Commentaria in Judith
Chapter 8
Synopsis of the chapter.
The lineage, solitude, sackcloth, fasts and chastity of Judith are recounted. She rebukes the timid, and by the example of the fathers raises them to hope of divine help.
1. Now it came to pass when Judith, a widow, who was daughter of Merari, the son of Idox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melchias, the son of Enan, the son of Nathanias, the son of Salathiel, the son of Simeon, the son of Ruben, heard these words. 2. And her husband was Manasses, who died in the days of the barley harvest. 3. For he was standing over them that bound sheaves in the field, and the heat came upon his head, and he died in Bethulia his city, and was buried there with his fathers. 4. And Judith was a widow now three years and six months. 5. And in the upper rooms of her house she made herself a private chamber, in which she abode shut up with her maids. 6. And wearing sackcloth upon her loins, she fasted all the days of her life, except the sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the house of Israel. 7. And she was exceedingly beautiful, and her husband left her great riches, and a numerous family, and possessions full of herds of oxen and flocks of sheep. 8. And she was greatly renowned among all, because she feared the Lord very much, and there was none that spoke an ill word of her. 9. She therefore having heard that Ozias had promised that he would deliver the city on the fifth day, sent for the ancients Chabri and Charmi. 10. And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word, by which Ozias hath consented to deliver the city to the Assyrians, if within five days there come no aid to us? 11. And who are you that tempt the Lord? 12. This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that may stir up wrath, and enkindle indignation. 13. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed him a day, according to your pleasure. 14. But the Lord is patient, let us repent for this very thing, and with many tears let us beg his indulgence: 15. For God will not threaten like man, nor be inflamed to anger like the son of man. 16. And therefore let us humble our souls before him, and continuing in a humble spirit, in his service, 17. Let us ask the Lord with tears that according to his will, so he would show his mercy to us: that as our heart is troubled by their pride, so also we may glory in our humility. 18. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God, and worshipped strange gods. 19. For which crime they were given up to their enemies to be put to the sword, and to be plundered, and to be confounded: but we know no other God but him. 20. Let us humbly wait for his consolation, and the Lord our God will require our blood of the afflictions of our enemies, and he will humble all the nations that rise up against us, and bring them to disgrace. 21. And now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people of God, and their very life dependeth on you, comfort their hearts by your speech, that they may be mindful that our fathers were tempted that they might be proved, if they would worship their God truly. 22. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God. 23. So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful. 24. But they who did not receive the trials with the fear of the Lord, but uttered their impatience, and the reproach of their murmuring against the Lord, 25. Were destroyed by the destroyer, and perished by serpents. 26. Let us not therefore revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer. 27. But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction. 28. And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All that thou hast spoken is true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words. 29. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God. 30. And Judith said to them: As you know that what I have been able to say is of God, 31. So prove ye if that which I design to do be of God, and pray that God may strengthen my design. 32. You shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go forth with my maid: and pray ye that as you have said, in five days the Lord may look down upon his people Israel. 33. But I desire that you search not into what I am doing, and till I bring you word, let nothing else be done but to pray for me to the Lord our God. 34. And Ozias the prince of Juda said to her: Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies. So returning they departed.
1. “JUDITH.”—Some judge that Judith is a common name, as Abra is, but appropriated to this heroine: for Jehudi is the same as Jew; whence Jehudith, and by contraction Judith. It is the same as “Jewess.”
Others hold Judith to be a proper name, whose etymology aptly fits here. For Judith in Hebrew is the same as “confessing,” “praising,” namely God; for *hoda* signifies to confess, to praise, to celebrate. For to this end Judith withdrew from the crowd into her oratory, that she might pray to and praise God. Hear St. Fulgentius, in his epistle on the widowed state, citing these words about Judith: “Behold a widow illustrious in birth, rich in means, young in age, lovely in appearance, she despised riches, spurned delights, trampled the incentives of the flesh, and, clothed with virtue from on high, did not seek to serve in a second marriage. Therefore by the testimony of so illustrious a work it appeared how dear to God is the continence of widowhood.”
“DAUGHTER OF MERARI, SON OF IDOX.”—Note: only sixteen generations and as many ancestors of Judith are reckoned here, whereas from Jacob, the common patriarch of the Jews, to the Babylonian captivity, which preceded the age of Judith, 26 generations are counted, Matthew chapter 1. One of two things, therefore, must be said here: either that not all of Judith’s ancestors are recounted here, as neither are those of Elcana, I Kings 1, 4, nor of Saul in the same book, chapter 9, 4, for it suffices for Scripture to bring down someone’s genealogy to a certain point.
Or certainly that the ancestors and forefathers of Judith begot sons in old age. For on this account sixteen generations are counted from Esdras to Aaron, book 1 [Esdras], while from Josedec, who was a contemporary, indeed brother, of Esdras, to Aaron 22 generations are counted. So Matthew, chapter 1, counts from Christ to David 28 generations and ancestors, whereas St. Luke, chapter 3, counts 43. Wherefore these in Luke begot earlier, those in Matthew later.