Commentaria in Judith
Chapter 15
Synopsis of the chapter
The Assyrians, hearing of the slaughter of Holofernes, flee and are cut down by the pursuing Hebrews, who plunder the camp laden with spoils for thirty days and enrich themselves: Judith is blessed by the high priest Joachim and the whole people, and enriched with all that had been Holofernes’ own.
1. And when all the army heard that Holofernes was beheaded, courage and counsel fled from them, and being seized with trembling and fear, they thought only of flight. 2. So that no man spoke to his neighbour, but hanging down their heads, leaving all behind, they made haste to escape from the Hebrews, who, as they heard, were coming armed upon them, and fled by the ways of the fields, and the paths of the hills. 3. So the children of Israel seeing them fleeing, followed after them. And they went down sounding with trumpets, and shouting after them. 4. And as the Assyrians not being united, went in headlong flight, the children of Israel marching in one body, weakened all that they found. 5. And Ozias sent messengers through all the cities and countries of Israel. 6. And every country and every city sent their chosen young men armed after them, and they pursued them with the edge of the sword, till they came to the extremities of their confines. 7. And the rest that were in Bethulia went into the camp of the Assyrians, and took the spoils which the Assyrians in their flight had left behind them, and they were loaded very much. 8. But they that returned conquerors to Bethulia, brought with them all things that were theirs, so that there was no numbering the cattle, and beasts of burden, and all their moveables, so that from the least to the greatest all were made rich by their spoils. 9. And Joachim the high priest came from Jerusalem to Bethulia with all his ancients to see Judith. 10. And when she was come out to him, they all blessed her with one voice, saying: Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people: 11. Because thou hast done manfully, and thy heart has been strengthened, because thou hast loved chastity, and after thy husband hast not known any other: therefore also the hand of the Lord hath strengthened thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed for ever. 12. And all the people said: So be it, so be it. 13. And for the space of thirty days the spoils of the Assyrians were gathering among the people of Israel. 14. And all things that were proved to be Holofernes’ own they gave to Judith, in gold, and silver, and garments, and precious stones, and all household stuff, and they were all delivered to her by the people. 15. And all the people rejoiced, with the women, and virgins, and young men, playing on instruments and harps.
1. “COURAGE AND COUNSEL FLED FROM THEM, AND BEING SEIZED WITH TREMBLING AND FEAR, THEY THOUGHT ONLY OF FLIGHT,”—both because they saw their leader Holofernes with his head cut off; and because God took from them mind and counsel, so that, as though bereft of reason, they knew not what was to be done by them. Otherwise, indeed, had they been in possession of their minds, they would have appointed another leader to force the few citizens of Bethulia to surrender; and also because God sent upon them a panic terror, so that, their leader slain, they thought they would likewise be cut down by the Hebrews. Wherefore they threw themselves headlong into flight: and so as they fled they were cut down by the few Hebrews pursuing and sounding trumpets, as a hundred thousand Madianites were cut down by the three hundred soldiers of Gedeon, Judges 7.
4. “WEAKENED ALL,”—killing these, wounding those, maiming others, etc. For the Hebrew word *chalas* signifies all these things.
7. “THEY WERE LOADED,”—that is, burdened with spoils. Some judge that one should read “honoured,” that is, enriched, as the Greek has: for honour in Scripture often signifies riches, and to honour is the same as to enrich.
9. “AND JOACHIM THE HIGH PRIEST CAME FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHULIA WITH ALL HIS ANCIENTS (in Greek: with the senate of Jerusalem, perhaps with the council of the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme one, containing 70 eminent Senators), TO SEE JUDITH,”—and to bless her, and to congratulate her on so great a victory.
10. “AND WHEN SHE WAS COME OUT TO HIM, THEY ALL BLESSED HER WITH ONE VOICE, SAYING: THOU ART THE GLORY OF JERUSALEM, THOU THE JOY OF ISRAEL, THOU THE HONOUR (honour and glory) OF OUR PEOPLE.”—Greek: Thou art the exaltation of Israel, thou the great joy of Israel, thou the great glory of our race. Vatablus: Thou the excellence of the Jerusalemites, thou the great joy of the Israelites, thou the illustrious glory of our race; as if to say: delivering Jerusalem from Holofernes thou hast conferred great glory on it: defending the Israelites from the same, already worn out with fear and sorrow, thou hast given them immense joy and as it were new life: thou hast won for thy whole people a great name and honour among all nations, who, hearing this deed of thine, will be amazed, and say: “A woman the leader of so great a deed.”
Allegorically, Judith was a type of the Blessed Virgin. For she is the exultation, the honour and glory, not only of Jerusalem, but of the whole world; not only of Israel, but of all nations; not only of the Synagogue, but of the whole Church. Hence blessed Gregory Nazianzen in the tragedy *Christ Suffering* addresses her thus: Queen, Lady, good of the human race, Be thou ever a friend to mortals, and in every place my greatest salvation.
Cyril of Alexandria, homily *Against Nestorius*: “Be to thee,” he says, “holy Mother of God, praise; for thou art the precious pearl of the world, thou the unquenchable lamp, the crown of virginity, the sceptre of orthodox faith.” St. Chrysostom, homily *On the Mother of God*, salutes her thus: “Hail, mother, heaven, throne of our Church, ornament, glory and firmament.” St. Ephrem, sermon *On the Praises of the Virgin*, calls her “the only hope of the Fathers, the glory of the Prophets, the proclamation of the Apostles, the honour of Martyrs, the joy of Saints, and the light of the most approved Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the ornament of Aaron, the splendour of Moses, the fleece of Gedeon, and the company of Hierarchs, and the crown of all Saints and virgins, on account of her immense radiance and unapproachable splendour.” Damascene, oration 1 *On the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin*: “O daughter worthy of God,” he says, “ornament of women, glory of the human race, thou art everlasting delight to the Patriarchs, perennial exultation to the Prophets.”
11. “BECAUSE THOU HAST DONE MANFULLY (as a virago, and a woman above women, indeed as a man surpassing all men) AND THY HEART HAS BEEN STRENGTHENED, BECAUSE THOU HAST LOVED CHASTITY.”—Chastity, then, was the cause of Judith’s fortitude, and this first because chastity strengthens body and mind. Hence of old athletes about to contend in the Olympic games kept themselves wholly chaste, that they might bring unimpaired strength to the arena, 1 Corinthians 9:24. For lust pours out and exhausts the noblest spirits, and therefore strength and vigour. Second, because God is accustomed to give this reward of fortitude to the chaste, and gave it wholly to Judith, fortitude, I say, both of body and of mind, to dare great things: for God, who is the purest spirit, singularly loves purity and chastity, and destines the pure and chaste, as being like Himself, to great things. Hear St. Jerome, in the preface to Judith: “Receive Judith the widow, an example of chastity, and proclaim her with perpetual praises and triumphal honour. For he who rewarded her chastity gave her this virtue as one imitable not only by women but also by men, that she might overcome the unconquered over all men, and surpass the insurmountable.”
Third, because it was fitting that the lustful Holofernes should be overcome by the chaste Judith, that chastity might triumph over lust. Hence Prudentius in the *Psychomachia* elegantly depicts modesty duelling with lust, through Judith triumphing over Holofernes, thus: After the severed neck of Holofernes had bathed the Assyrian bridal chamber, drenched in lustful blood; and fierce Judith spurned the jewelled couch of the adulterous leader and restrained his uncertain furies with the sword: a woman bearing a famous trophy from the enemy, with no trembling hand, my avenger, bold by heaven’s gift.
Moreover exceptional was the chastity of Judith, and therefore she deserved this exceptional reward and trophy. For she was, in the flower of youth, a wealthy widow, without children, as will appear in the following chapter, verse 28, beautiful, honoured, glorious on account of so great a victory: wherefore even leaders and princes sought her as a bride: but she, a lover of chastity, despised all this, and remained unmarried till death; wherefore she triumphed more nobly and gloriously over the flesh and the world than over Holofernes. Hear St. Ambrose, book *On Widows*: “Nor, however, elated by these successes, in which she was surely permitted to rejoice and exult, by right a conqueror, did she leave the duty of widowhood; but, despising all who sought her in marriage, she laid aside the garment of gladness and resumed that of widowhood; nor did she love the adornments of her triumphs, thinking those better by which the vices of the body are conquered than those by which enemies are.”
15. “AND ALL THE PEOPLE REJOICED WITH THE WOMEN, AND YOUNG MEN, PLAYING ON INSTRUMENTS AND HARPS.”—The Greek has more fully: And every woman of Israel ran together to see her, and made a chorus of themselves; and she took thyrsi in her hands, and gave them to the women who were with her, and they were adorned with olive, she and those with her. And she led all the people in the dance, leading all the women, and every armed man of Israel followed with garlands and hymns in their mouth. For “were adorned” the Complutensians have, they crowned her with a crown of olive, that is, of olive-wood. Thyrsi are branches of palms, citrons, etc. Hear Josephus, XIII *Antiquities*, chapter 21: “Among the Jews it is a law that everyone at the feast of tabernacles carry thyrsi (branches) of palms and citrons. The Gentiles dedicated thyrsi to Bacchus. And among them the thyrsus was a spear clothed in leaves, especially of vine, which they brandished in the rites of Bacchus, or a crown of the same. Hence Virgil, *Eclogue*:
Daphnis instituted to lead thyrsi in honour of Bacchus, and to weave pliant spears with soft leaves,
There by pliant spears he means thyrsi. Hence the Proverb:
Many bear the thyrsus, few are Bacchuses.
For Bacchus was thyrsus-bearing. Hence also Tacitus: Messalina, he says, with flowing hair, brandishing the thyrsus. And Diodorus writes that Dionysius had in his army women armed with thyrsi. Macrobius also says that father Liber (Bacchus) holds the thyrsus, which is a hidden weapon, or a pointed spear, whose point is covered by the clinging ivy.
This one may rightly apply to Judith, who drew the scimitar of Holofernes against himself; and so slew him drunk like Bacchus, and triumphed over drunkenness and the drunken. She deserved, therefore, the thyrsus-crown, and wore it deservedly, who snatched the same from Bacchus, that is, from Holofernes drunk.
Note that this solemn procession and pomp of triumph of Judith was given and renewed every year with a great company of men and women, as will appear in the following chapter, verse 27.