Esau's Foreign Wives

When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittites, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon.

Judith, the Israelite Widow

At that time, Judith heard about Uzziah's decision. She was the daughter of Merari, the granddaughter of Ox and the great-granddaughter of Joseph. Joseph's ancestors were Oziel, Elkiah, Ananias, Gideon, Raphaim, Ahitub, Elijah, Hilkiah, Eliab, Nathanael, Salamiel, Sarasadai, and Israel.

Judith's husband Manasseh, who belonged to the same tribe and clan, had died during the barley harvest.

For three years and four months, Judith had lived as a widow.

Judith was a very beautiful woman. Her husband had left her gold and silver, servants and slaves, livestock and fields. She continued to supervise the estate,

and no one ever said anything bad about Judith. She was a very religious woman.

Judith Meets with the Town Officials

Judith heard how the people were complaining bitterly against Uzziah, now that the water shortage had broken their morale. She learned that in answer to their complaints he had promised to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days.

Judith sent a slave, the woman who managed her business affairs, to invite Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, the town officials, to her home.

When the officials arrived, Judith said to them, Please listen to me. You are the leaders of the people of Bethulia, but you were wrong to speak to the people as you did today. You should not have made a solemn promise before God that you would surrender the town to our enemies if the Lord did not come to our aid within a few days.

Then Uzziah answered Judith, Everything you have said makes good sense, and no one can argue with it.

All right, Judith replied, I am going to do something which our Jewish people will never forget.

Uzziah and the other officials said to her, You have our blessing. May the Lord our God guide you as you take revenge on our enemies. Then they left Judith's rooftop shelter and returned to their posts.

Judith's Prayer

Then Judith put ashes on her head, opened her robe to reveal the sackcloth she was wearing under her clothes, and bowed down with her face to the floor. It was the time that the evening incense was being offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, and Judith prayed in a loud voice:

Judith Goes to the Camp of Holofernes

When Judith had finished her prayer to the God of Israel,

Judith gave her slave woman a leather bag of wine and a jar of oil to carry. She filled a bag with roasted barley, cakes of dried figs, and several loaves of bread baked according to Jewish food laws. She carefully wrapped all the food and dishes and gave them to her slave.

When the men saw Judith after she had changed clothes and put on make-up, they were struck by her beauty and said to her,

May the God of our ancestors bless you and make your plan successful, so that you may bring glory to Jerusalem and victory to Israel. Judith prayed

and Judith and her slave left the city. The men watched her as she went down the mountain into the valley, until she was out of sight.

They arrested Judith and questioned her, What is your nationality? Where did you come from, and where are you going? I am a Hebrew, she answered, but I am running away from the Israelites because God is going to let you destroy them.

They assigned a hundred men to escort Judith and her slave to the headquarters of Holofernes.

There was great commotion in the Assyrian camp as news of Judith's arrival spread from tent to tent. While she stood outside the tent of Holofernes waiting to be presented to him, many Assyrian soldiers came and stood around her.

Then Holofernes' bodyguard and his personal servants came out and led Judith into the tent.

When the men told him that Judith had arrived, he came to the outer part of the tent. Silver lamps were carried ahead of him.

When Judith came near him and his servants, they were all astonished at her beauty. She bowed down to the ground before Holofernes, but his servants helped her to her feet.

Holofernes said to Judith, Don't worry; there's no need for you to be afraid. I have never hurt anyone who was willing to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world.