Judith — Chapter 6

Quoniam prophetasti id est

You have prophesied — that is, you have foretold, not from an oracle received from God but from human prudence and the experience of past ages.

Non respirabis ultra donec extermineris

The \"until\" refers not to \"you will not breathe\" — for one who does not breathe is already destroyed and dead — but to the preceding \"the sword shall pass through your sides, and you shall fall transfixed,\" in such a way that \"you shall breathe no more,\" i.e., until you are utterly lifeless and destroyed with them.

Illorum populo sociaberis id est

That is: \"You seem, O Achior, to be a secret ally and patron of the Jews, and therefore a betrayer of me; therefore go to those whose friendship you preferred to mine, and be their open associate, sharing in their destruction as payment of vengeance against me.\" Just as Judith feigned defection to the Assyrians, Chusai to Absalom (2 Sam 17), Sinon to the Trojans, and Zopirus (the general of Darius Hystaspis) to the Babylonians — all betrayed their enemies.

Porro filii Israel descendentes de

Bethulia was a city of Galilee in the tribe of Zebulun, situated on a mountain, three leagues from Dothaim where Joseph was captured by his brothers and stripped of his tunic of many colors. Brocard and Adrichomus record that even in their day the remains of Holofernes's camp could be seen there. \"Bethulia\" in Hebrew means \"virginity of God\" — for it remained like an untouched virgin, unscathed by the destruction of Holofernes, through the chaste Judith. Though Bethulia belonged properly to the tribe of Zebulun and thus to the kingdom of Israel/the ten tribes, after they were led away to Assyria the tribe of Judah claimed it and other Israelite cities by right of kinship, since all Canaan was given by God to the descendants of Jacob.

In diebus illis erant illic principes

Though Bethulia was in the tribe of Zebulun, its commanders came from another tribe (Simeon), as judges over all Israel arose from various tribes. Hence Ozias is called \"prince of Juda\" (ch. 8:34) and \"prince of the people of Israel\" (ch. 13:23). Lyranus and Dionysius think Ozias and Charmi were senior priests, since the Greek calls them \"presbyteroi.\" But \"presbyter\" means simply \"elder\" or \"senior\" — whether layman or priest. This again suggests these events occurred not under King Manasseh but after the captivity, under the leaders Ozias and Charmi.

Et faciem sanctorum tuorum attende

The Greek reads \"sanctified ones,\" meaning His faithful who consecrated themselves to God through circumcision and now again through fasting, prayer, and suppliant petitions entirely dedicate and consecrate themselves to Him. \"Not abandoning those who presume (i.e., trust) upon Thee\" — those who take God as the leader of their endeavors above all and before all, hoping through Him for certain victory.

Consolati sunt Achior non tamen

They consoled Achior but did not include him in their councils or put him in charge of the war, because the fidelity of defectors is suspect. So Judith, feigning defection to the Assyrians; Chusai to Absalom; Sinon to the Trojans; and Zopirus the general of Darius Hystaspis to the Babylonians — all betrayed their enemies.

Postea vero convocatus est omnis

After the frugal meal and banquet, all the people were assembled and prayed through the entire night in the synagogue (the Greek says \"proseucha,\" the prayer-house), begging help from the God of Israel. Note the antiquity of the practice of nocturnal vigils, by which in great feasts or urgent calamities all the people kept watch through the night in the temple at Jerusalem or in the proseucha/synagogue elsewhere. As St. Jerome writes (epist. to Eustochium): \"So shall you always eat, that prayer and reading follow the meal.\" Tertullian (Apology 39) beautifully describes the early Christian agape: \"Before reclining, a foretasting prayer to God is offered; food is taken as the hungry desire; drink as is fitting for the modest; they satisfy themselves, remembering they must worship God through the night; they converse as those who know the Lord listens.\"