch and hear what Judith was contriving. See here again how improvident are gluttony and drunkenness, and how they cause all to be lulled to sleep, so that no one of the watchmen keeps guard before the doors of Holofernes (as is usual).
5. “AND JUDITH HAD SAID TO HER MAID THAT SHE SHOULD STAND WITHOUT BEFORE THE CHAMBER, AND WATCH,”—lest anyone come nearer to the chamber and hear what she herself was doing in the chamber in slaying Holofernes. The Greek has more fully: And Judith said to her maid to stand outside his chamber, and to watch for her coming out, as every day. For she said she would go out to her prayer. And she spoke to Bagoas according to these words. And all went away from the face of their lord, and no one remained in the chamber, from the least to the greatest.
6. “PRAYING WITH TEARS.”—For she was undertaking an unheard-of matter, full of danger, and exceeding the strength and courage of a woman: wherefore with tears she asked of God strength and boldness, saying: “Strengthen me, O Lord God.” The Greek has more fully: O Lord God of all might, look in this hour upon the works of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem; for now is the time to take up thy inheritance, and to carry out my design for the shattering of the enemies who have risen up against us.
8. “AND HIS SWORD.”—In Greek, *akinakên*, verse 8, that is, a Persian sword, short and curved, such as now are the swords of the Turks, commonly called scimitars. Hence it is clear that Holofernes was a Persian, as Cedrenus relates.
9. “SHE TOOK HIM BY THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD,”—that she might more surely and more strongly strike him, lest he, by some agitation and movement of the body, such as befalls sleepers in sleep, should turn aside or weaken the blow: with her left hand, therefore, she held the hair, that she might keep the head motionless to receive the stroke of her brandished right hand. Moreover that the Persians were accustomed to wear long hair Xenophon teaches, book I of the *Cyropaedia*, and Herodotus, book I, where he calls the Persians *komêtai*, that is, long-haired and tufted.