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Judith is a woman of much dispute. Her story is included in the Catholic Bible, yet was left out of the Hebrew Torah and most Protestant versions of the Bible. Most people consider her to be a patriotic hero, yet some still malign her for her use of violence and deception. I have to admit that I mostly included her because she's my favorite biblical woman. The bad press that she's gotten over her guerrilla patriotism provided me an excellent excuse to say a little something about her here.

Who was she? Judith was a wealthy widow who lived in the town of Bethulia. She was respected, since the elders came to her home when she summoned them, and like many biblical women, she was reknowned for her beauty.

What did she do? Judith saved her people from the army of Holofernes, the Assyrian general who worshiped King Nebuchadnezzar as a god. Holofernes' troops had already conquered many Hebrew cities by the time they laid seige to Bethulia, Judith's town. The elders wanted to surrender, but Judith convinced them to let her try to save the town first. She went to Holoferne's camp, claiming that she and her maid were defectors, and Holofernes fell in love with her. He invited her to his tent for 'dinner', after which he fell into a drunken stupor. Judith took his own sword, chopped off his head, pocketed the souvenier, and escaped back to Bethulia with her maid. The now-leaderless army was so distraught over the death of Holofernes that they fled. Many were killed by the Hebrews during the mass exodus, and Judith was hailed as a hero. She never remarried, and died at the age of 105, beloved and honored by the community.

How has this affected our view of women in modern culture? Judith challenges some of our stereotypes regarding women. She's beautiful and smart, devoutly religious yet capable of extreme violence, and she's skilled in money management and military strategy. Judith's strength and bravery contradict the long held view of American culture that women are weak and passive. She doesn't cower in the background while the hero pummels the enemy, only to fall gratefully into his arms when he emerges victorious, like, say, a Bond girl. She doesn't "depend upon the kindness of strangers" ala Blanche Dubois. The only things Judith depended on were her mind and a very big sword.

Have we warmed up to her sins? Though the headnote to the Book of Judith in The New Oxford Annotated Bible asserts that

"the discerning reader also recognizes that in Judith's dealings with Holofernes she showed herself to be a shameless flatterer, a bold-faced liar, and a ruthless assassin" (Metzger, et al, AP 20)

most biblical scholars now recognize Judith's lies and violence as acts of a hero trying desperately to save her people. She wasn't just violent and vindictive like some other characters in the Bible (but I'll save my thoughts on Samson for Delilah's page). She was a brilliant military strategist who was able to defeat an entire army by killing one man. She's even been compared to David by some scholars. Andre LaCoque cited several parallels between the two stories. Both David and Judith brought weapons and trophies back from their triumphs, both dedicated their spoils to God. Also, David killed Goliath with his own sword and Judith slew Holofernes with his own weapon, too.

What did she do to redeem herself? Judith didn't have to redeem herself in the eyes of contemporaries, as she was hailed as a hero upon returning to Bethulia. It is only some more modern critics who have found fault with her, and there is little she can do to appease them. One saving grace is her lifelong celibacy after her triumph. Though she had many suitors, Judith remained single for the rest of her life, letting all that beauty remain untouched. I think this is a way of making up for all the power that she got by being so beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous. She was made less threatening to men by remaining asexual, not unlike Moses's sister Miriam.

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