Judith 6:1
Factum est autem cum cessassent loqui iratus Holofernes vehementer dixit ad Achior.
When they had finished speaking, Holofernes, violently enraged, said to Achior:
Translator's Introduction
What This Chapter Is About
Holofernes contemptuously rejects Achior's warning and declares that Nebuchadnezzar alone is god. He orders Achior bound and delivered to the Israelites at Bethulia, so he may perish with them. Achior is left at the foot of the mountain; the Israelites find him, hear his report, and take him into their city. A night of prayer follows.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Holofernes' punishment of Achior — handing him to the people whose God he defended — ironically saves Achior's life and places him exactly where he will witness God's deliverance. The villain's cruelty becomes God's providence.
Translation Friction
Holofernes' speech claiming no god but Nebuchadnezzar makes him a mouthpiece of anti-theism, a more extreme position than most ancient Near Eastern rulers claimed.
Connections
Achior bound and cast out for telling the truth mirrors Jeremiah's experience (Jeremiah 38). His rescue by the Israelites prefigures his conversion in chapter 14.
Judith 6:2
Quoniam prophetasti nobis dicens quod gens Israhel defendatur a Deo suo ego ostendam tibi quoniam non est deus nisi Nabuchodonosor.
Because you have prophesied to us, saying that the nation of Israel is defended by their God, I will show you that there is no god but Nebuchadnezzar.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
prophetasti
"prophesied"
Holofernes means it as mockery, but the narrative treats it as fact.
Translator Notes
- Holofernes' accusation that Achior 'prophesied' is unconsciously accurate — Achior did speak prophetically, and every word will prove true.
Judith 6:3
Cum percusserimus eos omnes sicut hominem unum tunc et ipse cum illis Assyriorum gladio interibis et omnis Israhel tecum perditione peribit.
When we strike them all down as one man, then you too shall perish by the Assyrian sword alongside them, and all Israel shall be destroyed together with you.
Judith 6:4
Et probabis quoniam Nabuchodonosor dominus sit universae terrae tuncque gladius militiae meae transiet per latera tua et confixus cades inter vulneratos Israhel et non respirabis ultra donec extermineris cum illis.
And you shall learn that Nebuchadnezzar is lord of all the earth. Then the sword of my army shall pass through your sides, and pierced you shall fall among the wounded of Israel, and you shall breathe no more until you are destroyed with them.
Judith 6:5
Porro autem si prophetiam tuam veram existimas non concidat vultus tuus et pallor qui faciem tuam obtinet abscedat a te si verba mea haec putas non posse compleri.
But if you believe your prophecy to be true, let not your countenance fall, and let the pallor that grips your face depart — if you think these words of mine cannot be fulfilled.
Judith 6:6
Ut autem noveris quia simul cum illis haec experieris ecce ex hac hora illorum populo sociaberis ut dum dignas mei gladii poenas exceperint tu simul ultioni subiaceas.
But so that you may know you shall experience these things alongside them — behold, from this hour you shall be joined to their people, so that when they receive the punishment my sword deserves to give, you shall share in their destruction.
Judith 6:7
Tunc Holofernes praecepit servis suis ut conprehenderent Achior et perducerent eum in Bethuliam et traderent eum in manus filiorum Israhel.
Then Holofernes commanded his servants to seize Achior and bring him to Bethulia and deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
Bethuliam
"Bethulia"
Possibly from Hebrew betulah ('virgin'), a symbolically charged name for the city Judith will save.
Translator Notes
- The first mention of Bethulia, the city that will become the stage for the drama. Its name may derive from Hebrew betulah ('virgin') — suggesting the city's symbolic purity.
Judith 6:8
Et accipientes eum servi Holofernis profecti sunt per campestria sed cum adpropinquassent ad montana exierunt contra eos fundibularii.
Holofernes' servants took him and set out across the plains, but as they approached the mountains, the slingers came out against them.
Judith 6:9
Illi autem divertentes a latere montis ligaverunt Achior ad arborem manibus et pedibus et sic vinctum eum nervis dimiserunt et reversi sunt ad dominum suum.
They turned aside along the flank of the mountain, bound Achior to a tree hand and foot, left him tied with cords, and returned to their lord.
Judith 6:10
Filii autem Israhel descendentes de Bethulia venerunt ad eum quem solventes duxerunt ad Bethuliam atque in medium populi illum statuentes percontati sunt quid rerum esset quod illum vinctum Assyrii reliquissent.
The children of Israel came down from Bethulia and found him. They untied him, brought him into Bethulia, and setting him in the midst of the people, they asked what had happened — why the Assyrians had left him bound.
Judith 6:11
In diebus illis erant illic principes Ozias filius Micha de tribu Symeon et Charmi qui et Gothonihel.
In those days the leaders there were Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, and Charmi, also called Gothoniel.
Judith 6:12
In medio itaque seniorum et in conspectu omnium Achior dixit omnia quae ipse locutus interrogatus ab Holoferne dixisset et quomodo populus Holofernis voluisset propter hoc verbum interficere eum.
So in the midst of the elders and before everyone, Achior recounted everything he had said when questioned by Holofernes, and how Holofernes' people had wanted to kill him because of his words.
Judith 6:13
Et quomodo ipse Holofernes iratus iussisset eum Israheltis hac de causa tradi ut cum ipse Israhel suo Deo vicisset tunc Achior diversis iuberet interire suppliciis.
And how Holofernes himself, in his fury, had ordered him delivered to the Israelites for this reason: that when he had conquered Israel and their God, he would then command Achior to perish by various tortures.
Judith 6:14
Eo quod dixisset Deus caeli defensor eorum est.
Because he had said: The God of heaven is their defender.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
Deus caeli defensor eorum est
"The God of heaven is their defender"
The thesis statement for which Achior was condemned — and which the entire book will vindicate.
Judith 6:15
Cumque Achior universa haec exposuisset omnis populus cecidit in faciem adorantes Dominum et communi lamentatione et fletu unanimes preces suas Domino effuderunt.
When Achior had set forth all these things, the whole people fell on their faces, worshipping the Lord, and with common weeping and lamentation they poured out their united prayers to the Lord.
Judith 6:16
Dicentes Domine Deus caeli et terrae intuere superbiam illorum et respice ad nostram humilitatem et faciem sanctorum tuorum adtende et ostende quoniam non derelinquis praesumentes de te et praesumentes de se et de sua virtute gloriantes humilias.
They said: Lord, God of heaven and earth, behold their arrogance and look upon our lowliness. Attend to the face of your holy ones, and show that you do not forsake those who trust in you, and that those who presume upon themselves and glory in their own strength, you bring low.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
praesumentes de te
"those who trust in you"
Praesumere here means 'to place confident hope in' — the positive counterpart to arrogant self-presumption.
Translator Notes
- This prayer captures the book's central contrast: trust in God versus trust in self. It anticipates the Magnificat (Luke 1:51-52).
Judith 6:17
Finito itaque fletu et per totam diem oratione populorum completa consolati sunt Achior.
When the weeping was over and the people's prayer had continued through the whole day, they consoled Achior.
Judith 6:18
Dicentes Deus patrum nostrorum cuius tu virtutem praedicasti ipse tibi hanc dabit vicissitudinem ut eorum magis tu interitum videas.
They said: The God of our fathers, whose power you have proclaimed, will himself grant you this recompense — that you shall instead witness their destruction.
Judith 6:19
Cum vero Dominus Deus noster dederit hanc libertatem servis suis sit et tecum Deus in medio nostri ut sicut placuerit tibi ita cum tuis omnibus converseris nobiscum.
When the Lord our God grants this freedom to his servants, may God be with you in our midst, so that as it pleases you, you may live among us with all who are yours.
Judith 6:20
Tunc Ozias finito consilio suscepit eum in domum suam et fecit ei cenam magnam.
Then Uzziah, when the council was finished, received him into his own house and made a great feast for him.
Judith 6:21
Et vocatis omnibus presbyteris simul post ieiunium refecerunt corpora sua.
And calling all the elders together, when the fast was ended, they refreshed themselves.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
- The communal meal after fasting echoes covenant meals throughout Scripture. Achior, the outsider, is welcomed to the table.
Judith 6:22
Postea vero omnis populus convocatus est et per totam noctem intra ecclesiam oraverunt petentes auxilium a Deo Israhel.
Afterward the whole people was assembled, and through the entire night they prayed within the assembly, seeking help from the God of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms 1 term
Key Terms
intra ecclesiam
"within the assembly"
Ecclesia here means the gathered community, not a building — the same word early Christians adopted.