The Book of Judith

A city is besieged and about to surrender. A widow named Judith walks into the enemy camp, is believed, and kills the general in his tent. The army breaks. It is the most violent book in the deuterocanon and one of the few in Scripture where a woman is the sole agent of deliverance.

Testament

Old (16 chapters)

Type

Deuterocanon

Date

Second century BC, probably in the aftermath of the Maccabean revolt.

Deliverance from the unlikeliest quarter

The men of Bethulia have already set a deadline for surrender. The rescue comes from the person with the least standing to attempt it, which is the point the book keeps making.

The problem of the deception

Judith lies, flatters and kills, and the book praises her for it. Readers have argued about this since Jerome. It is worth noticing that the text does not soften what she does.

Key verses (KJV)

“Moreover let us give thanks to the Lord our God, which trieth us, even as he did our fathers.” — Judith 8:25 (KJV)

“For thy power standeth not in multitude nor thy might in strong men: for thou art a God of the afflicted, an helper of the oppressed, an upholder of the weak, a protector of the forlorn, a saviour of them that are without hope.” — Judith 9:11 (KJV)

How to read Judith

Chapters 1-7 set up the siege and can feel slow; the book comes alive from chapter 8 when Judith speaks. If you stall early, start at 8 and go back.

Read Judith on your iPhone

Read the full book of Judith in Quiethaven — choose your translation, read offline, and pick up where you left off. Pair it with a daily verse and a prayer timer.

More Old Testament books

• The Book of Wisdom of Solomon
• The Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
• The Book of Baruch
• The Book of 1 Maccabees
• The Book of 2 Maccabees

Frequently asked questions

What is the Book of Judith about?

Judith is a book of Deuterocanon, running to 16 chapters. Its main threads: Deliverance from the unlikeliest quarter; The problem of the deception.

Who wrote the Book of Judith?

Anonymous. The historical setting is deliberately impossible — Nebuchadnezzar is called king of the Assyrians ruling from Nineveh — which most readers take as a signal that the book is a parable rather than a chronicle.

Where does Judith come in the Bible?

Judith is one of the seven deuterocanonical books — part of the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament, and printed in the Apocrypha of some Protestant Bibles rather than in the canon. That is why a Protestant Bible has 66 books and a Catholic one 73.