Judith — Chapter 9

Quibus abscedentibus Judith ingressa

Some codices and the Greek read \"abscedentibus\" (departing). The Greek: \"she stripped off the sackcloth she had on\" — that is, having removed her outer garments, she remained clothed only in the sackcloth, showing it bare. Thus she exposed her interior sackcloth before God as a sign of penitence, penance, and suppliant prayer. The Greek adds that this was done in the evening, when incense was being burned to God in the Temple at Jerusalem — signifying that the public sacrifice perpetually offered in the evening cooperated with Judith's prayers, and that Judith joined her prayers to it.

Domine Deus patris mei Simeon

From this it is clear that Judith was of the tribe of Simeon. Note: God gave strength to Simeon to avenge the rape of Dinah, but not to be carried out in the manner they chose. Though they acted from zeal, their zeal violated the pact made with the Shechemites and exposed Jacob and all his people to danger of destruction by their neighbors, for which Jacob reproved them. Yet God permitted the Shechemites — the rapist and his subjects — to be slain by Simeon, and their goods plundered, as penalty for the rape Shechem their prince had committed. Thus Judith praises Simeon's zeal in avenging Dinah's rape, but does not praise his manner of avenging it — that he killed the Shechemites by his own authority and through deception.

Et illa post illa cogitasti scilicet

And those after those things — one example of divine vengeance after another. Judith is paving the way to commemorate the vengeance taken by God from Pharaoh at the Red Sea.

Et in contis id est lanceis

Conti are lances, long spears, hunting-javelins, etc.

Cornu altaris tui vere altare

The altar truly had horns, but through them was signified the majesty, strength, and glory of the altar and of the sacrifices offered on it.

Et percuties eum ex labiis

You will strike him through the lips of my charity — that is, You will wound Holofernes by my elegant words of \"charity,\" i.e., by the allurements of love. Here \"charity\" (charitas) is used by catachresis for human love — specifically chaste love by which he might love and court her as a wife. For though Judith had no wish to marry Holofernes, she could lawfully allure him to chaste conjugal love so as to find occasion to slay him unawares. Even if Holofernes was drawn to impure and fornications love, Judith did not intend this, but merely permitted it as a cover for the heroic deed she had resolved upon. The deed of Judith, in whom God worked singularly in slaying Holofernes and liberating Judea, is to be excused and attributed to love of country and a special divine impulse rather than censured for impurity or scandal — as Scripture, the Fathers, and commentators (especially St. Ambrose, De viduis) excuse it.

Da mihi in animo constantiam

Note: all virtue, but above all constancy, must be sought from God — especially by the weak and frail (women, children, the aged, the sick) when undertaking something heroic beyond the powers of nature, as was this deed of Judith. This is because man, fallen through sin, has become wholly fragile and inconstant; and because God says \"I am Who am\" — that is, by essence constant, the fount and author of all being. Note that Judith asks for constancy clothed in sackcloth, sprinkled with ashes, prostrate on the ground (v. 1): for prayer, to obtain constancy, must be armed with penance, labor, and mortification of the flesh. Ashes are the sign of death, and memory of death greatly excites constancy. Prostration is the sign of humility, by which one acknowledges his fragility and implores God's help.

Non enim in multitudine est virtus

As if to say: You do not need many strong soldiers to win victory — You will accomplish everything through a single weak and unwarlike woman. So Artabanus said to Xerxes exulting in his vast forces: \"A great army is routed by a small one when God casts fear or thunder on those He detests\" (Heliodorus, lib. VII).

Presumentem id est valde confidentem

That is, greatly trusting (in God). See the commentary on ch. 6, v. 15.

Memento Domine testamenti tui

That is, the covenant made with the Hebrews through Moses, David, and other princes. \"That your house (your temple) may remain in your sanctification\" — in the holy religion and worship of You, by which it is truly sanctified.