Judith 1
Common English Bible
Nebuchadnezzar goes to war against Arphaxad
1 It was the twelfth year of the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. In those days, Arphaxad ruled the Medes in Ecbatana. 2 Arphaxad built walls around Ecbatana from cut stones that measured four and a half feet wide and nine feet long. The walls he built were one hundred five feet high and seventy-five feet wide. 3 He built towers at the gates one hundred fifty feet high, with foundations that were ninety feet wide. 4 He made its gates one hundred five feet high and sixty feet wide so that his mighty armies could march out in formation. 5 In those days King Nebuchadnezzar fought against King Arphaxad in the great plain that is on the border with Ragau. 6 And many people joined him—everyone who lived in the highlands, everyone who lived along the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Hydaspes, and on the plain of Arioch, king of the Elymeans. Many nations joined forces with the Assyrians.[a]
Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimatum
7 King Nebuchadnezzar of the Assyrians sent a message to everyone who lived in Persia, to everyone who lived in the west—those who lived in Cilicia, Damascus, Lebanon, and Anti-Lebanon, and everyone who lived along the seashore, 8 and those among the nations of Carmel and Gilead, and upper Galilee and the great plain of Esdraelon, 9 and everyone in Samaria and its cities, and beyond the Jordan as far as Jerusalem and Bethany and Chelous and Kadesh, and the river of Egypt, and Tahpanhes and Raamses, and all the land of Goshen, 10 even beyond Tanis and Memphis, and everyone who lived in Egypt as far away as the border of Ethiopia. 11 But the people who lived in all those lands ignored the orders of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Assyrians. They didn’t join him in the war because they weren’t afraid of him and considered him to be nothing more than one man. So they sent away his messengers empty-handed and in disgrace.
Arphaxad defeated
12 Nebuchadnezzar was very angry with the whole region. He swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would get revenge upon the entire region of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria. He would kill them with his sword, as well as everyone living in Moab, including the children of Ammon, all of Judea, and everyone in Egypt, as far as the shores of the two seas. 13 In the seventeenth year of his rule he marched his armies against King Arphaxad and defeated him in battle. He overpowered all of Arphaxad’s armies, all of his cavalry, and all of his chariots. 14 He gained control of Arphaxad’s cities, marched as far as Ecbatana, captured its towers, looted the marketplace, and turned its glory into disgrace. 15 He captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau and stabbed him with spears, putting an end to him forever. 16 Then he returned to Nineveh with all of his combined forces, a very large group of fighting men, where he and his army rested and feasted for one hundred twenty days.
Footnotes
- Judith 1:6 Or Chaldeans
Judith 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. Assyrian Threat[a]
Chapter 1
Nebuchadnezzar Against Arphaxad.[b] 1 It was the twelfth year[c] of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. At that time Arphaxad was ruling over the Medes in Ecbatana.(A) 2 [d]Around Ecbatana he built a wall of hewn stones, three cubits thick and six cubits long. He made the walls seventy cubits high and fifty cubits wide. 3 At its gates he raised towers one hundred cubits high with foundations sixty cubits wide. 4 He made its gates seventy cubits high and forty cubits wide to allow passage of his mighty forces, with his infantry in formation. 5 At that time King Nebuchadnezzar waged war against King Arphaxad in the vast plain that borders Ragau.[e] 6 Rallying to him were all who lived in the hill country, all who lived along the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, as well as Arioch, king of the Elamites, in the plains. Thus many nations joined the ranks of the Chelodites.[f](B)
7 Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, contacted all the inhabitants of Persia[g] and all who lived in the west, the inhabitants of Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Antilebanon, and all who lived along the seacoast, 8 the peoples of Carmel, Gilead, Upper Galilee, and the vast plain of Esdraelon, 9 and all in Samaria and its cities, and west of the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, Bethany, Chelous, Kadesh,(C) and the river of Egypt; Tahpanhes,(D) Raamses, all the land of Goshen, 10 Tanis, Memphis(E) and beyond, and all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the borders of Ethiopia.
11 But all the inhabitants of the whole land[h] made light of the summons of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and would not join him in the war. They were not afraid of him, since he was only a single opponent. So they sent back his envoys empty-handed and disgraced.(F) 12 Then Nebuchadnezzar fell into a violent rage against all the land, and swore by his throne and his kingdom that he would take revenge on all the territories of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria, and would destroy with his sword all the inhabitants of Moab, Ammon, the whole of Judea, and all those living in Egypt as far as the coasts of the two seas.[i]
Defeat of Arphaxad. 13 In the seventeenth year[j] he mustered his forces against King Arphaxad and was victorious in his campaign. He routed the whole force of Arphaxad, his entire cavalry, and all his chariots, 14 and took possession of his cities. He pressed on to Ecbatana, took its towers, sacked its marketplaces, and turned its glory into shame. 15 He captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau, ran him through with spears, and utterly destroyed him once and for all. 16 Then he returned to Nineveh with all his consolidated forces, a very great multitude of warriors; and there he and his forces relaxed and feasted for one hundred and twenty days.(G)
Footnotes
- 1:1–3:10 This section consists of an introduction to Nebuchadnezzar (1:1–16), his commissioning of Holofernes (2:1–13), and a description of the campaigns Holofernes leads against the disobedient vassal nations of the west (2:14–3:10).
- 1:1–16 Introduction to Nebuchadnezzar and his campaign against Arphaxad. Nebuchadnezzar (605/4–562 B.C.), the most famous Neo-Babylonian king, destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C., the eighteenth year of his reign (see Jer 32:1). His depiction here as an Assyrian is an invention of the author, as is the description of Arphaxad, an otherwise unknown king of the Medes, in Ecbatana.
- 1:1 Twelfth year: in the twelfth year of Nebuchadnezzar (593 B.C.) Zedekiah, king of Judah, refused to join a revolt against him (see Jer 27:3; 28:1). Nineveh: capital of Assyria, destroyed in 612 B.C.
- 1:2–4 Since a cubit was the distance from the elbow to the fingertip (approximately eighteen inches), these dimensions are prodigious. The massive wall around Ecbatana is described as 105 feet high and 75 feet thick, with each stone measuring four and a half feet thick and nine feet long. The tower gates are 150 feet high and 60 feet wide. Such unlikely massive structures have never been found at Ecbatana, which lies beneath the modern city of Hamadan, located in the Zagros mountains of northwest Iran. Ecbatana is mentioned in vv. 1, 2, 14 as Arphaxad’s headquarters. Tradition claims Esther and Mordecai are buried there.
- 1:5 Ragau, the place where Arphaxad is slain (v. 15), one of the oldest settlements in Iran, is located on a plain one hundred miles northeast of Ecbatana. In the Book of Tobit it is the home of Gabael (Tb 1:14; 4:1, 20; 5:6; 6:13; 9:2, 5).
- 1:6 Chelodites: Greek Cheleoud, probably a corruption of “Chaldeans,” i.e., the Neo-Babylonians.
- 1:7 Mention of Persia suggests a postexilic setting for the book, since this area would have been designated Media before the middle of the fifth century B.C.
- 1:11 References to “the whole land,” “all the land” are used ten times in the first two chapters (vv. 11, 12; 2:1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 19). This signifies all the nations west of Persia as far as Egypt that were subject to Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., the whole earth or world (esp. 2:9). These and similar formulations throughout the book build the case that the “God of heaven” (5:8; 6:19; 11:17) is the true “Master of heaven and earth” (9:12).
- 1:12 The two seas: probably the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, though possibly the Red Sea and Mediterranean.
- 1:13 Seventeenth year: 588 B.C. Without help from the vassal nations, Nebuchadnezzar defeats Arphaxad.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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