Line #15 Literature/BookOfJudith


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Literature/TheBible'''\
2	'''Old Testament/Tanakh'''\
3	[[Literature/BookOfGenesis Genesis]] \| [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJoshua Joshua]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJudges Judges]] \| [[Literature/BookOfRuth Ruth]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel Samuel]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfKings Kings]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEzra Ezra]] \| [[Literature/BookOfNehemiah Nehemiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEsther Esther]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]] \| [[Literature/BookOfPsalms Psalms]] \| [[Literature/BookOfProverbs Proverbs]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEcclesiastes Ecclesiastes]] \| [[Literature/SongOfSongs Songs]] \| [[Literature/BookOfIsaiah Isaiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJeremiah Jeremiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEzekiel Ezekiel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfDaniel Daniel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHosea Hosea]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJoel Joel]] \| [[Literature/BookOfAmos Amos]] \| [[Literature/BookOfObadiah Obadiah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfJonah Jonah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfMicah Micah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfNahum Nahum]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHabakkuk Habakkuk]] \| [[Literature/BookOfZephaniah Zephania]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHaggai Haggai]] \| [[Literature/BookOfZechariah Zechariah]] \| [[Literature/BookOfMalachi Malachi]]\
4	'''Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical'''\
5	[[Literature/BookOfTobit Tobit]] \| '''Judith''' \| [[Literature/BooksOfMaccabees Maccabees]]\
6	'''New Testament'''\
7	[[Literature/TheFourGospels Gospels]] \| [[Literature/ActsOfTheApostles Acts]] \| [[Literature/BookOfRomans Romans]] \| [[Literature/BookOfCorinthians Corinthians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfGalatians Galatians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfEphesians Ephesians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfPhilippians Philippians]] \| [[Literature/BookOfColossians Colossians]] \| [[Literature/BooksOfThessalonians Thessalonians]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesToTimothy Timothy]] \| [[Literature/EpistleToTitus Titus]] \| [[Literature/EpistleToPhilemon Philemon]] \| [[Literature/BookOfHebrews Hebrews]] \| [[Literature/EpistleOfJames James]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesOfPeter Peter]] \| [[Literature/EpistlesOfJohn John]] \| [[Literature/EpistleOfJude Jude]] \| [[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation]]-]]]]]
8
9
10	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/artemisia_gentileschi___judith_beheading_holofernes___wga8563.jpg]]
11	[[caption-width-right:350: [-''Judith Slaying Holofernes''[softreturn] by Creator/ArtemisiaGentileschi,[softreturn] oil on canvas, c.1612-13-] ]]
12
13	One of the apocryphal books that is not included in the Jewish and Protestant canons of the Old Testament, though it does appear in the Greek Septuagint. In the story, the people of Judea are held up in the mountain city of Bethulia by the Assyrian army led by Holofernes and are being starved to death or possible surrender unless God intervenes. Judith, a widow, becomes the hero by just walking into the Assyrian camp and alluring Holofernes with her charms long enough to behead him and weaken the Assyrian forces so that the Judeans could defeat them.
14	-----
15	!!Structure of the book:
16	* Introduction to Nebuchadnezzar and his campaign against Arphaxad (Judith chapter 1)
17	* The war against the western peoples begins (Judith chapters 2 and 3)
18	* Israel's turn (Judith 4:1-5:4)
19	* Achior is introduced (Judith 5:4-6:21)
20	* War against Bethulia (Judith chapter 7)
21	* Judith is introduced (Judith 8:1-8)
22	* Judith's plan to save Bethulia (Judith 8:9-9:14)
23	* Judith carries out her plan (Judith chapters 10 to 13)
24	* What happens after Holofernes' death (Judith chapters 14 and 15)
25	* Song of Judith (Judith 16:1-17)
26	* End of Judith's life (Judith 16:18-25)
27
28	-----
29	!!This book provides examples of:
30	* AnachronismStew:
31	** King Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned here as being the king of Assyria, whereas he was actually the king of Babylon, whose kingdom defeated that of Assyria by Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar. A Catholic Bible commentary suggests that this is actually an Assyrian king that went by this name who was a contemporary of King Manasseh of Judah, and thus should not be confused with the Babylonian king. Another possible explanation is that the whole story is a RomanAClef about a situation happening at the time the story was written, using a mashing of characters and locations from the Jews' past to tell it.
32	** Holofernes was a general under orders from the Persian king Artaxerxes III, and had nothing to do with Assyria or Babylon (which had long been defeated by that point). Yet another explanation is that it's a entirely fictional story from a post-Maccabean writer who was much more familiar with the (then) recent Greek history than the old Assyrian, Babilonia, and Persian history.
33	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
34	** Besides the anachronism of King Nebuchadnezzar being the king of Assyria when he wasn't, the story also assumes to have taken place after the Jews have returned from their Babylonian exile, which according to history as defined in basic Scripture canon is after the Assyrian Empire and the Babylonian Empire have both been vanquished, thus its possible RomanAClef status.
35	** The war against Bethulia, as described here (with a few defenders outnumbered by a larger army leaded by a Persian general, helped only by a thin mountain pass which prevents the larger army from passing through), resembles more the Battle of Thermopylae than anything that actually happened in Jewish land.
36	* CircumcisionAngst: Interestingly averted by Achior the Ammonite, who after hearing what Judith did with Holofernes ended up circumcising himself and became a believer.
37	* ExactWords[=/=]LoopholeAbuse: When Holofernes asks Judith if she could give a "trustworthy report" about the Judeans in Bethulia, Judith responds, "I will say nothing false to my lord," with Holofernes not realizing that she meant she will say nothing false to her true Lord, who is God.
38	* FakeDefector: Judith, so she could get close to Holofernes and kill him.
39	* FatalFlaw: Holofernes' lust towards Judith is a literal example, as it allows her to kill him.
40	* GenreSavvy: Achior the Ammonite warns Holofernes the Jews won't lose the war as long as they don't offend God.
41	* AGodAmI: Nebuchadnezzar has his army destroy all gods of the countries they have conquered, to the end that no god may be worshiped except the king himself.
42	* GodTest: In Chapter 8, Judith upbraids the people of Bethulia for putting God to the test by demanding Him to deliver water to the city in five days or else they would surrender to the Assyrians, telling them that God is free to choose whether He will help them or not.
43	* GoingNative: After being shown Holofernes' head and learning how Judith killed him, Achior the Ammonite decides to convert and is accepted as a Jew.
44	* HeadTurningBeauty: The Assyrians can barely focus on what Judith is saying, as she's so beautiful they're too busy gaping and admiring her. One of them muses it would be a good idea to totally wipe the Hebrew people before they can seduce the whole world.
45	* HeroicSeductress: Judith, as she uses her charms against Holofernes without sinning against the Lord.
46	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: King Arphaxad's death was by being stabbed with spears by King Nebuchadnezzar after being captured by his forces, as mentioned in Chapter 1. Also the promised fate of Achior the Ammonite by Holofernes should the two of them ever meet again in battle, as stated in Chapter 6, though this was never carried out.
47	* MaidAndMaiden: Judith was accompanied by her waiting-woman when she went into the Assyrian camp and seduced Holofernes so she could behead him.
48	* OffWithHisHead: Judith cuts off Holofernes' head with his own sword and then brings it to Bethulia to be [[DecapitationPresentation displayed at the gate]].
49	* SacredHospitality: The people of Bethulia welcomed Achior the Ammonite when he was cast among them by Holofernes to suffer the same fate as them when he told Holofernes that if the Judeans were obedient to God, then they would be unassailable, and that only by getting them to sin against God would their defenses weaken to the point of being captured.
50	* SheCleansUpNicely: Being a widow, Judith covers herself with rags and ashes. When she decides to go and kill Holofernes, she bathes and puts a beautiful dress with adornments on. Everyone who see her is immediately struck dumb by her beauty.
51	* TheSiege: The Assyrian army keeps the Judeans holed up in Bethulia by cutting off their water supply, forcing them to come down and surrender themselves.
52	* SlainInTheirSleep: Holofernes by Judith, once he gets really drunk.
53	* VillainousCrush: Holofernes has one on Judith, natch.
54	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Nobody knows where exactly Bethulia was in the region of Israel, if it even existed. Some Bible students speculate that Bethulia was another name for Jerusalem, the capital of the region of Judea.

Context Literature / BookOfJudith