Commentaria in Judith
Chapter 14
Synopsis of the chapter
Judith bids the head of Holofernes be hung from the walls; Achior is converted to Judaism; the Hebrews rush upon the Assyrians; they, dismayed by the slaying of Holofernes, lament with a great cry.
1. Then Judith said to all the people: Hear me, my brethren, hang up this head upon our walls. 2. And it shall be, when the sun riseth, let every man take his arms, and rush ye out, not to go down below, but as if you would make an assault. 3. Then the watchmen must needs run to their commander to awake him for the battle. 4. And when the captains of them shall run to the tent of Holofernes, and shall find him headless, wallowing in his blood, fear shall fall upon them. 5. And when you shall know that they are fleeing, go after them securely, for the Lord will destroy them under your feet. 6. Then Achior seeing the power that the God of Israel had wrought, leaving the religion of the Gentiles, he believed in God, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the people of Israel, and all the succession of his kindred until this day. 7. And as soon as it was day they hung up the head of Holofernes upon the walls, and every man took his arms, and they went out with a great noise and shouting. 8. And the watchmen seeing this, ran to the tent of Holofernes. 9. And they that were in the tent, came and made a noise before the entrance of the chamber, endeavouring to awake him, using art that Holofernes might awake, not by their call, but by their noise. 10. For no man durst knock, or open and go into the chamber of the general of the Assyrians. 11. But when his captains and tribunes came, and all the chief men of the army of the king of the Assyrians, they said to the chamberlains: 12. Go in, and awake him, for the mice are come out of their holes, and dare challenge us to fight. 13. Then Vagao going into his chamber, stood before the curtain, and made a clapping with his hands: for he thought that he was sleeping with Judith. 14. But when with listening he perceived no motion of one lying, he came near to the curtain, and lifting it up, and seeing the body of Holofernes lying on the ground without the head, weltering in his blood, he cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and rent his garments. 15. And he went into the tent of Judith, and not finding her, he ran out to the people, 16. And said: One Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for behold Holofernes lieth upon the ground, and his head is not upon him. 17. And when the chief of the army of the Assyrians heard this, they all rent their garments, and an intolerable fear and dread fell upon them, and their minds were troubled exceedingly. 18. And there was a very great cry in the midst of their camp.
1. “THEN JUDITH SAID: HANG UP THIS HEAD UPON OUR WALLS,”—that the Assyrians, seeing their leader slain, may be dismayed and flee.
2. “AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN THE SUN RISETH, LET EVERY MAN TAKE HIS ARMS, AND RUSH YE OUT, NOT TO GO DOWN BELOW (to a true and serious battle with the far more powerful Assyrians), BUT AS IF YOU WOULD MAKE AN ASSAULT,”—that is, as though making an attack on the nearest station of the enemy; as if to say: Do not engage in full line, being few against countless numbers, but pretend that you wish to engage, so that the Assyrians may flee to Holofernes, that he may draw up the line, and seeing him slain may be dismayed and flee. For Judith did not wish the Assyrians to be attacked before the death of Holofernes had become widely known and had left the Assyrians bereft of courage and counsel; but that being done, she bade them at once rush upon the frightened and fleeing. For if they had given the Assyrians time, they could have chosen by common counsel another leader to continue the siege of Bethulia, and so take the city worn out with hunger and thirst. But Judith, wisely foreseeing this, bade them, the death of Holofernes being noised abroad, suddenly fall with all their strength and troops on the stricken. This done, the enemy, stupefied and fleeing, were conquered and slain by the Hebrews. See here, then, the prudence and military skill of Judith, who pursued the victory begun to its end; wherefore she was more prudent than Hannibal, who, when he had utterly cut down the Romans in the battle of Cannae, and Maharbal, prefect of the horse, urged him to march at once to Rome (for without doubt he would take it, stricken as it was, and dine on the fifth day in the Capitol), Hannibal delayed, and said that this must be thought of more maturely; whereupon Maharbal added: “Thou knowest how to conquer, Hannibal, but thou knowest not how to use a victory.” So Livy, book XXII. Hear St. Ambrose, book *On Widows*: “Nor was this work only of the right hand, but there were greater trophies of wisdom. For with her hand she conquered Holofernes alone, but by counsel she conquered the whole army of the enemy. For, the head of Holofernes being hung up, which could not be thought out by the counsel of men, she raised the spirits of her own people and broke those of the enemy: rousing her own by shame, and striking the enemy with terror, and thereby they were slain and put to flight. Thus the temperance and sobriety of one widow not only overcame her own nature, but, what is more, made even men braver.”
In like manner David, having cut off the head of Goliath and shown it to the Philistines, struck them with terror and put them to flight, I Kings 17. The same did Judas Machabeus, having cut off the head of Nicanor and hung it from the citadel of Sion, II Machabees 15:35. So also the Roman Consuls M. Livius and Claudius Nero, Asdrubal having been slain with 56 thousand Carthaginians, and his head unexpectedly cast before the camp of his brother Hannibal, so struck him that he said the fortune of the Carthaginians was done for; and at once fleeing he withdrew into a corner of Italy among the Bruttians, as Livy attests at the end of book XXVI.
6. “THEN ACHIOR SEEING THE POWER (the might, namely of so strong, prodigious and divine a victory over the slain Holofernes) THAT THE GOD OF ISRAEL (in Greek, of Israel, that is, of the Israelite people) HAD WROUGHT, LEAVING THE RELIGION OF THE GENTILES (idolatry and heathenism), BELIEVED IN GOD, AND CIRCUMCISED (not by his own hand, but by that of some Levite) THE FLESH OF HIS FORESKIN,”—becoming a proselyte and a Jew; for although the Ammonites, Arabs, Phoenicians, Egyptians and Ethiopians had long ago received circumcision from Abraham and the Jews, yet they had received it as free, not as obligatory and necessary, as the Hebrews had received it from God commanding. Hence many did not circumcise themselves, from the shame and pain of circumcision: wherefore circumcision gradually almost vanished among them. Achior, then, though an Ammonite, was uncircumcised, but by this deed of Judith, converted to Judaism, he circumcised himself. For circumcision was the profession of Judaism and of the Mosaic law, as baptism now is the profession of Christianity and of the Gospel law.
a citizen of the Israelites, that he might have civic right to all their privileges, rights, dignities and even magistracies. For although God had forbidden in Deuteronomy 23:3 that Ammonites and Moabites be admitted into the assembly of Israel, yet in this law He permitted dispensation on account of some signal merits toward Israel, such as were Achior’s, who before Holofernes had publicly professed the providence and protection of God toward Israel, and had celebrated it with worthy praises. So Ruth the Moabitess was admitted into the assembly of Israel, and marrying Booz became grandmother of David and thence of Christ. For that this was God’s mind the lawyers, or Prophets, or High Priests answered, consulting God by Urim and Thummim, of which I spoke on Exodus chapter 28,
10. “FOR NO MAN DURST KNOCK, OR OPEN AND GO INTO THE CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL OF THE ASSYRIANS.”—“Of the general,” that is, of the power and majesty “of the Assyrians”: so they call Holofernes their leader and prince. As we call a king or prince His Royal Majesty, His Highness, His Excellency.
12. “THE MICE ARE COME OUT OF THEIR HOLES.”—So from contempt they also call the Jews, as unarmed and unwarlike; but these mice soon found out that they had turned into lions, who would lay low their elephants.
13. “THEN VAGAO GOING INTO HIS CHAMBER, STOOD BEFORE THE CURTAIN.”—So much did the princes of the Assyrians and Persians preserve their gravity and majesty that they spoke and gave replies only through a curtain, as the kings of the Chinese still do. Hence Athenaeus, book IV, chapter 6, from Heraclides, relates that princes invited by the king of the Persians to a banquet dined in the same chamber with him, but with a veil interposed, so that he could not be seen by them, though he himself easily saw them.
14. “THE BODY, ETC., LYING UPON THE GROUND.” The Greek has, upon the bed; or this bed was the ground near the bed, as the Greek has, verse 16.
16. “ONE HEBREW WOMAN HATH MADE CONFUSION IN THE HOUSE OF THE KING,”—when, by slaying the prince, she confounded, struck and threw into disorder the whole camp. See here the prudence of Judith, who sought the head of the leader: for that being taken away, she took away the whole camp. For a camp without a leader is the same as a people without a king, sheep without a shepherd, disciples without a master, sons without a father, citizens without a consul. Hence Tarquin king of the Romans, cutting off the heads of poppies in a garden, by this very act signified by a messenger to his son, who had feignedly deserted to the Gabians, that the heads of the princes of the Gabians must be taken off; which being done, the Gabians, as though headless, surrendered to Tarquin, as Livy attests. This maxim the doctors apply mystically to the Blessed Virgin, who, crushing the head of the infernal Dragon, overthrew all the armies of his infernal spirits.