Judith 4:1
Tunc audientes haec filii Israhel qui habitabant in terra Iuda timuerunt valde a facie eius.
When the children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Judah heard these things, they were greatly afraid before him.
Translator's Introduction
What This Chapter Is About
Israel learns of Holofernes' approach and is gripped by terror — not only for their lives but for the Temple, recently reconsecrated after the return from exile. The high priest Eliachim orders the mountain passes fortified and commands a national fast with sackcloth and ashes. All Israel cries out to God in desperation.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The mention of recent return from captivity and Temple rededication places the narrative in a post-exilic theological frame. Israel's response is fundamentally liturgical: they fight first with prayer, fasting, and sackcloth before any military preparation.
Translation Friction
The historical reference to return from captivity alongside Nebuchadnezzar's reign is another deliberate anachronism, reinforcing the book's character as theological fiction.
Connections
The national fast and sackcloth echo Joel 1-2, Jonah 3, and 2 Chronicles 20 (Jehoshaphat's response to invasion). The defense of mountain passes anticipates the Maccabean strategy.
Judith 4:2
Tremor et horror invasit sensus eorum ne hoc faceret Hierusalem et templo Domini quod fecerat ceteris civitatibus et templis earum.
Trembling and dread seized their minds — that he would do to Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord what he had done to all other cities and their temples.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
templo Domini
"the Temple of the Lord"
The Temple's safety is the narrative's theological center of gravity.
Translator Notes
- The fear is specifically theological: not merely death, but the desecration of the dwelling place of God.
Judith 4:3
Et miserunt in omnem Samariam per circuitum usque Iericho et praeoccupaverunt omnes vertices montium.
They sent word throughout all Samaria and the surrounding region as far as Jericho, and seized in advance all the mountain summits.
Judith 4:4
Et muris circumdederunt vicos suos et congregaverunt frumenta in praeparationem pugnae.
They walled their villages and gathered grain in preparation for war.
Judith 4:5
Sacerdos etiam Eliachim scripsit ad universos qui erant contra Esdrelon quae est contra faciem campi magni iuxta Dothain et universos per quos viae transitus esse poterat.
The priest Eliachim also wrote to all who were opposite Esdraelon, facing the great plain near Dothan, and to all through whose territory the routes of passage might lead.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
sacerdos Eliachim
"the priest Eliachim"
The high priest assumes command in the absence of a king, reflecting post-exilic theocratic governance.
Translator Notes
- Eliachim (variant of Eliakim) functions as both high priest and military coordinator — a fusion of roles typical of Second Temple leadership.
Judith 4:6
Ut obtinerent ascensus montium per quos via esse poterat ad Hierusalem et illic custodirent ubi angustum iter esse poterat inter montes.
They were to hold the mountain ascents through which there could be a road to Jerusalem, and to guard every place where a narrow passage might exist between the mountains.
Judith 4:7
Et fecerunt filii Israhel secundum quod constituerat eis sacerdos Domini Eliachim.
And the children of Israel did according to what the priest of the Lord, Eliachim, had appointed for them.
Judith 4:8
Et clamavit omnis populus ad Dominum instantia magna et humiliaverunt animas suas in ieiuniis et orationibus ipsi et mulieres eorum.
And all the people cried out to the Lord with great urgency, and they humbled their souls with fasting and prayers — they and their wives.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
humiliaverunt animas suas
"humbled their souls"
The Yom Kippur formula (Leviticus 16:29) applied to a national emergency.
Judith 4:9
Induerunt se sacerdotes ciliciis et infantes prostraverunt contra faciem templi Domini et altare Domini operuerunt cilicio.
The priests clothed themselves in sackcloth, and the children were laid prostrate before the face of the Temple of the Lord, and the altar of the Lord was covered with sackcloth.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
ciliciis
"sackcloth"
Cilicium originally referred to cloth from Cilicia; it became the standard Latin for penitential garb.
Translator Notes
- Even the altar itself is draped in mourning — a powerful visual image of creation groaning under threat.
Judith 4:10
Et clamaverunt ad Dominum Deum Israhel unanimiter ne darentur in praedam infantes eorum et in divisionem uxores eorum et in exterminium civitates eorum et in profanationem sancta eorum.
They cried out with one voice to the Lord God of Israel, that their children might not be given as prey, their wives as spoil, their cities as destruction, and their holy things as profanation.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
unanimiter
"with one voice"
The same word used for the nations' earlier unanimous defiance (1:11), now redirected toward God.
Judith 4:11
Tunc Eliachim sacerdos Domini magnus circuivit omnem Israhel adlocutusque est eos.
Then Eliachim, the great priest of the Lord, went throughout all Israel and addressed them.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
sacerdos Domini magnus
"the great priest of the Lord"
The title 'great priest' (kohen gadol) emphasizes his supreme religious authority.
Judith 4:12
Dicens eis scitote quoniam exaudiet Dominus preces vestras si manentes permanseritis in ieiuniis et orationibus in conspectu Domini.
He said to them: Know that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you remain steadfast in fasting and prayer in the presence of the Lord.
Judith 4:13
Memores estote Moysi servi Domini qui Amalec confidentem in virtute sua et in potentia sua et in exercitu suo et in clipeis suis et in curribus suis et in equitibus suis non ferro pugnando sed precibus sanctis orando deiecit.
Remember Moses, the servant of the Lord, who cast down Amalek — Amalek who trusted in his strength, his power, his army, his shields, his chariots, and his horsemen — not by fighting with the sword but by praying with holy prayers.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
non ferro pugnando sed precibus sanctis orando
"not by fighting with the sword but by praying with holy prayers"
The theological thesis statement of the entire book.
Translator Notes
- The appeal to the Amalek precedent (Exodus 17:8-16) establishes the theological principle that governs the whole book: prayer, not military might, wins Israel's wars.
Judith 4:14
Sic erunt universi hostes Israhel si perseveraveritis in hoc opere quod coepistis.
So shall it be with all the enemies of Israel, if you persevere in this work you have begun.
Judith 4:15
Ad hanc igitur exhortationem eius deprecantes Dominum permanebant in conspectu Domini.
At this exhortation of his, they continued beseeching the Lord, remaining in the presence of the Lord.
Judith 4:16
Ita ut etiam hii qui offerebant Domini holocausta praecincti ciliciis offerrent sacrificia Domino et erat cinis super capita eorum.
Even those who offered the burnt offerings to the Lord did so girded in sackcloth, and ashes were upon their heads.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
- Priests in sackcloth at the altar is extraordinary — normally priestly vestments were strictly prescribed (Exodus 28). The emergency overrides normal liturgical order.
Judith 4:17
Et ex toto corde suo omnes orabant Deum ut visitaret populum suum Israhel.
And from their whole heart, all prayed to God that he would visit his people Israel.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
visitaret
"would visit"
Visitare in biblical Latin can mean either gracious intervention or punitive inspection; here it means saving presence.