Books Jesus Read

Chapter 4: Uncompromising Standards – Judith

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better for us to be their slaves than to see our families and children perish before our eyes!” A great lamentation arose throughout the assembly, as they cried out to the Lord God with a loud voice. “Have courage, brothers!” said Uzziah, “give the Lord five more days to restore to us, for surely he will not utterly forsake us. But if he does not deliver us by then, I will surrender to Holofernes.” Uzziah dismissed the people to their homes and the soldiers back to their watch towers. There they waited in misery on account of their great thirst. Now, there was a widow of Bethulia by the name of Judith. She was born of a noble family, descended from Abraham. Her husband, Manasseh, died of a heat stroke while supervising the barley harvest. After he was buried, Judith lived as a widow in mourning from then on. She no longer slept in their wedding bed but had a tent pitched on the roof of her house. She dressed all in black and draped herself in sackcloth. She fasted every day except the sabbath and on holy feast days in Israel. 9 Judith was stunning to look upon, for she had shapely figure and a gorgeous face, such that all who saw her swore they had never seen a more beautiful woman. And no one had anything bad to say about her, not even the other women of Bethulia, because her modesty, her love for God, and her devotion to his people were evident to all.

9 Here and in the following passages, Judith’s description is patterned after several prominent women of the Old Testament, including Miriam (Exod 15:20–21), Deborah, and Jael (Judg 4–5).