ES
1185
TE91 A 58380 2
ITO
empresa
NON
CIRCULATING
CIRCUOATING
AV
**
:
:..
*
.
aze
OK
AS
SEN
.
S
w
i
m
.. HUP
.'.
*
.
*
.
...
....
..
..
..
..
....
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
..
..2
are
There
1911
UUTA
ONION
12
Tutti
Inn
...
SCIENTIA
SES
x
:
ITY OF MICHIGAN
VMV
O
LIBRARY VERITAS OF THE
.
TREHOR
UMSPICE
*
RUMAHROLLIMINIMINULIMINERIUMIHIUTA
N
ISMENINSULAM
İNIVERSITY OF MICR
TI
*
COURISM
.
A
ARTES
PLAR
.
.
An
.
*
*
- ri
.
19
der
.
him
N
11
IHIIHIIIINNITHITIMITTI
3
12III. r.
NIIIII
I
1
KLINIILUTINAITHHIITTTTTITUIUTTE
.
.
.
SK
Tany
ti
.
!
**
L
.
SUPER
**
MAS
.
.
ME
ar
.
.
th
10
SA
LES
V
.
*
NON
*
.....
:
"
.
:.
.
.
.
.
NO
Ponie
wy.
W
2
22
AB
THE TEMPLE
"BIBLE
: *
.
:.
.
.
:::
:
::
The frontispiece is reproduced from a photograpk by ALINARI
of BOTTICELLI'S picture in the Pinacoteca at Turin, • The Three
Angels and Tobir.'
BibleS2
.O.T. Apocrypha
D
AN
.
DOR
D
ki
S
WWWWWWWWWWWA N
WE
WWW
NOS
.
.
EXTRA
SAUS
..
.........
BE
:
3
TOBIT
off AND THE
BABYLONIAN
APOCRYPHAL.
WRITINGS
:
:
ZAVOD
mo
:
M
WO
Nis
W
WW
W
WW
AN
chande
TAYARI
3/
»
WoWS
Will
:
.:
2. W
.
MS
We
EDITED BY
AHSAYСE.
D.D. og LilD.
dig
www.
DUD
SN/A
27
::*
SA
S35
.
S
.
DIA
RE
Wang
KO
....
.
*LONDON :J:M:DENTECO:MCMIII-
•PHILADELPHIA:J.B'LIPPINCOTT.co.
Philade
.
..
Introduction
THE BOOKS OF TOBIT, JUDITH, SONG OF THE
THREE HOLY CHILDREN, STORY OF SUSANNA,
BEL AND THE DRAGON, AND THE PRAYER
OF MANASSES.
The Return to Jerusalem. We are not to suppose that
when the edict of Cyrus permitted the captives of Judah to
return to their native land the whole body of the Jewish people
gladly took advantage of it. In the prophecies of Isaiah we
seem to see the whole nation groaning under the yoke of their
exile, and longing for the day when the highway should be made
straight in the desert for the ransomed of the Lord. But such
an impression is incorrect. When we examine the Books of
Ezra and Nehemiah we find that those who returned to the home
of their fathers were but a fraction of the race, and that they
consisted mainly of priests and Levites. Even the Levites were
but few as compared with the priests. The community that
went back with Zerubbabel was small in numbers and pre-
dominantly sacerdotal in character.
The fact is not surprising. Seventy years of exile had pro-
duced their inevitable effect upon the mass of the nation. Only
those who were zealous for the Law and saw in the destruction
of Jerusalem the punishment of its neglect could preserve them-
selves from mixing with the surrounding population and sub-
mitting to the influence of its customs and beliefs. How
thoroughly naturalised the larger part of the Jews had become
in Babylonia is shown by the frequency of their names in Baby-
378120
Introduction.
als The Book of
lonian contracts. Jewish names compounded with that of
Yahweh are intermingled with names which bear the stamp of
Babylonian idolatry. Those only who had kept themselves
distinct in religion and race cared to return to Palestine. The
companions of Zerubbabel were the remnant' who believed in
the Divine mission of Israel, and looked on the Law of Moses
as their rule of life.
Love for the Ceremonial Law. The struggle with Baby-
lonian heathenism had intensified their regard for its more
external features. Only by conforming to its ceremonial require-
ments could they remain a peculiar people,' separate from the
larger world in the midst of which they had to live. The sacer-
dotal and theocratic character of the newly-founded community
at Jerusalem increased the tendency to lay undue stress on the
rites and ceremonies of the Law. And the tendency was not
allowed to die. Zealous reformers like Ezra and Nehemiah
came from time to time, fanning the expiring embers of enthu-
siasm once more into a flame, obliging those who had married
foreign wives to divorce them, and insisting that the feasts and
fasts should be duly observed.
An almost fanatical obedience to the ceremonial enactments
of the Mosaic Law, and a scrupulous attendance to its letter
rather than to its spirit, was thas one of the distinguishing
features of the restored Jewish state. It was a state that was
essentially sacerdotal ; religious observances took the place in it
of politics, and the religion that marked the Jew off from his
neighbour seemed a matter of mere external forms.
:
The Prophets. The Law, however, was not the only rule
Tobit, Etc. som
Introduction.
of life. By the side of the Law were the Prophets, though the
authority accorded to them was of lesser degree than that
accorded to the Law. And as long as the Prophets were
allotted a place by the side of the Law it was impossible for
Jewish religion to become wholly formal,a white-washed
sepulchre out of which the spirit had fled. Had such indeed
been the case, Jewish religion must have perished : history could
never have recorded the splendid heroism of the Maccabean age.
Deep at the roots of the ceremonial formalism lay an unshaken
belief in the one true God, and the law of righteousness which
He had ordained; and though doubtless to a large part of the
nation religion was external rather than internal, a matter
of forms and observances rather than of spiritual life and moral
conduct, there were yet many to whom the outward was but a
symbol of the inward, and who believed with the prophet
that the Lord 'desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the know-
ledge of God more than burnt-offerings.'
Belief in Magic. An insistence upon the ceremonial side
of the Law and a belief in the efficacy of the external observances
of religion was thus one of the distinguishing features of the
community which had returned from the Babylonish exile.
Another distinguishing feature was its belief in magic and the
mediation of angels. The two beliefs were closely connected
with one another, and were alike of Babylonian origin. Magic
in Babylonia was not merely an art; it was a science counten-
anced and assimilated by the religion of the state. The whole
world was peopled with supernatural beings, demons and angels,
whose attacks could be foiled and whose help could be secured
by those alone who were acquainted with the sorcerer's art.
Introduction.
& The Book of
The angels were the messengers of the gods and the interpreters
of their will, ever passing backwards and forwards between
hieaven and earth, performing the commands of the Divine
powers, alleviating the pains and sickness of mankind, and
pleading for them before the gods. Everywhere the Babylonian
was surrounded by invisible foes and friends; they were not the
great gods who had made the world and the men that inhabited
it, but minor intelligences, resembling the slaves and officials of
an earthly court. They came between the gods and men, like
the messengers who conveyed reports to the king or the officers
of state who presented to him the petitions of the people.
Angels and demons, magic and mediation, were all familiar to
the Babylonian from the earliest days. And, mixed with ideas
derived from the sacred books of Persia, the belief in them spread
through Western Asia in the Persian age.
The Jew and the History of His Race. There was yet
another feature which characterised the Jews of post-Exilic
Palestine. With the loss of national independence and political
interest, interest in secular history faded away. That history
could still be written when the life of the nation was again
quickened into action and there were stirring deeds to record is
proved by the Books of Maccabees. But the Maccabean age
was of short duration as compared with the whole long interval
between Cyrus and Herod, and when the Maccabean princes
became kings instead of religious leaders their influence over
the multitude was gone. It was the religious background of
the movement they headed which had made them national
heroes. Post-Exilic Judah was a religious community rather
than a political state.
viji
Tobit, Etc. sa
Introduction.
The literary interests of the educated Jew, therefore, were
restricted. Questions of ritual and religious law, of ethics and
faith, attracted him almost to the exclusion of everything else.
He cared for history only in so far as it could illustrate his
religious convictions or convey a moral lesson ; that it should be
a correct representation of facts was of little consequence. What
mattered was not what it was in itself but the purpose for which
it was used.
The Haggadah and Historical Novel. What we may term
the historical novel had been invented in Egypt in days long
before the Exodus of Israel. But, like the historical novel of
to-day, its object was purely literary. The writer aimed at
giving pleasure and gaining for himself a literary reputation.
Such an object had little attraction for the devout Jew of the
post-Exilic community. What he set himself to achieve was
the inculcation of religious and moral lessons under the guise of
history. In other words, the historical novel became in his
hands an historical parable. From that day onwards the 'Hag-
gadah,' as it was technically termed, occupied a prominent place
in Jewish literature and religious thought. Sober secular history
had to make way for it, and when the destruction of Jerusalem
put an end to the national existence, it practically disappeared
altogether. Josephus is the last of the Jewish historians, and his
history was written in Greek.
The Uses of the Haggadah. History, as seen through
the coloured and distorting glasses of Haggadah, was peculiarly
fitted for impressing the lessons which seemed to Jewish patriot-
ism to be the most needed in the days of Greek influence and
ix
Introduction.
Is The Book of
dominion. The overthrow of the Persian Empire by Alexander
was disastrous to the community at Jerusalem. The tolerant
monotheism of Oriental Persians was exchanged for the artistic
paganism of the Greeks, to whom Jewish puritanism, with its
condemnation of art and its religious intensity, was particularly
repulsive. It was inevitable that sooner or later a conflict would
break out between the new masters of the East and those of the
Jewish community who clung to the old ideals and refused to be
allured into the pleasant but dangerous paths of a cultured
cosmopolitanism. In B.C. 168 the explosion took place ;
Antiochus Epiphanes issued his edict to Hellenise the Jews, and
the answer to it was given in that national revolt which led to
the recovery of Jewish independence and the foundation of the
Maccabean dynasty.
Now was the time for the patriotic Jew to encourage and
stimulate his countrymen in their struggle by the story of past
successes and deliverance. But the actual history of the Hebrew
people in the past was not of a nature to assist him. Apart from
the conquests of David and the overthrow of Sennacherib's host,
it was rather a story of defeat and servitude, which culminated
at last in the fall of the Davidic monarchy and the destruction of
the Temple by Nebuchadrezzar. A new history, therefore, was
wanted, a history transformed and moralised by Haggadah, and
the want was soon supplied. The tyrants and conquerors of
history and tradition passed one into the other like the colours
of a kaleidoscope, all alike were but forms and types of the
tyrants of the writer's day. It mattered little what special name
was given to them, or into what anachronisms and geographical
confusion the story fell. In the atmosphere of the Haggadah
the distinctions of time and place were obliterated; past and
Tobit, Etc. Som
Introduction.
present, east and west, were merged in one. Like Lazarus in
the parable, or the heroes of Scott's novels, the heroes and
heroines of Jewish Haggadah were individuals, but individuals
unknown to history and around whose persons, therefore,
imagination could freely play. The genealogy of Tobit or
Judith was but part of the mise en scène.
Explanation of the Form of the Haggadah. The character
of the struggle which the Jewish people had to wage for their
national life and religion thus explains the particular form
which the Haggadah has taken in such apocryphal books as
those of Tobit or Judith. They are probably not earlier than
the Maccabean age, though the recollections of Persian rule
must still have been strong at the time they were composed.
The insistence upon orthodox burial which occupies so pro-
minent a place in the Book of Tobit seems directed against
the Persian form of burial, which left the dead to be devoured
by birds and beasts of prey, and the demon Asmodeus is the
Aeshma-daeva of the Persian Avesta. Holofernes, like Bagoas,
is a Persian name, and has been identified with the Cappadocian
Orophernes. The doctrine of angelic intercession (Tobit xii. 12,
15; cp. xi. 14) is, however, not necessarily of Persian origin;
it may easily have been derived directly from Babylonia, where
it formed an integral part of the belief of the people.
Tobit and Judith. Throughout the Books of Tobit and
Judith the restoration of the Temple and its services is assumed
(Tobit xiv. 5; Judith iv. 3, V, 18-19, viii. 6, xv. 8). The ordin-
ances of the Mosaic Law are strictly kept, and it is taken for
granted that they will continue for ever like the Temple itself
Introduction.
as The Book of
(Tobit i. 4, 6). In fact, that part of the Jewish community
which remained true to the Law of its fathers has received a
special name; they are the elect' (Tobit viii. 15), selected by
God for restoration to their country and the privileges of worship
in it.
According to St. Jerome both Tobit and Judith were origin-
ally written in Aramaic. But it is more probable that the original
language was Hebrew, the Aramaic and Greek versions being
translations. At all events this is the case as regards the
Aramaic text of Tobit discovered by Dr. Neubauer. There are
two Greek recensions of Tobit, but one is a revision or Haggadic
amplification of the other. Neither Tobit nor Judith appears to
have been known to Josephus. At anyrate he has not thought
them worthy of being quoted or used. On the other hand, they
formed part of the Old Testament canon of the Alexandrine
Jews, and were accordingly accepted as canonical by the early
Christian Church along with the other books of the Apocrypha
which were included in the Septuagint. From the Septuagint
they naturally passed into the Latin versions. A fresh trans-
lation into Latin was made by St. Jerome from a 'Chaldee' or
Aramaic text which differed considerably from the Greek. To
Jerome, however, we must mainly trace the exclusion of the
apocryphal books from the Christian canon of the Old Testa-
ment. He fell back, like Melito, upon the canon of the Pales-
tinian Jews, and excluded books whose Hebrew originals were
unknown to him. To him is due the definition of the apocryphal
books quoted in the sixth article of the Church of England that
they are books which the Church doth read for example of
life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them
to establish any doctrine.' The variations of text for which the
Tobit, Etc. See
Introduction.
apocryphal books are remarkable testify as much to the absence
of any fixed canonical authority attaching to them as they do to
their Haggadic origin.
Song of the Three Holy Children. The additions to the
Book of Daniel known as the Song of the Three Children, the
Story of Susanna and Bel and the Dragon belong probably to
the same age as the Books of Tobit and Judith. The Song of
the Three Children, part of which is better known as “Bene.
dicite,' has been used in the ritual of the Christian Church since
the fourth century. It is a good example of the Haggadic fond.
ness for amplifying the statements of the Canonical Scriptures
by means of explanatory glosses and homiletic insertions. The
Song is a psalm put into the mouths of the Three Holy Children
when thrown by Nebuchadrezzar's order into the burning fiery
furnace, and it is, in fact, by no means inappropriate to the
occasion. Its psalmodic character is recognised by the Alex-
andrian Codex, which gives the main part of it at the end of
the Psalter, as well as by the usage of the Christian
Church.
The Story of Susanna. The story of Susanna is inserted
in the Greek MSS. at the beginning of the Book of Daniel,
and may have been suggested by Jer. xxix. 23. As it contains
a play upon the Greek names of the mastick and holm tree, it
has been argued that it must from the first have been written in
Greek. This, however, is not necessarily the case, as the
names of the trees may have been altered in the translation so
as to keep up a play of words which already existed in a Hebrew
original. The two Greek versions of the story - those of
Introduction19
ass The Book of
.
Theodotion and the Septuagint-differ considerably from one
another.
Bel and the Dragon. The story of Bel and the Dragon was
placed in the Septuagint at the end of the Book of Daniel and
prefaced by the words : ‘From the prophecy of Habakkuk, the
son of Joshua, of the tribe of Levi.' The fragment of the lost
pseudepigraphic Book of Habakkuk, however, really consists
only of verses 33-39, and has been violently thrust into a
narrative with which it has nothing to do. The story itself is a
variant version of the canonical account of Daniel's deliverance
from the den of lions parallel to the variant version of the
history of Haman and Mordechai referred to in Tobit xiv. 10.
The author of it was better acquainted with Babylon and
Babylonian history than the other apocryphal writers. He
knew that the power of Cyrus had risen upon that of Astyages,
that Bel was the god of Babylon, and that a dragon existed in
its temple. That the dragon was a mere mythological person-
age, depicted on the walls of the sanctuary, and not a living
creature of flesh and blood, was of little consequence. Bel and
the Dragon were associated together in Babylonian religion and
mythology as they are in the apocryphal legend. Even Jeremiah
had compared Nebuchadnezzar with the dragon which swallowed
Jerusalem as the dragon of chaos in the Babylonian epic of the
Creation had threatened to swallow the gods of light (Jer. li. 34).
The Prayer of Manasses. All three additions to the Book
of Daniel are found in both the Septuagint and Theodotion's
Greek version, and have passed from thence into the Old Latin
and Vulgate, the Syriac and the Arabic. They thus stand on a
xiv
Tobit, Etc. som
Introduction.
different footing from the Prayer of Manasses, which is omitted
in some of the manuscripts of the Greek and Latin versions,
and in the Alexandrian Codex is appended to the Psalter. The
Prayer may have originally been composed in Greek, though the
fact that it is an instance of Haggadic amplification makes it
more probable that it had a Hebrew original. The earliest
reference to it seems to have been by Julius Africanus (220 A.D.);
it is quoted at length in the Apostolical Constitutions (ii. 22).
Owing possibly to a misapprehension it was excluded by the
Council of Trent from the canonical books, together with what
are called in our Authorised Version the First and Second
Books of Esdras. The Church of England, however, has main.
tained the older tradition, which assigned the Prayer of Manasses
and the two Books of Esdras to the same position as the rest of
the Apocryphal Scriptures.
The apocryphal books contained in this volume have long
occupied a prominent position in the Christian Church. They
formed part of the Old Testament Canon accepted by the early
Church, and are accordingly quoted from time to time by the
Fathers; until recently they were included in the lectionary of
the Church of England, and in the Anglican Communion Office
and Homilies they are placed on the same footing as the
canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. Various
causes, however, have conduced to lessen the estimation in
which they were once held. Their omission from the cheap
copies of the Bible which have been printed during the last
century, a confusion in the popular mind between the terms
inspiration and canonicity,' above all the disparaging associa-
tions that have gathered round the word 'apocryphal,' have all
Introduction.
The Book of
contributed to this result. But the chief cause has probably
been the inferior English of the translations given of them in
the Authorised Version. By the side of the canonical books,
the apocryphal books of the Old Testament make but a poor
show in their English dress. The rhythm is defective, the
construction is frequently involved, the language itself some-
times lacks dignity and grace. And in the case of the books
treated in the present volume the defective character of the
English translation is not compensated by the nature of their
contents. Jewish ceremonialism, improbable incidents, and
fictitious history and geography do not appeal to the Gentile
reader of to-day. It is even difficult to understand how the
story of Judith, with its distorted patriotism and puerile in-
sistence upon the niceties of Jewish ritual, could ever have
affected the Christian world as we know it to have done. In
Tobit there is a more human and cosmopolitan element, while
the story of Susanna conveys a lesson that belongs to all ages
and climes, but Judith is essentially Jewish, and Jewish too in
the narrowest sense of the word.
The inferiority of the Authorised translation of the apocryphal
books was not altogether the fault of the translators. The text
which they had before them was unfixed and uncertain. The
Greek text differed from the Latin text, and the Latin text
presented itself under two varying forms. Even the Greek text
was not uniform, and Aramaic variants increased the confusion.
Before a satisfactory translation could be produced it was neces.
sary to have a satisfactory text from which to translate.
In the seventeenth century this was not possible. Even
to-day the difficulty is great, as the Old Testament revisers have
found. The Hebrew originals of the books of the Apocrypha,
Xvi
Tobit, Etc. Som
Introduction.
with one exception, are lost ; indeed, so faint are the traces of
them that there are scholars who would deny their existence at
all. But such scepticism is unjustified. Apart from internal
evidence, the recent discovery of the Hebrew text of the Book
of Ecclesiasticus has settled the question for most students of
the Apocrypha.
The loss of the Hebrew originals and the uncertain nature of
the text are two facts that are closely connected with one
another. They are both due to the same cause : the books were
never admitted into the Hebrew Canon, and consequently the
mere letter of them was never invested with a sacred character.
The Hebrew Canon was divided into three portions, the
authority and Divine inspiration of which varied in degree.
First came the Pentateuch, the written word of Yahweh Him.
self, then the Prophets, the mouthpieces of the Divine message,
and lastly the Hagiographa, which were regarded somewhat in
the way in which we regard the Apocrypha. The text of the
Pentateuch--the Law, as it was termed-was the first to be fixed,
and in time the sacredness which had originally belonged to it
alone was extended to the other contents of the Canon. The
Massoretes began their labours, the very letters were counted,
and a single standard text handed down, all variations from
which were condemned and destroyed. With the admission to
canonicity textual divergencies tended to disappear.
It was because the apocryphal books were not admitted into
the Canon of the Jews of Palestine that their text remained in a
state of flux. It was only in Egypt that they were bound up in
the same volume as the canonical books, and in Egypt they
were read like the canonical books in a Greek translation. The
Hebrew originals disappeared, and with them disappeared also
xvii
Introduction*
way. The Book of
.
any hope of a fixed and authoritative text. Other translations
were published in Latin and Aramaic, none of them with any
exclusive claim to authority or an infallibly accurate text. The
actual words of the apocryphal books had not been inspired by
God, and it was therefore of little moment to preserve them
In addition to all this the nature of the literature to which the
books belonged lent itself to almost unlimited variety. They
arose in an age of Haggadah, when sermons and moral lessons
were read between the lines of Scripture and parables built
apon the verses of the Old Testament. The Haggadist em-
broidered, as it were, the biblical narrative, supplying its de-
ficiencies and filling it in. Sometimes the new matter occupied
but a few lines, or was a mere variant of the original; at other
times it extended to a whole chapter or a whole book. That it
was historically veracious mattered but little ; it was not history
but instruction that was aimed at, and allegory, parable and
legend served the purpose just as well as a record of facts. The
world in which the Haggadist lived was a world of spiritual and
moral truth, and not the world of everyday events.
There was nothing, therefore, to stereotype the actual shape
which the Haggadah assumed. One form of parable or legend
was as good as another, and it is in the very nature of a gloss to
vary in form. Passages could be inserted or omitted at will,
statements corrected or changed, and a different colouring given
to the narrative itself. Unchecked by a belief in the sacred-
ness of the precise words he was copying or translating, the
scribe might alter his text almost as he chose. So long as it
remained unchanged in essence, the details could be varied with
each new version.
But it was the details only that could thus shift and change.
.
Xviii
Tobit, Etc. som
Introduction.
The framework and essence of the work were necessarily pre-
served intact. The story of Tobit or of Judith never lost its
main features, however much the actual words in which it was
presented differed from version to version. The proper names,
indeed, took upon them strange forms, but where the history
and geography were alike legendary this was of small conse-
quence,
The Book of Tobit begins with an account of his genealogy.
He was an Israelite of the tribe of Naphtali, carried captive to
Assyria, where he rose to preferment at the Assyrian court.
That such preferment was not impossible we have learned from
the cuneiform tablets, in which mention is made of Israelites who
held official posts at Nineveh after the fall of Samaria. But
Tobit was like a Jew of the post-Exilic period. He observed
the ordinances of the Mosaic Law; he fasted and gave alms;
above all he secretly buried those who had been put to death by
the Assyrian king. Sleeping with face uncovered after his
return from thus burying the dead he was blinded by sparrow's
dung which accidentally dropped into his eyes, and had conse-
quently to depend upon his wife's support. Like Job's wife,
she taunted him with apparently so ill a requital for his good
deeds; whereupon he prayed and the angel Raphael was sent
to help and heal him. The same day Sara the daughter of
Raguel had been mocked by her maids because she had been
married to seven husbands, all of whom the demon Asmodeus
had slain on the night of marriage; she, too, prayed, and Raphael
was instructed to help her also by giving her for a wife to Tobias
the son of Tobit. Tobias was now sent to Rages to recover
some money he had left there with Gabael, and the angel went
with him under the guise of a serving-man. On the way Tobias
Introduction.
& The Book of
was told by the angel to take the liver, heart and gall out of a
fish that had leapt upon him from the river Tigris, and on arriving
at Rages was further told to marry Sara who was related to him
by blood. The wedding accordingly took place, and Tobias
having burnt the heart and liver of the fish in accordance with
Raphael's instructions, the demon was driven away by the smoke
and Sara delivered from his attacks. The angel was next sent
to Gabael for the money, and the wedding feast being ended
Tobias returned home. Here the angel bade Tobias anoint his
father's eyes with the gall of the fish; this he did, and Tobias
immediately received his sight. Thereupon Raphael revealed
himself and disappeared, and the book concludes with Tobit's
exhortation to his son to leave Nineveh after the death and
burial of his parents, as it should surely be destroyed.
The book is the work of a single writer, in spite of Ilgen's
attempt to discover proofs of composite authorship in it. The
period to which its composition should be assigned has been a
matter of dispute. Ewald held that it was written by a Jew in
the far East at the very beginning of the Persian age. Nöldeke
made it the work of an Egyptian Jew in the third or second
century B.C., white Hitzig referred it along with the Book of
Judith to the time of Trajan. On the ground of the promin.
ence given in it to the burial of the dead, Graetz maintained that
it was composed in the reign of Hadrian shortly after the fall of
the Jewish fortress of Bether, while Kohut supposed that it was
written in Persia in the time of Ardeshir I. (A.D. 250). But all
such conjectures are wrecked on the fact that Tobit iv. 10 and
xii. 9 are quoted in the Epistle of St. Polycarp (x.), who was a
disciple of the Apostles. The insistence on the meritorious
character of the act of burial has a more probable reference to
Tobit, Etc. See
the Persian practice of leaving the bodies of the dead exposed
upon the ground to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey, and
the general verdict of scholarship to-day assigns the Book of
Tobit to the Maccabean age.
The Book of Judith doubtless belongs to the same period.
Movers, it is true, endeavoured to prove that it is a veiled
account of the war with Ptolemy Lathyrus in B.C. 104, but his
arguments have long since been shown to be valueless; while
Hilgenfeld suggested that the revolt of Judas the Gaulonite in
A.D. 6 is meant, and Volkmar, following Hitzig, brought the date
of its composition down to the time of Trajan, in whom he saw
the Nabuchodonosor of the tale. Such a date, however, is
excluded by the reference to the story of the blessed Judith'
in the Epistle of St. Clement of Rome (i. 55), which was written
before the end of the first century.
The story is laid in the twelfth year of Nabuchodonosor, who
reigned in Nineveh,' 'in the days of Arphaxad, who reigned
over the Medes in Ecbatane.' As Astyages the Median king
was overthrown by Cyrus, so Arphaxad is stated to have been
destroyed by Nabuchodonosor, who thereupon appointed Holo-
fernes his general, and despatched him with a vast army to
conquer the world. The geography of the conquests of
Holofernes is as fanciful as the history, and it is not until the
rest of Western Asia has been overrun that the writer of the
romance brings him finally to Judea. There the otherwise
unknown city of Bethulia, acting under the directions of the
high priest Joacim, undertakes to guard the passes from the
"hill country,' and is accordingly attacked by Holofernes.
Achior, the Ammonite general, after warning Holofernes of
the power of the God of the Jews, deserts to them, and
Introduction.
s The Book of
WW
..
eventually becomes a proselyte to the Jewish faith. Meanwhile
Bethulia is so closely besieged that provisions and water fail,
and the inhabitants call upon the elders' of the city to
surrender it into the hands of the enemy. Ozias, however,
induces them to wait five days longer in the hope that succour
may arrive, and during this interval Judith, a pious widow, who
scrupulously observed all the ceremonial injunctions of the Law,
after blaming the governors for their promise to yield, and
advising them to trust in God, goes forth with her maid to the
camp of Holofernes. Holofernes is overcome by her beauty
and address, and allows her while she is with him to prepare
and eat only the food that she had brought with her, all food
cooked by Gentiles being unclean in her eyes. For three days
she remained in the camp, going out each night beyond the
tents to wash herself and pray; then she consented to spend
a night with the Assyrian general, drinking wine with him
and making merry. Holofernes, 'filled with wine,' stretched
himself upon his couch and slept heavily; whereupon Judith,
who had been left alone with him in his tent, took his faulchion
and, after the example of Jael, smote off his head. Pulling the
mosquito-curtain over the body and putting the head into her
bag of meat,' she then made her way through the camp to her
place of prayer, and from thence to the city. On being ad.
mitted within the gates she displayed her trophy. Panic fell
upon the besiegers in the morning when they discovered that
their general had been treacherously slain ; they fled in con-
fusion, pursued by the Jews, who plundered the rich contents
of the camp. Crowned with a garland of olive and surrounded
by dancing women, Judith now chanted a song of praise to the
Lord who had delivered the enemy of her people into her
Tobit, Etc. so
Introduction
hands. She continued to live many years after this at Bethulia,
and died and was buried there at the age of an hundred and
five.
The attempt of Movers to discover history under the mask
of this Haggadic romance has naturally not been a success,
ingenious as some of his geographical identifications undoubtedly
are. The view of Grotius that the book is an allegory is equally
far from the truth, though he was probably right in seeing in
Nabuchodonosor the figure of Antiochus Epiphanes. Luther's
common sense directed him to the more correct belief that in
the Book of Judith we have a sort of sacred drama or romance,
the object of which was to teach how God is accustomed to
help his faithful worshippers. Judith, in fact, is a type of that
portion of the Jewish nation who remained true to the Law and
its observances, and against whom therefore, weak though they
seemed to be, the whole might of the Gentile world was unable
to prevail. The real Nebuchadrezzar had, indeed, conquered
the Jewish people, but that was because of their idolatry and
sins; the remnant whom Antiochus essayed to crush, and
whose faith he had attempted to destroy, obeyed the Law of
God and trusted in His protection, and God accordingly pro-
tected and preserved them. Our fathers . . . trusted in Thee,
and Thou didst deliver them' is the motto that may be
written over the Book of Judith.
xxiii
The Book of Tobit
THE book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, Tobit
1 the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the describes
son of Gabael, of the seed of Asael, of the tribe of his Char-
Nephthali; who in the time of Enemessar king of acter
the Assyrians was led captive out of Thisbe, which s
is at the right hand of that city, which is called
properly Nephthali in Galilee above Aser.
I Tobit have walked all the days of my life in the
way of truth and justice, and I did many almsdeeds
to my brethren, and my nation, who came with me 10
to Nineve, into the land of the Assyrians. And
when I was in mine own country, in the land of
Israel, being but young, all the tribe of Nephthali
my father fell from the house of Jerusalem, which
was chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, that all 15
the tribes should sacrifice there, where the temple of
the habitation of the Most High was consecrated and
built for all ages.
Now all the tribes which together revolted, and
the house of my father Nephthali, sacrificed unto the so
heifer Baal. But I alone went often to Jerusalem at
the feasts, as it was ordained unto all the people of
Israel by an everlasting decree, having the firstfruits
:
B
Ch. 1 ; Ver. 6-18.
Of The Book
Tobit's and tenths of increase, with that which was first
Charities shorn ; and them gave I at the altar to the priests
the children of Aaron. The first tenth part of all
increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered
s at Jerusalem : another tenth part I sold away, and
went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem : and
the third I gave unto them to whom it was meet,
as Debora my father's mother had commanded me,
because I was left an orphan by my father. Further-
10 more, when I was come to the age of a man, I
married Anna of mine own kindred, and of her I
begat Tobias. And when we were carrried away
captives to Nineve, all my brethren and those that
were of my kindred did eat of the bread of the
is Gentiles. But I kept myself from eating ; because
I remembered God with all my heart. And the
Most High gave me grace and favour before
Enemessar, so that I was his purveyor. And I
went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the
20 brother of 'Gabrias, at Rages a city of Media ten
talents of silver.
Now when Enemessar was dead, Sennacherib
his son reigned in his stead; whose estate was
troubled, that I could not go into Media. And in
as the time of Enemessar I gave many alms to my
brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry, and my
clothes to the naked : and if I saw any of my nation
dead, or cast about the walls of Nineve, I buried
him. And if the king Sennacherib had slain any,
of Tobit som
Ch. 2; Ver. 1-2.
when he was come, and fled from Judea, I buried Tobit's
them privily; for in his wrath he killed many; but Patriotism
the bodies were not found, when they were sought and its
for of the king.
Results
And when one of the Ninevites went and com- 5
plained of me to the king, that I buried them, and
hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to
be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear. Then
all my goods were forcibly taken away, neither was
there any thing left me, beside my wife Anna and 10
my son Tobias. And there passed not five and
fifty days, before two of his sons killed him, and
they fled into the mountains of Ararath; and
Sarchedonus his son reigned in his stead; who
appointed over his father's accounts, and over all his 15
affairs, Achiacharus my brother Anael's son. And
Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineve.
Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the
signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts:
and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and 20
he was my brother's son.
* Now when I was come home again, and my
wife Anna was restored unto me, with my son
Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy
feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner 25
prepared me, in the which I sat down to eat. And
when I saw abundance of meat, I said to my son,
Go and bring what poor man soever thou shalt find
out of our brethren, who is mindful of the Lord ;
.
Ch.2; Ver. 2-13.
off The Book
Again and, lo, I tarry for thee. But he came again,
buries one and said, Father, one of our nation is strangled,
of his and is cast out in the marketplace. Then before
Race & I bad tasted of any meat, I started up, and took
is seized him up into a room until the going down of the
with sun. Then I returned, and washed myself, and
Leucoma ate my meat in heaviness. Remembering that
prophecy of Amos, as he said, Your feasts shall be
turned into mourning, and all your mirth into
10 lamentation. Therefore I wept : and after the
going down of the sun I went and made a grave,
and buried him. But my neighbours mocked me,
and said, This man is not yet afraid to be put to
death for this matter : who fed away; and yet, lo,
15 he burieth the dead again.
The same night also I returned from the burial,
and slept by the wall of my courtyard, being
polluted, and my face was uncovered : and I knew
not that there were sparrows in the wall, and mine
90 eyes being open, the sparrows muted warm dung into
mine eyes, and a whiteness came in mine eyes;
and I went to the physicians, but they helped me
not : moreover Achiacharus did nourish me, until
I went into Elymais. And my wife Anna did
25 take women's works to do. And when she had
sent them home to the owners, they paid her wages,
and gave her also besides a kid. And when it
was in my house, and began to cry, I said unto her,
From whence is this kid? is it not stolen? render it
.
::
:
.
..
.
...
of Tobit som
Ch. 3; Ver. 1-6.
to the owners; for it is not lawful to eat any thing His Grief
that is stolen. But she replied upon me, It was & Prayer
given for a gift more than the wages. Howbeit I
did not believe her, but bade her render it to the
owners : and I was abashed at her. But she replied 5
upon me, Where are thine alms and thy righteous
deeds ? behold, thou and all thy works are known.
* Then I being grieved did weep, and in my sorrow
prayed, saying, O Lord, thou art just, and all thy
works and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and 10
thou judgest truly and justly for ever. Remember
me, and look on me, punish me not for my sins
and ignorances, and the sins of my fathers, who have
sinned before thee: for they obeyed not thy com-
mandments: wherefore thou hast delivered us for 15
a spoil, and unto captivity, and unto death, and for
a proverb of reproach to all the nations among whom
we are dispersed. And now thy judgments are
many and true : deal with me according to my sins
and my fathers': because we have not kept thy 20
commandments, neither have walked in truth before
thee. Now therefore deal with me as seemeth
best unto thee, and command my spirit to be taken
from me, that I may be dissolved, and become earth :
for it is profitable for me to die rather than to live, as
because I have heard false reproaches, and have
much sorrow : command therefore that I may now
be delivered out of this distress, and go into the
everlasting place : turn not thy face away from me.
Ch. 3; Ver. 7-15.
as The Book
Sara's It came to pass the same day, that in Ecbatane a
Mis-city of Media Sara the daughter of Raguel was also
fortunes reproached by her father's maids ; because that she
& her had been married to seven husbands, whom As-
Prayer modeus the evil spirit had killed, before they had
lain with her. Dost thou not know, said they, that
thou hast strangled thine husbands? thou hast had
already seven husbands, neither wast thou named
after any of them. Wherefore dost thou beat us
10 for them ? if they be dead, go thy ways after them,
let.us never see of thee either son or daughter.
When she heard these things, she was very sorrow-
ful, so that she thought to have strangled herself ;
and she said, I am the only daughter of my father,
15 and if I do this, it shall be a reproach unto him, and
I shall bring his old age with sorrow unto the grave.
Then she prayed toward the window, and said,
Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and thine
holy and glorious name is blessed and honourable for
20 ever : let all thy works praise thee for ever. And
now, O Lord, I set mine eyes and my face toward
thee, and say, Take me out of the earth, that I
may hear no more the reproach. Thou knowest,
Lord, that I am pure from all sin with man, and
25 that I never polluted my name, nor the name of my
father, in the land of my captivity: I am the only
daughter of my father, neither bath be any child to
be his heir, neither any near kinsman, nor any son of
his alive, to whom I may keep myself for a wife :
.
.
of Tobit som
Ch. 4; Ver. 1-5.
my seven husbands are already dead; and why Raphael
should I live? but if it please not thee that I should sent in
die, command some regard to be had of me, and Answer
pity taken of me, that I hear no more reproach. to both
So the prayers of them both were heard before Prayers
the majesty of the great God. And Raphael was
sent to heal them both, that is, to scale away the
whiteness of Tobit's eyes, and to give Sara the
daughter of Raguel for a wife to Tobias the son
of Tobit; and to bind Asmodeus the evil spirit ; 10
because she belonged to Tobias by right of inherit-
ance. The selfsame time came Tobit home, and
entered into his house, and Sara the daughter of
Raguel came down from her upper chamber.
* In that day Tobit remembered the money which is
he had committed to Gabael in Rages of Media, and
said with himself, I have wished for death; where-
fore do I not call for my son Tobias, that I may
signify to him of the money before I die ?
And when he had called him, he said, My son, s.
when I am dead, bury me; and despise not thy
mother, but honour her all the days of thy life, and
do that which shall please her, and grieve her not.
Remember, my son, that she saw many dangers for
thee, when thou wast in her womb; and when she as
is dead, bury her by me in one grave. My son, be
mindful of the Lord our God all thy days, and let
not thy will be set to sin, or to transgress his com-
mandments : do uprightly all thy life long, and
.
1
.
i
.
.
. .
.
Ch. 4 ; Ver. 5-14.
os The Book
Tobit follow not the ways of unrighteousness. For if thou
tells deal truly, thy doings shall prosperously succeed to
Tobias of thee, and to all them that live justly. Give alms of
his Money thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not
S thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any
poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away
from thee. If thou hast abundance, give alms
accordingly : if thou have but a little, be not afraid
to give according to that little : for thou lagest up
so a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity.
Because that alms do deliver from death, and suffereth
not to come into darkness. For alms is a good gift
unto all that give it in the sight of the Most High.
Beware of all whoredom, my son, and chiefly take a
15 wife of the seed of thy fathers, and take not a strange
woman to wife, which is not of thy father's tribe :
for we are the children of the prophets, Noe, Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob: remember, my son, that our
fathers from the beginning, even that they all married
#0 wives of their own kindred, and were blessed in their
children, and their seed shall inherit the land. Now
therefore, my son, love thy brethren, and despise not
in thy heart thy brethren, the sons and daughters of
thy people, in not taking a wife of them : for in pride
25 is destruction and much trouble, and in lewdness is
decay and great want : for lewdness is the mother of
famine. Let not the wages of any man, which hath
wrought for thee, tarry with thee, but give him it out
of hand : for if thou serve God, he will also repay
of Tobit sou
Ch. 5; Ver. 1-3.
thee: be circumspect, my son, in all things thou Tobit's
doest, and be wise in all thy conversation. Do that Advice to
to no man which thou hatest : drink not wine to make his Son
thee drunken : neither let drunkenness go with thee
in thy journey. Give of thy bread to the hungry, s
and of thy garments to them that are naked ; and ac-
cording to thine abundance give alms; and let not thine
eye be envious, when thou givest alms. Pour out thy
bread on the burial of the just, but give nothing to
the wicked. Ask counsel of all that are wise, and so
despise not any counsel that is profitable. Bless the
Lord thy God alway, and desire of him that thy ways
may be directed, and that all thy paths and counsels
may prosper : for every nation hath not counsel; but
the Lord himself giveth all good things, and he 15
humbleth whom he will, as he will ; now therefore,
my son, remember my commandments, neither let
them be put out of thy mind. And now I signify
this to thee, that I committed ten talents to Gabael
the son of Gabrias at Rages in Media. And fear 20
not, my son, that we are made poor : for thou
hast much wealth, if thou fear God, and depart
from all sin, and do that which is pleasing in his
sight
* Tobias then answered and said, Father, I will do as
all things which thou hast commanded me: but how
can I receive the money, seeing I know him not?
Then he gave him the handwriting, and said unto
him, Seek thee a man which may ga with thee,
Ch. 5; Ver. 3-13.
of The Book
Tobias whiles I yet live, and I will give him wages : and
meets go and receive the money.
Raphael Therefore when he went to seek a man, he found
Raphael that was an angel. But he knew not;
s and he said unto him, Canst thou go with me to
Rages ? and knowest thou those places well? To
whom the angel said, I will go with thee, and I
know the way well: for I have lodged with our
brother Gabael. Then Tobias said unto him, Tarry
so for me, till I tell my father. Then he said unto
him, Go, and tarry not. So he went in and said to
his father, Behold, I have found one which will go
with me. Then he said, Call him unto me, that I
may know of what tribe he is, and whether he be a
15 trusty man to go with thee. So he called him, and
he came in, and they saluted one another.
Then Tobit said unto him, Brother, shew me of
what tribe and family thou art. To whom he said,
Dost thou seek for a tribe or family, or an hired man
so to go with thy son? Then Tobit said unto him, I
would know, brother, thy kindred and name. Then
he said, I am Azarias, the son of Ananias the great,
and of thy brethren. Then Tobit said, Thou art
welcome, brother; be not now angry with me,
25 because I have enquired to know thy tribe and thy
family; for thou art my brother, of an honest and
good stock: for I know Ananias and Jonathas, sons of
that great Samaias, as we went together to Jerusalem
to worship, and offered the firstborn, and the tenths
5
. "..!
of Tobit som
Ch. 6; Ver. 1-2.
of the fruits ; and they were not seduced with the Anna
error of our brethren : my brother, thou art of a good sorrows
stock. But tell me, what wages shall I give thee? at her
wilt thou a drachm a day, and things necessary, as to Son's
mine own son ? Yea, moreover, if ye return safe, I Departure
will add something to thy wages.
So they were well pleased. Then said he to
Tobias, Prepare thyself for the journey, and God
send you a good journey. And when his son had
prepared all things for the journey, his father said, 10
Go thou with this man, and God, which dwelleth in
heaven, prosper your journey, and the angel of God
keep you company. So they went forth both, and
the young man's dog with them. But Anna his
mother wept, and said to Tobit, Why hast thou sent 15
away our son ? is he not the staff of our hand, in
going in and out before us? Be not greedy to add
money to money : but let it be as refuse in respect of
our child. For that which the Lord hath given us
to live with doth suffice us.
Then said Tobit to her, Take no care, my sister;
he shall return in safety, and thine eyes shall see him.
For the good angel will keep him company, and his
journey shall be prosperous, and he shall return safe.
Then she made an end of weeping.
25
* And as they went on their journey, they came in
the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged
there. And when the young man went down to
wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and
.
.
.
.
.
Ch. 6; Ver. 2-12.
as The Book
Tobias would have devoured him. Then the angel said unto
kills a him, Take the fish. And the young man laid hold
Fish & of the fish, and drew it to land. To whom the
takes the angel said, Open the fish, and take the heart and
Liver & the liver and the gall, and put them up safely. So
Gall the young man did as the angel commanded him ;
and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it :
then they both went on their way, till they drew near
to Ecbatane.
10 Then the young man said to the angel, Brother
Azarias, to what use is the heart and the liver and
the gall of the fish? And he said unto him, Touch-
ing the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit
trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before
15 the man or the woman, and the party shall be no
more vexed. As for the gall, it is good to anoint a
man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be
healed.
And when they were come near to Rages, the
go angel said to the young man, Brother, to day we
shall lodge with Raguel, who is thy cousin ; he also
hath one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak
for her, that she may be given thee for a wife. For
to thee doth the right of her appertain, seeing thou
25 only art of her kindred. And the maid is fair and
wise : now therefore hear me, and I will speak to
her father; and when we return from Rages we will
celebrate the marriage : for I know that Raguel
cannot marry her to another according to the law of
of Tobit som
Ch. 6; Ver. 12-17.
Moses, but he shall be guilty of death, because the Tobias
right of inheritance doth rather appertain to thee than dreads
to any other. Then the young man answered the Marriage
angel, I have heard, brother Azarias, that this maid with Sara
hath been given to seven men, who all died in the s
marriage chamber. And now I am the only son of
my father, and I am afraid, lest, if I go in unto her,
I die, as the other before : for a wicked spirit loveth
her, which hurteth no body but those which come
unto her: wherefore I also fear lest I die, and bring to
my father's and my mother's life because of me to
the grave with sorrow : for they have no other son
to bury them.
Then the angel said unto him, Dost thou not re-
member the precepts which thy father gave thee, 15
that thou shouldest marry a wife of thine own kindred?
wherefore hear me, O my brother; for she shall be
given thee to wife; and make thou no reckoning of
the evil spirit; for this same night shall she be given
thee in marriage. And when thou shalt come into ao
the marriage chamber, thou shalt take the ashes of
perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart
and liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it:
and the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never
come again any more : but when thou shalt come to 25
her, rise up both of you, and pray to God which is
merciful, who will have pity on you, and save you :
fear not, for she is appointed unto thee from the be-
ginning : and thou shalt preserve her, and she shall
VX
.
.
13
.:...
F
:
....
..
Ch.7; Ver. 1-9.
The Book
Tobias & go with thee. Moreover I suppose that she shall
Raphael bear thee children. Now when Tobias had heard
arrive at these things, he loved her, and his heart was effectu-
Raguel's ally joined to her.
House * And when they were come to Ecbatane, they came
to the house of Raguel, and Sara met them: and
after they had saluted one another, she brought them
into the house. Then said Raguel to Edna his wife,
How like is this young man to Tobit my cousin !
10 And Raguel asked them, From whence are ye,
brethren? To whom they said, We are of the sons
of Nephthalim, which are captives in Nineve.
Then he said to them, Do ye know Tobit our
. kinsman? And they said, We know him. Then
15 said be, Is he in good health ? And they said, He
· is both alive, and in good health : and Tobias said,
He is my father.
Then Raguel leaped up, and kissed him, and
wept, and blessed him, and said unto him, Thou art
20 the son of an honest and good man. But when he
had heard that Tobit was blind, he was sorrowful
and wept. And likewise Edna his wife and Sara
his daughter wept. Moreover they entertained them
cheerfully; and after that they had killed a ram of
as the flock, they set store of meat on the table. Then
said Tobias to Raphael, Brother Azarias, speak of
those things of which thou didst talk in the way, and
let this business be dispatched. So he communicated
the matter with Raguel: and Raguel said to Tobias,
.
of Tobit so
Ch. 8; Ver. 1-2.
Eat and drink, and make merry: for it is meet that Marriage
thou shouldest marry my daughter: nevertheless I Covenant
will declare unto thee the truth. I have given my of Sara
daughter in marriage to seven men, who died that & Tobias
night they came in unto her : nevertheless for the 5
present be merry. But Tobias said, I will eat no-
thing here, till we agree and swear one to another.
Raguel said, Then take her from henceforth accord-
ing to the manner, for thou art her cousin, and she is
thine, and the merciful God give you good success in 10
all things.
Then he called his daughter Sara, and she came
to her father, and he took her by the hand, and
gave her to be wife to Tobias, saying, Behold,
take her after the law of Moses, and lead her away 15
to thy father. And he blessed them; and called
Edna his wife, and took paper, and did write an
instrument of covenants, and sealed it. Then they
began to eat.
After Raguel called his wife Edna, and said unto so
her, Sister, prepare another chamber, and bring her
in thither. Which when she had done as he had
bidden her, she brought her thither : and she wept,
and she received the tears of her daughter, and said
unto her, Be of good comfort, my daughter, the 25
Lord of heaven and earth give thee joy for this thy
sorrow: be of good comfort, my daughter. He
* And when they had supped, they brought Tobias
in unto her. And as he went, he remembered the
15
.
.
.
Ch. 8; Ver. 2-15
Of The Book
Tobias words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the perfumes,
burns the and put the heart and the liver of the fish thereupon,
Liver & and made a smoke therewith. The which smell
Heart of when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the
the Fish utmost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.
And after that they were both shut in together,
Tobias rose out of the bed, and said, Sister, arise,
and let us pray that God would have pity on us.
Then began Tobias to say, Blessed art thou, O God
10 of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious
name for ever ; let the heavens bless thee, and all
thy creatures. Thou madest Adam, and gavest him
Eve his wife for an helper and stay : of them came
mankind : thou hast said, It is not good that man
15 should be alone ; let us make unto him an aid like
unto himself. And now, O Lord, I take not this
my sister for lust, but uprightly : therefore mercifully
ordain that we may become aged together. And
she said with him, Amen.
20 So they slept both that night. And Raguel arose,
and went and made a grave, saying, I fear lest he
also be dead. But when Raguel was come into his
house, he said unto his wife Edna, Send one of the
maids, and let her see whether he be alive : if he be
25 not, that we may bury him, and no man know it.
So the maid opened the door, and went in, and found
them both asleep, and came forth, and told them that
he was alive.
Then Raguel praised God, and said, o God,
of Tobit som
Ch. 9 ; Ver. 1-5.
thou art worthy to be praised with all pure and holy Raguel
praise; therefore let thy saints praise thee with all gives
thy creatures ; and let all thine angels and thine elect Tobias
praise thee for ever. Thou art to be praised, Half his
for thou hast made me joyful; and that is not come Goods
to me which I suspected; but thou hast dealt with
us according to thy great mercy. Thou art to be
praised, because thou hast had mercy of two that
were the only begotten children of their fathers :
grant them mercy, O Lord, and finish their life in so
health with joy and mercy,
Then Raguel bade his servants to fill the grave.
And he kept the wedding feast fourteen days. For
before the days of the marriage were finished,
Raguel had said unto him by an oath, that he should 15
not depart till the fourteen days of the marriage
were expired; and then he should take the half of
his goods, and go in safety to his father; and should
have the rest when I and my wife be dead.
* Then Tobias called Raphael, and said unto him, so
Brother Azarias, take with thee a servant, and two
camels, and go to Rages of Media to Gabael, and
bring me the money, and bring him to the wedding.
For Raguel hath sworn that I shall not depart.
But my father counteth the days; and if I tarry as
long, he will be very sorry.
So Raphael went out, and lodged with Gabael,
and gave him the handwriting: who brought forth
bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.
.
.
#
17
Ch. 10; Ver. 1-11.
oss The Book
Anxiety And early in the morning they went forth both to-
of Tobit gether, and came to the wedding : and Tobias
& Anna blessed his wife.
* Now Tobit his father counted every day: and
s when the days of the journey were expired, and they
came not. Then Tobit said, Are they detained?
or is Gabael dead, and there is no man to give him
the money? Therefore he was very sorry.
Then his wife said unto him, My son is dead,
10 seeing he stayeth long; and she began to bewail him,
and said, Now I care for nothing, my son, since I
bave let thee go, the light of mine eyes.
To whom Tobit said, Hold thy peace, take no
care, for he is safe. But she said, Hold thy peace,
15 and deceive me not; my son is dead. And she
went out every day into the way which they went,
and did eat no meat on the daytime, and ceased not
whole nights to bewail her son Tobias, until the
fourteen days of the wedding were expired, which
so Raguel had sworn that he should spend there.
Then Tobias said to Raguel, Let me go, for my
father and my mother look no more to see me.
But his father in law said unto him, Tarry with
me, and I will send to thy father, and they shall
25 declare unto him how things go with thee. But
Tobias said, No; but let me go to my father.
Then Raguel arose, and gave him Sara his wife,
. and half his goods, servants, and cattle, and money :
and be blessed them, and sent them away, saying,
.
18
of Tobit so
Ch. 11; Ver. 1-9.
The God of heaven give you a prosperous journey, Tobias og
my children. And he said to his daughter, Honour Raphael
thy father and thy mother in law, which are now arrive at
thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. Nineve
And he kissed her. Edna also said to Tobias, The 5
Lord of heaven restore thee, my dear brother, and
grant that I may see thy children of my daughter
Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the
Lord : behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of
special trust; wherefore do not entreat her evil. 10
* After these things Tobias went his way, praising
God that he had given him a prosperous journey,
and blessed Raguel and Edna his wife, and went on
his way till they drew near unto Nineve. Then
Raphael said to Tobias, Thou knowest, brother, is
how thou didst leave thy father: let us haste before
thy wife, and prepare the house. And take in thine
hand the gall of the fish. So they went their way,
and the dog went after them. Now Anna sat
looking about toward the way for her son. And 20
when she espied him coming, she said to his father,
Behold, thy son cometh, and the man that went
with him.
Then said Raphael, I know, Tobias, that thy
father will open his eyes. Therefore anoint thou as
his eyes with the gall, and being pricked therewith,
he shall rub, and the whiteness shall fall away, and
he shall see thee. Then Anna ran forth, and fell
upon the neck of her son, and said unto him, Seeing
-
.
.
*
19
Ch. 11; Ver. 9-19.
ays The Book
Tobit I have seen thee, my son, from henceforth I am
beals his content to die. And they wept both.
Father's Tobit also went forth toward the door, and
Leucoma stumbled : but his son ran unto him, and took hold
s of his father : and he strake of the gall on his
father's eyes, saying, Be of good hope, my father.
And when his eyes began to smart, he rubbed them;
and the whiteness pilled away from the corners of
his eyes : and when he saw his son, he fell upon his
10 neck. And he wept, and said, Blessed art thou, O
God, and blessed" is thy name for ever; and
blessed are all thine holy angels : for thou hast
scourged, and hast taken pity on me : for, behold, I
see my son Tobias. And his son went in rejoicing,
15 and told his father the great things that had happened
to him in Media..
1. Then Tobit went out to meet his daughter in law
at the gate of Nineve, rejoicing, and praising God :
and they which saw him go marvelled, because he
ho had received his sight. But Tobit gave thanks
before them, because God had mercy on him. And
when he came near to Sara his daughter in law, he
blessed her, saying, Thou art welcome, daughter :
God be blessed, which has brought thee unto us,
as and blessed be thy father and thy mother. And
there was joy among all his brethren which were at
Nineve, And Achiacharus, and Nasbas his brother's
son, came : and Tobias' wedding was kept seven
days with great joy
...
i
11
.
.
.
..
:
90
of Tobit see
Ch. 12; Ver. 1-11.
* Then Tobit called his son Tobias, and said unto Raphael
him, My son, see that the man have his wages, declares
which went with thee, and thou must give him himself
more. And Tobias said unto him, O father, it is
no harm to me to give him half of those things which s
I have brought : for he hath brought me again to
thee in safety, and made whole my wife, and brought
me the money, and likewise healed thee. Then the
old man said, It is due unto him.
So be called the angel, and he said unto hini, Take to
half of all that ye have brought, and go away in
safety. Then he took them both apart, and said
unto them, Bless God, praise him, and magnify him,
and praise him for the things which he hath done
unto you in the sight of all that live. It is good to 15
praise God, and exalt his name, and honourably to
shew forth the works of God; therefore be not
slack to praise him. It is good to keep close the
secret of a king, but it is honourable to reveal the
works of God. Do that which is good, and no evil 20
shall touch you. Prayer is good with fasting and
alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness
is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better
to give alms than to lay up gold: for alms doth
deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. 25
Those that exercise alıns and righteousness shall be
filled with life : but they that sin are enemies to
their own life. Surely I will keep close nothing
from you. For I said, It was good to keep close
$
21
Ch. 13; Ver. 1.
oss The Book
Raphael's the secret of a king, but that it was honourable to
Message reveal the works of God. Now therefore, when
thou didst pray, and Sara thy daughter in law, I did
bring the remembrance of your prayers before the
s Holy One : and when thou didst bury the dead,
I was with thee likewise. And when thou didst
not delay to rise up, and leave thy dinner, to go and
cover the dead, thy good deed was not hid from me :
but I was with thee. And now God hath sent
so me to heal thee and Sara thy daughter in law.
I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which
present the prayers of the saints, and which go in
and out before the glory of the Holy One.
Then they were both troubled, and fell upon
as their faces : for they feared. But he said unto
them, Fear not, for it shall go well with you;
praise God therefore. For not of any favour of
mine, but by the will of our God I came; where-
fore praise him for ever. All these days I did
so appear unto you; but I did neither eat nor drink,
but ye did see a vision. Now therefore give God
thanks : for I go up to him that sent me; but write
all things which are done in a book. .
And when they arose, they saw him no more.
25 Then they confessed the great and wonderful works
of God, and how the angel of the Lord had appeared
unto them.
* Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said,
Blessed be God that liveth for ever, and blessed
1
L
.
.
.
of Tobit se
Ch. 13 ; Ver. 1-10.
.
be his kingdom. For he doth scourge, and hath Tobit's
mercy: he leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up Prayer
again : neither is there any that can avoid his hand.
· Confess him before the Gentiles, ye children of,
Israel: for he hath scattered us among them. s
There declare his greatness, and extol him before
all the living: for he is our Lord, and he is the
God our Father for ever. And he will scourge
us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again,
and will gather us out of all nations, among whom 10
he hath scattered us. If ye turn to him with your
whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal
uprightly before him, then will he turn unto you,
and will not hide his face from you. Therefore see
what he will do with you, and confess him with 15
your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might,
and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my
captivity do I praise him, and declare his might
and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sinners, turn
and do justice before him: who can tell if he will so
accept you, and have mercy on you? I will extol
my God, and my soul shall praise the King of
heaven, and shall rejoice in his greatness. Let
all men speak, and let all praise him for his
righteousness.
o Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge thee
for thy children's works, and will have mercy again
on the sons of the righteous. Give praise to the
Lord, for be is good: and praise the everlasting
33
Ch. 14; Ver. 1-3.
The Book
Tobit's King, that (his tabernacle may be builded in thee
Prayer again with joy, and let him make joyful there in thee
those that are captives, and love in thee for ever
those that are miserable. Many nations shall come
s from far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in
their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all
generations shall praise thee with great joy. Cursed
are all they which hate thee, and blessed shall all be
which love thee for ever.
30 Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just :
for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless
the Lord of the just. O blessed are they which love
thee, for they shall rejoice in thy peace : blessed are
they which have been sorrowful for all thy scourges ;
35 for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have seen
all thy glory, and shall be glad for ever...
Let my soul bless God the great King. For
Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and
emeralds, and precious stone : thy walls and towers
no and battlements with pure gold. And the streets of
Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle
and stones of Ophir. And all her streets shall say,
Alleluia ; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed
be God, which hath extolled it for ever.
33 * So Tobit made an end of praising God. And he
was eight and fifty years old when he lost his sight,
which was restored to him after eight years : and he
gave alms, and he increased in the fear of the Lord
God, and praised him. And when he was very aged,
24
of Tobit son
Ch. 14; Ver. 3-9.
he called his son, and the six sons of his son, and Tobit's
said to him,
Advice to
My son, take thy children; for, behold, I am aged, his Son
and am ready to depart out of this life. Go into
Media, my son, for I surely believe those things which s
Jonas the prophet spake of Nineve, that it shall be
overthrown; and that for a time peace shall rather
be in Media ; and that our brethren shall lie scattered
in the earth from that good land : and Jerusalem
shall be desolate, and the house of God in it shall be so
burned, and shall be desolate for a time; and that
again God will have mercy on them, and bring them
again into the land, where they shall build a temple,
but not like to the first, until the time of that age be
fulfilled; and afterward they shall return from all 15
places of their captivity, and build up Jerusalem
gloriously, and the house of God shall be built in it
for ever with a glorious building, as the prophets
have spoken thereof. And all nations shall turn,
and fear the Lord God truly, and shall bury their so
idols. So shall all nations praise the Lord, and his
people sball confess God, and the Lord shall exalt
his people ; and all those which love the Lord God
in truth and justice shall rejoice, shewing mercy to
our brethren. And now, my son, depart out of as
Nineve, because that those things which the prophet
Jonas spake shall surely come to pass. But keep
thou the law and the commandments, and shew
thyself merciful and just, that it may go well with
25
Ch. 14; Ver. 9-15.
of Tobit
Death of thee. And bury me decently, and thy mother with
Tobit me; but tarry no longer at Nineve. Remember, my
son, how Aman handled Achiacharus that brought
him up, how out of light he brought him into dark-
s ness, and how he rewarded him again : yet Achiach-
arus was saved, but the other had his reward : for he
went down into darkness. Manasses gave alms, and
escaped the snares of death which they had set for
him : but Aman fell into the snare, and perished.
so Wherefore now, my son, consider what alms doeth,
and how righteousness doth deliver.
When he had said these things, he gave up the
ghost in the bed, being an huņdred and eight and
fifty years old; and he buried him honourably.
15 And when Anna his mother was dead, he buried
her with his father. But Tobias departed with his
wife and children to Ecbatane to Raguel his father
in law, where he became old with honour, and he
buried his father and mother in law bonourably, and
30 he inherited their substance, and his father Tobit's.
And he died at Ecbatane in Media, being an hundred
and seven and twenty years old. But before he
died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which
was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus : and
as before his death he rejoiced over Nineve. .
:
The Book of Judith
TN the twelfth year of the reign of Nabucho- The War
I donosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city; between
in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Nineveh
Medes in Ecbatane, and built in Ecbatane walls and
round about of stones hewn three cubits broad and Ecbatane
six cubits long, and made the height of the wall
seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits :
and set the towers thereof upon the gates of it, an
hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the
foundation threescore cubits: and he made the gates 10
thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of
seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty
cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and
for the setting in array of his footmen :
Even in those days king Nabuchodonosor made 15
war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is
the plain in the borders of Ragau. And there came
unto him all they that dwelt in the hill country, and
all that dwelt by Euphrates, and Tigris, and Hydaspes,
and the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymeans,
and very many nations of the sons of Chelod, as-
sembled themselves to the battle.
Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent
unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt
westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and as
27
6
.
Ch. I; Ver. 7-14.
as The Book
Nabuchod- Damascus, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, and to all
onosor that dwelt upon the sea coast, and to those among the
marches nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the
against higher Galilee, and the great plain of Esdrelom,
Arphaxad and to all that were in Samaria and the cities there-
of, and beyond Jordan unto Jerusalem, and Betane,
and Chellus, and Kades, and the river of Egypt, and
Taphnes, and Ramesse, and all the land of Gesem,
until ye come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to
zo all the inhabitants of Egypt, until ye come to the
borders of Ethiopia. But all the inhabitants of the
land made light of the commandment of Nabuchodo-
nosor king of the Assyrians, neither went they with
him to the battle; for they were not afraid of him :
15 yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent
away his ambassadors from them without effect, and
with disgrace. Therefore Nabuchodonosor was very
angry with all this country, and sware by his throne
and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon
30 all those coasts of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria,
and that he would slay with the sword all the
inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of
Ammon, and all Judea, and all that were in Egypt,
till ye come to the borders of the two seas.
25 Then he marched in battle array with his power
against king Arphaxad in the seventeenth year, and
he prevailed in his battle : for he overthrew all the
power of Arphaxad, and all his horsemen, and all
his chariots, and became lord of his cities, and came
3
of Judith som
Ch. 2; Ver. 1-6.
..
.
"
unto Ecbatane, and took the towers, and spoiled the Defeat of
streets thereof, and turned the beauty thereof into Arphaxad
shame. He took also Arphaxad in the mountains
of Ragau, and smote him through with his darts,
and destroyed him utterly that day. So he returned s
afterward to Nineve, both he and all his company
of sundry nations, being a very great multitude of
men of war, and there he took his ease, and banqueted,
both he and his army, an hundred and twenty days.
* And in the eighteenth year, the two and twentieth 10
day of the first month, there was talk in the house
of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he
should, as he said, avenge himself on all the earth.
So he called unto him all his officers and all his
nobles, and communicated with them his secret 15
counsel, and concluded the afflicting of the whole
earth out of his own mouth. Then they decreed to
destroy all flesh, that did not obey the commandment
of his mouth. And when he had ended his counsel,
Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Holo- *
fernes the chief captain of his army, which was next
unto him, and said unto him,
Thus saith the great king, the lord of the whole
earth, Behold, thou shalt go forth from my presence,
and take with thee men that trust in their own as
strength, of footmen an hundred and twenty
thousand; and the number of horses with their
riders twelve thousand. And thou shalt go against
all the west country, because they disobeyed my
39
Ch. 2 ; Ver. 6-17.
ass The Book
Nabuchod- commandment. And thou shalt declare unto them,
onosor's that they prepare for me earth and water: for I will
Order go forth in my wrath against them, and will cover
the whole face of the earth with the feet of mine
5 army, and I will give them for a spoil unto them: 80
that their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks, and
the river shall be filled with their dead, till it over-
flow: and I will lead them captives to the utmost
parts of all the earth. Thou therefore shalt go forth,
to and take beforehand for me all their coasts: and if
they will yield themselves unto thee, thou shalt re-
serve them for me till the day of their punishment.
But concerning them that rebel, let not thine eye
spare them ; but put them to the slaughter, and spoil
15 them wheresoever thou goest. For as I live, and by
the power of my kingdom, whatsoever I have spoken,
that will I do by mine hand. And take thou heed
that thou transgress none of the commandments of
thy lord, but accomplish them fully, as I have com-
90 manded thee, and defer not to do them.
Then Holofernes went forth from the presence of
his lord, and called all the governors and captains,
and the officers of the army of Assur; and he
mustered the chosen men for the battle, as his lord
25 had commanded him, unto an hundred and twenty
thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback;
and be ranged them, as a great army is ordered for
the war. And he took camels and asses for their
carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen
'UR
it
?
30
of Judith some
Ch. 2; Ver. 17-27.
and goats without number for their provision: and Holofernes
plenty of victual for every man of the army, and and bis
very much gold and silver out of the king's house. Army
Then he went forth and all his power to go
before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to s
cover all the face of the earth westward with their
chariots, and horsemen, and their chosen footmen.
A great number also of sundry countries came with
them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth :
for the multitude was without number. And they to
went forth of Nineve three days' journey toward the
plain of Bectileth, and pitched from Bectileth near
the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper
Cilicia.
Then he took all his army, his footmen, and 15
horsemen, and chariots, and went from thence into
the hill country, and destroyed Phud and Lud, and
spoiled all the children of Rasses, and the children
of Ismael, which were toward the wilderness at the
south of the land of the Chellians. Then he went 30
over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and
destroyed all the high cities that were upon the river
Arbonai, till ye come to the sea. And he took the
borders of Cilicia, and killed all that resisted him,
and came to the borders of Japheth, which were as
toward the south, over against Arabia. He com-
passed also all the children of Madian, and burned
up their tabernacles, and spoiled their sheepcotes.
Then he went down into the plain of Damascus
15
LE
31
Ch. 3; Ver. 1-8.
ms The Book
Alarm in the time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all their
excited by fields, and destroyed their flocks and herds, also he
the Army spoiled their cities, and utterly wasted their countries,
and smote all their young men with the edge of the
s sword. Therefore the fear and dread of him fell
upon all the inhabitants of the sea coasts, which were
in Sidon and Tyrus, and them that dwelt in Sur and
Ocina, and all that dwelt in Jempaan; and they that
dwelt in Azotus and Ascalon feared him greatly.
20 * So they sent ambassadors unto him to treat of
peace, saying,
Behold, we the servants of Nabuchodonosor the
great king lie before thee; use us as shall be good in
thy sight. Behold, our houses, and all our places,
15 and all our fields of wheat, and flocks, and herds,
and all the lodges of our tents, lie before thy face ;
use them as it pleaseth thee. Behold, even our
cities and the inhabitants thereof are thy servants;
come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.
30 So the men came to Holofernes, and declared
unto him after this manner. Then came he down
toward the sea coast, both he and his army, and set
garrisons in the high cities, and took out of them
chosen men for aid. So they and all the country
es round about received them with garlands; with
dances, and with timbrele.
Yet he did cast down their frontiers, and cut
down their groves : for he had decreed to destroy
all the gods of the land, that all nations should
***
of Judith so
Ch. 4; Ver. 1-6.
worship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues The Deeds
and tribes should call upon him as god.
of Holom
Also he came over against Esdraelon near unto fernes
Judea, over against the great strait of Judea. And
he pitched between Geba and Scythopolis, and s
there he tarried a whole month, that he might
gather together all the carriages of his army.
* Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea,
heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of
Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done 10
to the nations, and after what manner he had
spoiled all their temples, and brought them to
nought. Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of
him, and were troubled for Jerusalem, and for the
temple of the Lord their God: for they were 15
newly returned from the captivity, and all the
people of Judea were lately gathered together : and
the vessels, and the altar, and the house, were
sanctified after the profanation.
Therefore they sent into all the coasts of Samaria, no
and the villages, and to Betboron, and Belmen, and
Jericho, and to Choba, and Esora, and to the valley
of Salem: and possessed themselves beforehand of
all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the
villages that were in them, and laid up victuals for as
the provision of war : for their fields were of late
reaped.
Also Joacim the high priest, which was in those
days in Jerusalem, wrote to them that dwelt in
D
33
Ch. 4; Ver. 6-13
as The Book
The Bethulia, and Betomestham, which is over against
Alarm in Esdraelon toward the open country, near to
Israel Dothaim, charging them to keep the passages of the
hill country: for by them there was an entrance into
5 Judea, and it was easy to stop them that would come
up, because the passage was strait, for two men at
the most. And the children of Israel did as Joacim
the high priest had commanded them, with the
ancients of all the people of Israel, which dwelt at
10 Jerusalem.
Then every man of Israel cried to God with great
fervency, and with great vehemency did they humble
their souls: both they, and their wives, and their
children, and their cattle, and every stranger and
15 hireling, and their servants bought with money, put
sackcloth upon their loins. Thus every man and
woman, and the little children, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, fell before the temple, and cast ashes upon
their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the
20 face of the Lord: also they put sackcloth about the
altar, and cried to the God of Israel all with one con-
sent earnestly, that he would not give their children for
a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and the cities of
their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary
25 to profanation and reproach, and for the nations to
rejoice at.
So God heard their prayers, and looked upon their
afflictions : for the people fasted many days in all
Judea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the
R
.
*
.
34
of Judith Store
Ch. 5; Ver. 1-5.
Lord Almighty. And Joacim the high priest, and Holofernes
all the priests that stood before the Lord, and they and the
which ministered unto the Lord, had their loins girt Princes of
with sackcloth, and offered the daily burnt offerings, Moab
with the vows and free gifts of the people, and had 5
ashes on their mitres, and cried unto the Lord with
all their power, that he would look upon all the
house of Israel graciously.
* Then was it declared to Holofernes, the chief
captain of the army of Assur, that the children of 10
Israel had prepared for war, and had shut up the
passages of the hill country, and had fortified all the
tops of the high hills, and had laid impediments in
the champaign countries: wherewith he was very
angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the 15
captains of Ammon, and all the governors of the sea
coast, and he said unto them,
Tell me now, ye sons of Chanaan, who this people
is, that dwelleth in the hill country, and what are the
cities that they inbabit, and what is the multitude of 30
their army, and wherein is their power and strength,
and what king is set over them, or captain of their
army; and why have they determined not to come
and meet me, more than all the inhabitants of the
west.
Then said Achior, the captain of all the sons of
Ammon,
Let my lord now hear a word from the mouth of
thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth
U
.
1
.:.
:.:.
:.:
.
:
35
Ch. 5; Ver. 5-15
* The Book
Achior concerning this people, which dwelleth near thee, and
describes inhabiteth the hill countries : and there shall no lie
the come out of the mouth of thy servant. A
Israelites This people are descended of the Chaldeans: and
5 they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because
they would not follow the gods of their fathers,
which were in the land of Chaldea.
For they left the way of their ancestors, and wor-
shipped the God of heaven, the God whom they
10 knew : so they cast them out from the face of their
gods, and they filed into Mesopotamia, and sojourned
there many days. Then their God commanded
them to depart from the place where they sojourned,
and to go into the land of Chanaan : where they
35 dwelt, and were increased with gold and silver, and
with very much cattle. But when a famine covered
all the land of Chanaan, they went down into Egypt,
and sojourned there, while they were nourished, and
became there a great multitude, so that one could not
20 number their nation. Therefore the king of Egypt
rose up against them, and dealt subtilly with them,
and brought them low with labouring in brick, and
made them slaves. Then they cried unto their God,
and he smote all the land of Egypt with incurable
as plagues : 80 the Egyptians cast them out of their
sight. And God dried the Red sea before them, and
brought them to mount Sina, and Cades-Barne, and
cast forth all that dwelt in the wilderness. So they
dwelt in the land of the Amorites, and they de-
.
36
of Judith go.
Ch. 5; Ver. 15-22.
stroyed by their strength all them of Esebon, and Achior
passing over Jordan they possessed all the hill country. describes
And they cast forth before them the Chanaanite, the the
Pherezite, the Jebusite, and the Sychemite, and all Israelites
the Gergesites, and they dwelt in that country many s
days. And whilst they sinned not before their God,
they prospered, because the God that hateth iniquity
was with them. But when they departed from the
way which he appointed them, they were destroyed
in many battles very sore, and were led captives into so
a land that was not their's, and the temple of their
God was cast to the ground, and their cities were
taken by the enemies. But now are they returned to
their God, and are come up from the places where
they were scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem, 15
where their sanctuary is, and are seated in the bill
country; for it was desolate.
Now therefore, my lord and governor, if there be
any error in this people, and they sin against their
God, let us consider that this shall be their ruin, and to
let us go up, and we shall overcome them. But if
there be no iniquity in their nation, let my lord now
pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God
be for them, and we become a reproach before all the
world.
35
.
And when Achior had finished these sayings, all
the people standing round about the tent murmured,
and the chief men of Holofernes, and all that dwelt
: : 37
Ch. 6; Ver. 1-5.
ass The Book
Holofernes by the sea side, and in Moab, spake that he should
chides kill him.
Achior For, say they, we will not be afraid of the face of
the children of Israel : for, lo, it is a people that have
3 no strength nor power for a strong battle. Now
therefore, lord Holofernes, we will go up, and they
shall be a prey to be devoured of all thine army.
* And when the tumult of men that were about the
council was ceased, Holofernes the chief captain of
10 the army of Assur said unto Achior and all the
Moabites before all the company of other nations,
And who art thou, Achior, and the hirelings of
Ephraim, that thou hast prophesied among us as to
day, and hast said, that we should not make war with
15 the people of Israel, because their God will defend
them? and who is God but Nabuchodonosor? He
will send his power, and will destroy them from
the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver
them: but we his servants will destroy them as one
go man; for they are not able to sustain the power of
our horses. For with them we will tread them under
foot, and their mountains shall be drunken with their
blood, and their fields shall be filled with their dead
bodies, and their footsteps shall not be able to stand
35 before us, for they shall utterly perish, saith king
Nabuchodonosor, lord of all the earth : for he said,
None of my words shall be in vain. And thou,
Achior, an hireling of Ammon, which hast spoken
these words in the day of thine iniquity, shalt see my
of Judith som
Ch. 6; Ver. 5-14.
face no more from this day, until I take vengeance Achior
of this nation that came out of Egypt. And then thrown
shall the sword of mine army, and the multitude of down the
them that serve me, pass through thy sides, and thou Hill of
shalt fall among their slain, when I return. Now Bethulia
therefore my servants shall bring thee back into the
hill country, and shall set thee in one of the cities of
the passages : and thou shalt not perish, till thou be
destroyed with them. And if thou persuade thyself
in thy mind that they shall not be taken, let not thy ro
countenance fall: I have spoken it, and none of my
words shall be in vain.
Then Holofernes commanded his servants, that
waited in his tent, to take Achior, and bring him to
Bethulia, and deliver him into the hands of the 15
children of Israel. So his servants took him, and
brought him out of the camp into the plain, and they
went from the midst of the plain into the hill country,
and came unto the fountains that were under Bethulia.
And when the men of the city saw them, they took 20
up their weapons, and went out of the city to the top
of the hill : and every man that used a sling kept
them from coming up by casting of stones against
them. Nevertheless having gotten privily under the
hill, they bound Achior, and cast him down, and left 25
him at the foot of the hill, and returned to their lord.
But the Israelites descended from their city, and
came unto him, and loosed him, and brought him
.
..
39
Ch. 7; Ver. 1-2.
og The Book
The into Bethulia, and presented him to the governors of
Israelites the city : which were in those days Ozias the son of
succour Micha, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris the son
Achior of Gothoniel, and Charmis the son of Melchiel.
3 And they called together all the ancients of the city,
and all their youth ran together, and their women, to
the assembly, and they set Achior in the midst of all
their people.
Then Ozias asked him of that which was done.
10 And he answered and declared unto them the words
of the council of Holofernes, and all the words that
he had spoken in the midst of the princes of Assur,
and whatsoever Holofernes had spoken proudly
against the house of Israel. Then the people feil
is down and worshipped God, and cried unto God,
saying,
O Lord God of heaven, behold their pride, and
pity the low estate of our nation, and look upon the
face of those that are sanctified unto thee this day.
20 Then they comforted Achior, and praised him
greatly. And Ozias took him out of the assembly
unto his house, and made a feast to the elders; and
they called on the God of Israel all that night for
help.
25 * The next day Holofernes commanded all his army,
and all his people which were come to take his part,
that they should remove their camp against Bethulia,
to take aforehand the ascents of the hill country, and
to make war against the children of Israel. Then
of Judith som
Ch. 7; Ver. 2-9.
their strong men removed their camps in that day, Holofernes
and the army of the men of war was an hundred and invests
seventy thousand footmen, and twelve thousand horse- Bethulia
men, beside the baggage, and other men that were
afoot among them, a very great multitude. And they s
camped in the valley near unto Bethulia, by the
fountain, and they spread themselves in breadth over
Dothaim even to Belmaim, and in length from
Bethulia unto Cyamon, which is over against
Esdraelom.
Now the children of Israel, when they saw the
multitude of them, were greatly troubled, and said
every one to his neighbour, Now will these men lick
up the face of the earth; for neither the high
mountains, nor the valleys, nor the hills, are able to 15
bear their weight. Then every man took up his
weapons of war, and when they had kindled fires
upon their towers, they remained and watched all
that night.
But in the second day Holofernes brought forth no
all his horsemen in the sight of the children of Israel
which were in Bethulia, and viewed the passages up
to the city, and came to the fountains of their waters,
and took them, and set garrisons of men of war over
them, and he himself removed toward his people. 35
Then came unto him all the chief of the children of
Esau, and all the governors of the people of Moab,
and the captains of the sea coast, and said,
Let our lord now hear a word, that there be not
Ch. 7; Ver. 9-18.
os The Book
.
The an overthrow in thine army. For this people of the
Ammonites children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in
seize the the height of the mountains wherein they dwell,
Fountains because it is not easy to come up to the tops of their
5 mountains. Now therefore, my lord, fight not against
them in battle array, and there shall not so much as
one man of thy people perish. Remain in thy camp,
and keep all the men of thine army, and let thy
servants get into their hands the fountain of water,
10 which issueth forth of the foot of the mountain : for
all the inhabitants of Bethulia have their water thence;
80 shall thirst kill them, and they shall give up their
city, and we and our people shall go up to the tops
of the mountains that are near, and will camp upon
a5 them, to watch that none go out of the city. So
they and their wives and their children shall be con-
sumed with famine, and before the sword come
against them, they shall be overthrown in the streets
where they dwell. Thus shalt thou render them an
20 evil reward; because they rebelled, and met not thy
person peaceably.
And these words pleased Holofernes and all his
servants, and he appointed to do as they had spoken.
So the camp of the children of Ammon departed,
25 and with them five thousand of the Assyrians, and
they pitched in the valley, and took the waters, and
the fountains of the waters of the children of Israel.
Then the children of Esau went up with the
children of Ammon, and camped in the hill country
of Judith Stone
Ch. 7; Ver. 18-25
over against Dothaim: and they sent some of them The
toward the south, and toward the east, over against Israelites
Ekrebel, which is near unto Chusi, that is upon the cry unto
brook Mochmur; and the rest of the army of the Ozias
Assyrians camped in the plain, and covered the face s
of the whole land; and their tents and carriages were
pitched to a very great multitude.
Then the children of Israel cried unto the Lord
their God, because their heart failed, for all their
enemies had compassed them round about, and there so
was no way to escape out from among them. Thus
all the company of Assur remained about them, both
their footmen, chariots, and horsemen, four and thirty
days, so that all their vessels of water failed all the
inhabitants of Bethulia. And the cisterns were 15
emptied, and they had not water to drink their fill
for one day; for they gave them drink by measure.
Therefore their young children were out of heart, and
their women and young men fainted for thirst, and
fell down in the streets of the city, and by the passages so
of the gates, and there was no longer any strength in
them. Then all the people assembled to Ozias, and
to the chief of the city, both young men, and women,
and children, and cried with a loud voice, and said
before all the elders,
God be judge between us and you: for ye have
done us great injury, in that ye have not required
peace of the children of Assur. For now we have
no helper : but God hath sold us into their hands,
Ch. 8; Ver. 1.
The Book
s
.
.
Reply of that we should be thrown down before them with
Ozias thirst and great destruction. Now therefore call them
unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the
people of Holofernes, and to all his army. For it is
s better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to
die for thirst : for we will be his servants, that our
souls may live, and not see the death of our infants
before our eyes, nor our wives por our children to
die. We take to witness against you the heaven and
10 the earth, and our God and Lord of our fathers,
which punisheth us according to our sins and the sins
of our fathers, that he do not according as we have
said this day.
Then there was great weeping with one consent in
15 the midst of the assembly; and they cried unto the
Lord God with a loud voice. Then said Ozias to
them,
Brethren, be of good courage, let us yet endure
five days, in the which space the Lord our God may
so turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake
us utterly. And if these days pass, and there come
no help unto us, I will do according to your word.
And he dispersed the people, every one to their
own charge; and they went unto the walls and
25 towers of their city, and sent the women and children
into their houses: and they were very low brought in
the city.
* Now at that time Judith heard thereof, which was
1
24
of Judith Spa
Ch. 8; Ver. 1-9.
the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Judith,
Joseph, the son of Oziel, the son of Elcia, the son of Widow of
Ananias, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the Manasses
son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the
son of Nathanael, the son of Samael, the son of Sala- 5
sadai, the son of Israel. And Manasses was her
husband, of her tribe and kindred, who died in the
barley harvest. For as he stood overseeing them that
bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his
head, and he fell on his bed, and died in the city of 10
Bethulia : and they buried him with his fathers in the
field between Dothaim and Balamo.
So Judith was a widow in her house three years
and four months. And she made her a tent upon the
top of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins, 15
and ware her widow's apparel. And she fasted all
the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the
sabbaths, and the sabbaths, and the eves of the new
moons, and the new moons, and the feasts and solemn
days of the house of Israel. She was also of a 20
goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold:
and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and
silver, and menservants, and maidservants, and cattle,
and lands; and she remained upon them. And there
was none that gave her an ill word; for she feared as
God greatly.
Now when she heard the evil words of the people
against the governor, that they fainted for lack of
water; for Judith had heard all the words that
.
Ch. 8; Ver. 9-17
of The Book
Judith's Ozias had spoken unto them, and that he had
Speech sworn to deliver the city unto the Assyrians after
to the five days; then she sent her waitingwoman, that
Ancients had the government of all things that she had, to
of the City call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of
the city. And they came unto her, and she said unto
them,
Hear me now, O ye governors of the inhabitants
of Bethulia : for your words that ye have spoken
10 before the people this day are not right, touching
this oath which ye made and pronounced between
God and you, and have promised to deliver the city
to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord
turn to help you. And now who are ye that have
15 tempted God this day, and stand instead of God
among the children of men ? And now try the
Lord Almighty, but ye shall never know any thing.
For ye cannot find the depth of the heart of man,
neither can ye perceive the things that he thinketh :
20 then how can ye search out God, that hath made all
these things, and know his mind, or comprehend his
purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord
our God to anger. For if he will not help us
within these five days, he hath power to defend us
as when he will, even every day, or to destroy us before
our enemies. Do not bind the counsels of the Lord
our God : for God is not as man, that he may be
threatened ; neither is he as the son of man, that he
should be wavering. Therefore let us wait for
.
.
I
29
:
of Judith Jewe
Ch. 8; Ver. 17-27.
and internetowy
salvation of him, and call upon him to help us, and Judith's
he will hear our voice, if it please him. For there Speech
arose gone in our age, neither is there any now in to the
these days, neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor Ancients
city, among us, which worship gods made with of the City
hands, as hath been aforetime. For the which
cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a
spoil, and had a great fall before our enemies. But
we know none other god, therefore we trust that he
will not despise us, nor any of our nation. For if we 10
be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctu-
ary shall be spoiled; and he will require the profana-
tion thereof at our mouth. And the slaughter of our
brethren, and the captivity of the country, and the
desolation of our inheritance, will he turn upon our 15
heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be
in bondage, and we shall be an offence and a re-
proach to all them that possess us. For our servitude
shall not be directed to favour : but the Lord our
God shall turn it to dishonour.
Now therefore, O brethren, let us shew an example
to our brethren, because their hearts depend upon us,
and the sanctuary, and the house, and the altar, rest
upon us. Moreover let us give thanks to the Lord
our God, which trieth us, even as he did our fathers. 25
Remember what things he did to Abraham, and how
he tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Meso-
potamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban
his mother's brother. For he hath not tried us in
Ch. 8; Ver. 27-35.
of The Book
Judith's the fire, as he did them, for the examination of their
Vow hearts, neither hath he taken vengeance on us : but
the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto him,
to admonish them.
$ Then said Ozias to her, All that thou hast spoken
hast thou spoken with a good heart, and there is none
that may gainsay thy words. For this is not the
first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; but from
the beginning of thy days all the people have known
10 thy understanding, because the disposition of thine
heart is good. But the people were very thirsty, and
compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken,
and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will
not break. Therefore now pray thou for us, because
15 thou art a godly woman, and the Lord will send
us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no
more.
Then said Judith unto them, Hear me, and I will
do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations
so to the children of our nation. Ye shall stand this
night in the gate, and I will go forth with my
waitingwoman: and within the days that ye have
promised to deliver the city to our enemies the Lord
will visit Israel by mine hand. But enquire not ye
of mine act: for I will not declare it unto you, till
25 the things be finished that I do..
Then said Ozias and the princes unto her, Go in
peace, and the Lord God be before thee, to take
vengeance on our enemies.
.
.
:
of Judith
Ch. 9; Ver. 1-6.
So they returned from the tent, and went to their Judith's
wards.
Prayer
* Then Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes upon
her head, and uncovered the sackcloth wherewith
she was clothed ; and about the time that the incense 5
of that evening was offered in Jerusalem in the house
of the Lord, Judith cried with a loud voice, and said,
O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou
gavest a sword to take vengeance of the strangers,
who loosened the girdle of a maid to defile her, and to
discovered the thigh to her shame, and polluted her
virginity to her reproach; for thou saidst, It shall
not be so; and yet they did so: wherefore thou
gavest their rulers to be slain, so that they dyed their
bed in blood, being deceived, and smotest the servants 15
with their lords, and the lords upon their thrones;
and has given their wives for a prey, and their daughters
to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided
among thy dear children ; which were moved with
thy zeal, and abhorred the pollution of their blood,
and called upon thee for aid : O God, O my God,
hear me also a widow. For thou hast wrought not
only those things, but also the things which fell out
before, and which ensued after ; thou hast thought
upon the things which are now, and which are to as
come. Yea, what things thou didst determine were
ready at band, and said, Lo, we are here: for all thy
ways are prepared, and thy judgments are in thy
49
....
;-.
-
2
Ch. 9; Ver. 6-14.
s The Book
Judith's foreknowledge. For, behold, the Assyrians are
Prayer multiplied in their power; they are exalted with
horse and man; they glory in the strength of their
footmen; they trust in shield, and spear, and bow,
s and sling ; and know not that thou art the Lord that
breakest the battles: the Lord is thy name. Throw
down their strength in thy power, and bring down
their force in thy wrath: for they have purposed to
defile thy sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle
10 where thy glorious name resteth, and to cast down
with sword the horn of thy altar. Behold their pride,
and send thy wrath upon their heads : give into mine
hand, which am a widow, the power that I have
conceived. Smite by the deceit of my lips the
15 servant with the prince, and the prince with the
servant: break down their stateliness by the hand of
a woman. 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
20 of the weak, a protector of the forlorn, a saviour of
them that are without hope. I pray thee, I pray
thee, O God of my father, and God of the inheri-
tance of Israel, Lord of the heavens and earth,
Creator of the waters, King of every creature, hear
35 thou my prayer : and make my speech and deceit to
be their wound and stripe, who have purposed cruel
things against thy covenant, and thy hallowed house,
and against the top of Sion, and against the house of
the possession of thy children. And make every
;
.
of Judith jo
Ch. 10 ; Ver. 1-7.
nation and tribe to acknowledge that thou art the Judith
God of all power and might, and that there is none goes forth
other that protecteth the people of Israel but from the
thou.
City
* Now after that she had ceased to cry unto the God s
of Israel, and had made an end of all these words,
she rose where she had fallen down, and called her
maid, and went down into the house, in the which
she abode in the sabbath days, and in her feast days,
and pulled off the sackcloth which she had on, and 10
put off the garments of her widowhood, and washed
her body all over with water, and anointed herself
with precious ointment, and braided the hair of her
head, and put on a tire upon it, and put on her gar-
ments of gladness, wherewith she was clad during the 15
life of Manasses her husband. And she took sandals
upon her feet, and put about her her bracelets, and
her chains, and her rings, and her earrings, and all
her ornaments, and decked herself bravely, to allure
the eyes of all men that should see her. Then she so
gave her maid a bottle of wine, and a cruse of oil,
and filled a bag with parched corn, and lumps of figs,
and with fine bread ; 80 she folded all these things
together, and laid them upon her......
Thus they went forth to the gate of the city of as
Bethulia, and found standing there Ozias, and the
ancients of the city, Chabris and Charmis. And
when they saw her, that her countenance was
.
.
Ch. 10; Ver. 7-14.
Of The Book
..
Judith altered, and her apparel was changed, they won-
meets with dered at her beauty very greatly, and said unto
the her,
Assyrians The God, the God of our fathers, give thee favour,
s and accomplish thine enterprises to the glory of the
children of Israel, and to the exaltation of Jerusalem.
Then they worshipped God. And she said unto
them, Command the gates of the city to be opened
unto me, that I may go forth to accomplish the things
10 whereof ye have spoken with me. So they com-
manded the young men to open unto her, as she had
spoken. And when they had done so, Judith went
out, she, and her maid with her; and the men of the
city looked after her, until she was gone down the
15 mountain, and till she had passed the valley, and
could see her no more.
Thus they went straight forth in the valley : and
the first watch of the Assyrians met her, and took
her, and asked her, Of what people art thou ? and
30 whence comest thou ? and whither goest thou? And
she said, I am a woman of the Hebrews, and am
fied from them: for they shall be given you to be
consumed : and I am coming before Holofernes the
chief captain of your army, to declare words of truth;
as and I will shew him a way, whereby he shall go, and
win all the hill country, without losing the body or
life of any one of his men.
Now when the men heard her words, and bebeld
MI
52
of Judith som
Ch. 10; Ver. 14-23
her countenance, they wondered greatly at her beauty, Assyrians
and said unto her,
admire
Thou hast saved thy life, in that thou hast hasted her Beauty
to come down to the presence of our lord: now
therefore come to his tent, and some of us shall con- s
duct thee, until they have delivered thee to his hands.
And when thou standest before him, be not afraid in
thine heart, but shew unto him according to thy word;
and he will entreat thee well.
Then they chose out of them an hundred men to no
accompany her and her maid ; and they brought her
to the tent of Holofernes. Then was there a con-
course throughout all the camp : for her coming was
noised among the tents, and they came about her, as
she stood without the tent of Holofernes, till they 15
told him of her. And they wondered at her beauty,
and admired the children of Israel because of her,
and every one said to his neighbour, Who would
despise this people, that have among them such
women ? surely it is not good that one man of them zo
be left, who being let go might deceive the whole
earth. And they that lay near Holofernes went out,
and all his servants, and they brought her into the
tent.
Now Holofernes rested upon his bed under a 25
canopy, which was woven with purple, and gold, and
emeralds, and precious stones. So they shewed him
of her; and he came out before his tent with silver
lamps going before him. And when Judith was
. : 53
Ch. II; Ver. 1-7.
The Book
Judith come before him and his servants, they all marvelled
meets at the beauty of her countenance; and she fell down
Holofernes upon her face, and did reverence unto him : and his
servants took her up.
$ * Then said Holofernes unto her, Woman, be of
good comfort, fear not in thine heart: for I never
hurt any that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor,
the king of all the earth. Now therefore, if thy
people that dwelleth in the mountains had not set
so light by me, I would not have lifted up my spear
against them, but they have done these things to
themselves. But now tell me wherefore thou art filed
from them, and art come unto us : for thou art come
for safeguard; be of good comfort, thou shalt live
15 chis night, and hereafter : for none sball hurt thee,
but entreat thee well, as they do the servants of king
Nabuchodonosor my lord.
Then Judith said unto him, Receive the words of
thy servant, and suffer thine handmaid to speak in
so thy presence, and I will declare no lie to my lord
this night. And if thou wilt follow the words of
thine handmaid, God will bring the thing perfectly
to pass by thee ; and my lord shall not fail of his
purposes. As Nabuchodonosor king of all the earth
as liveth, and as his power liveth, who hath sent thee
for the upholding of every living thing: for not only
men shall serve him by thee, but also the beasts of
the field, and the cattle, and the fowls of the air,
shall live by thy power under Nabuchodonosor and
.
.
: : 54
of Judith som
Ch. 11; Ver. 7-14.
all his house. For we have heard of thy wisdom Judith's
and thy policies, and it is reported in all the earth, Speech to
that thou only art excellent in all the kingdom, and Holofernes
mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war.
Now as concerning the matter, which Achior did s
speak in thy council, we have heard his words; for
the men of Bethulia saved him, and he declared unto
them all that he had spoken unto thee. Therefore,
O lord and governor, reject not his word; but lay it
up in thine heart, for it is true : for our nation shall 2o,
not be punished, neither can the sword prevail against
them, except they sin against their God. And now,
that my lord be not defeated and frustrate of his pur-
pose, even death is now fallen upon them, and their
sin hath overtaken them, wherewith they will pro- 35
voke their God to anger, whensoever they shall do
that which is not fit to be done: for their victuals
fail them, and all their water is scant, and they have
determined to lay hands upon their cattle, and pur-
posed to consume all those things, that God hath 20
forbidden them to eat by his laws: and are resolved
to spend the firstfruits of the corn, and the tenths of
wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved
for the priests that serve in Jerusalem before the face
of our God; the which things it is not lawful for as
any of the people so much as to touch with their
hands. For they have sent some to Jerusalem, be-
cause they also that dwell there have done the like,
to bring them a licence from the senate.
: 55
Ch. ir; Ver. 15-22.
oss The Book
..
..
Judith's Now when they shall bring them word, they will
Speech to forthwith do it, and they shall be given thee to be
Holofernes destroyed the same day. Wherefore I thine hand-
maid, knowing all this, am fled from their presence ;
s and God hath sent me to work things with thee,
whereat all the earth shall be astonished, and whoso-
ever shall hear it. For thy servant is religious, and
serveth the God of heaven day and night: now
therefore, my lord, I will remain with thee, and thy
10 servant will go out by night into the valley, and I
will pray unto God, and he will tell me when they
have committed their sins : and I will come and
shew it unto thee : then thou shalt go forth with all
thine army, and there shall be none of them that
iy shall resist thee. And I will lead thee through the
midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem ;
and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and
thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd,
and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at
so thee : for these things were told me according to my
foreknowledge, and they were declared unto me,
and I am sent to tell thee.
Then her words pleased Holofernes and all his
servants; and they marvelled at her wisdom, and
25 said, There is not such a woman from one end of the
earth to the other, both for beauty of face, and wisdom
of words.
Likewise Holofernes said unto her, God hath
.
.
.
..
*
.
of Judith som
Ch. 12 ; Ver. 1-7.
done well to send thee before the people, that strength Judith's
might be in our hands, and destruction upon them Plan
that lightly regard my lord. And now thou art both
beautiful in thy countenance, and witty in thy words:
surely if thou do as thou hast spoken, thy God shall 5
be my God, and thou shalt dwell in the house
of king Nabuchodonosor, and shalt be renowned
through the whole earth.
* Then he commanded to bring her in where his
plate was set ; and bade that they should prepare for 10
her of his own meats, and that she should drink of
his own wine. And Judith said, I will not eat
thereof, lest there be an offence; but provision shall
be made for me of the things that I have brought....
Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision 15
should fail, how should we give thee the like ? for
there be none with us of thy nation. Then said
Judith unto him, As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine
handmaid shall not spend those things that I have,
before the Lord work by mine hand the things that 30
he hath determined. He
Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into
the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose
when it was toward the morning watch, and sent to
Holofernes, saying, Let my lord now command that as
thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.
Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they
should not stay her : thus she abode in the camp
three days, and went out in the night into the valley
.
57
Ch. 12 ; Ver, 7-15.
s The Book
The Feast of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water
of Holo- by the camp. And when she came out, she besought
fernes the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the
raising up of the children of her people. So she
s came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did
eat her meat at evening.
And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to
his own servants only, and called none of the officers
to the banquet. Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch,
to who had charge over all that he had, Go now, and
persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee,
that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us,
For, lo, it will be a shame for our person, if we shall
let such a woman go, not having had her company;
is for if we draw her not unto us, she will laugh us to
scorn.
Then went Bagoas from the presence of Holo-
fernes, and came to her, and he said, Let not this
fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be
ho honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be
merry with us, and be made this day as one of the
daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in the house
of Nabuchodonosor. Then said Judith unto him,
Who am I now, that I should gainsay my lord ?
35 surely whatsoever pleaseth him I will do speedily,
and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death.
So she arose, and decked herself with her apparel
and all her woman's attire, and her maid went and
laid soft skins on the ground for her over against
-
1
.
58
of Judith som
Ch. 13; Ver. 1-4.
Holofernes, which she had received of Bagoas for Holofernes
her daily use, that she might sit and eat upon them. calls
Now when Judith came in and sat down, Holofernes Judith
his heart was ravished with her, and his mind was to eat
moved, and he desired greatly her company; for he with him
waited a time to deceive her, from the day that he
had seen her.
Then said Holofernes unto her, Drink now, and
be merry with us. So Judith said, I will drink now,
my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day 10
more than all the days since I was born. Then she
took and ate and drank before him what her maid
had prepared. And Holofernes took great delight
in her, and drank much more wine than he bad drunk
at any time in one day since he was born.
15
* Now when the evening was come, his servants
made haste to depart, and Bagoas shut his tent with-
out, and dismissed the waiters from the presence of
his lord ; and they went to their beds : for they were
all weary, because the feast had been long. And 20
Judith was left alone in the tent, and Holofernes
lying along upon his bed : for he was filled with wine.
Now Judith had commanded her maid to stand with-
out her bedchamber, and to wait for her coming forth,
as she did daily : for she said she would go forth to as
her prayers, and she spake to Bagoas according to
the same purpose.
So all went forth, and none was left in the bed-
59
Ch. 13 ; Ver. 4-12.
es The Book
Judith chamber, neither little nor great. Then Judith,
slays standing by his bed, said in her heart,
Holofernes O Lord God of all power, look at this present
upon the works of mine hands for the exaltation of
: s Jerusalem. For now is the time to help thine in-
heritance, and to execute mine enterprizes to the
destruction of the enemies which are risen against us.
Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which
was at Holofernes' head, and took down his fauchion
10 from thence, and approached to his bed, and took
hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me,
O Lord God of Israel, this day. And she smote
twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took
away his head from him, and tumbled his body down
15 from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the
pillars; and anon after she went forth, and gave Holo-
fernes his head to her maid; and she put it in her bag
of meat : 80 they twain went together according to
their custom unto prayer : and when they passed the
no camp, they compassed the valley, and went up the
mountain of Bethulia, and came to the gates
thereof.
Then said Judith afar off to the watchmen at the
gate, Open, open now the gate: God, even our God,
25 is with us, to shew his power yet in Jerusalem, and
his forces against the enemy, as he hath even done
this day. Now when the men of her city heard
her voice, they made haste to go down to the gate
of their city, and they called the elders of the city.
:
:
.: 60
of Judith seo
Ch. 13; Ver. 13-19.
And then they ran all together, both small and great, Ozias
for it was strange unto them that she was come : 80 blesses
they opened the gate, and received them, and made Judith
a fire for a light, and stood round about them. Then
she said to them with a loud voice,
:
5
Praise, praise God, praise God, I say, for he hath
not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel,
but hath destroyed our enemies by mine hands this
night. So she took the head out of the bag, and
shewed it, and said unto them,
10
Behold the head of Holofernes, the chief captain
of the army of Assur, and behold the canopy,
wherein he did lie in his drunkenness; and the Lord
hath smitten him by the hand of a woman. As the
Lord liveth, who hath kept me in my way that I 15
went, my countenance hath deceived him to his
destruction, and yet hath he not committed sin with
me, to defile and shame me.
Then all the people were wonderfully astonished,
and bowed themselves, and worshipped God, and 20
said with one accord, Blessed be thou, o our God,
which hast this day brought to nought the enemies
of thy people. Then said Ozias unto her,
.O daughter, blessed art thou of the Most High God
above all the women upon the earth; and blessed be as
the Lord God, which hath created the heavens and
the earth, which hath directed thee to the cutting off
of the head of the chief of our enemies. For this
thy confidence shall not depart from the heart of
.
.
.
.
T3
13
.61
Ch. 14; Ver. 1-6.
The Book
Holo- men, which remember the power of God for ever.
fernes' And God turn these things to thee for a perpetual
Head hung praise, to visit thee in good things, because thou hast
on the not spared thy life for the affliction of our nation, but
Walls hast revenged our ruin, walking a straight way before
our God.
And all the people said, So be it, so be it.
* Then said Judith unto them, Hear me now, my
brethren, and take this head, and hang it upon the
to highest place of your walls. And so soon as the
morning shall appear, and the sun shall come forth
upon the earth, take ye every one his weapons, and go
forth every valiant man out of the city, and set ye a
captain over them, as though ye would go down into
15 the field toward the watch of the Assyrians; but go
not down. Then they shall take their armour, and
shall go into their camp, and raise up the captains of
the army of Assur, and they shall run to the tent of
Holoferncs, but shall not find him : then fear shall
so fall upon them, and they shall flee before your face.
So ye, and all that inhabit the coast of Israel, shall
pursue them, and overthrow them as they go. But
before ye do these things, call me Achior the
Ammonite, that he may see and know him that
ss despised the house of Israel, and that sent him to us,
as it were to his death.
Then they called Achior out of the house of
Ozias ; and when he was come, and saw the head
of Holofernes in a man's hand in the assembly of the
++
..
:
of Judith Som
Ch. 14; Ver. 6-2
14.
people, he fell down on his face, and his spirit The
failed. But when they had recovered him, he fell at Assyrians
Judith's feet, and reverenced her, and said, Blessed summon
art thou in all the tabernacle of Juda, and in all Holofernes
nations, which hearing thy name shall be astonished. s
Now therefore tell me all the things that thou hast
done in these days. Then Judith declared unto him
in the midst of the people all that she had done,
from the day that she went forth until that hour she
spake unto them.
. 10
And when she had left off speaking, the people
shouted with a loud voice, and made a joyful noise in
their city. And when Achior had seen all that the
God of Israel had done, he believed in God greatly,
and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was 15
joined unto the house of Israel unto this day.
And as soon as the morning arose, they hanged
the head of Holofernes upon the wall, and every man
took his weapons, and they went forth by bands unto
the straits of the mountain. But when the Assyrians so
saw them, they sent to their leaders, which came to
their captains and tribunes, and to every one of their
rulers.
So they came to Holofernes' tent, and said to
him that had the charge of all his things, Waken now as
our lord: for the slaves have been bold to come
down against us to battle, that they may be utterly
destroyed. Then went in Bagoas, and knocked at
WE
163
Ch. 15; Ver. 1-4.
of The Book
Terror the door of the tent ; for he thought that he had
of the slept with Judith.
Assyrians But because none answered, he opened it, and
went into the bedchamber, and found him cast upon
5 the floor dead, and his head was taken from him.
Therefore he cried with a loud voice, with weeping,
and sighing, and a mighty cry, and rent his garments.
After he went into the tent where Judith lodged :
and when he found her not, he leaped out to the
10 people, and cried,
These slaves have dealt treacherously; one woman
of the Hebrews hath brought shame upon the house
of king Nabuchodonosor : for, behold, Holofernes
lieth upon the ground without a head. When the
15 captains of the Assyrians' army heard these words,
they rent their coats, and their minds were wonder-
fully troubled, and there was a cry and a very great
noise throughout the camp.
* And when they that were in the tents heard, they
go were astonished at the thing that was done. And
fear and trembling fell upon them, so that there was
no man that durst abide in the sight of his neighbour,
but rushing out all together, they fled into every way
of the plain, and of the hill country. They also that
as had camped in the mountains round about Bethulia
fed away. Then the children of Israel, every one
that was a warrior among them, rushed out upon
them.
Then sent Ozias to Betomasthem, and to Bebai,
of Judith som
Ch. 15; Ver. 4-10.
and Chobai, and Cola, and to all the coasts of Israel, Slaughter
such as should tell the things that were done, and of the
that all should rush forth upon their enemies to destroy Assyrians
them.
Now when the children of Israel heard it, they s
all fell upon them with one consent, and slew them
unto Chobai : likewise also they that came from
Jerusalem, and from all the hill country, (for men
had told them what things were done in the camp
of their enemies,) and they that were in Galaad, and 10
in Galilee, chased them with a great slaughter, until
they were past Damascus and the borders thereof.
And the residue, that dwelt at Bethulia, fell upon
the camp of Assur, and spoiled them, and were greatly
enriched.
And the children of Israel that returned from the
slaughter had that which remained ; and the villages
and the cities, that were in the mountains and in the
plain, gat many spoils: for the multitude was very
great.
Then Joacim the high priest, and the ancients of
the children of Israel that dwelt in Jerusalem, came
to behold the good things that God had shewed to
Israel, and to see Judith, and to salute her.
And when they came unto her, they blessed her as
with one accord, and said unto her, Thou art the
exaltation of Jerusalem, thou art the great glory of
Israel, thou art the great rejoicing of our nation :
Thou hast done all these things by thine hand :
15
65
Ch. 16; Ver. 1-4.
af The Book
Judith's thou hast done much good to Israel, and God is
Reward pleased therewith : blessed be thou of the Almighty
Lord for evermore. And all the people said, So
be it.
5 And the people spoiled the camp the space of
thirty days : and they gave unto Judith Holofernes
his tent, and all his plate, and beds, and vessels, and
all his stuff: and she took it, and laid it on her
mule; and made ready her carts, and laid them
10 thereon.
Then all the women of Israel ran together to see
her, and blessed her, and made a dance among them
for her : and she took branches in her hand, and
gave also to the women that were with her. “
15 And they put a garland of olive upon her and her
maid that was with her, and she went before all the
people in the dance, leading all the women : and all
the men of Israel followed in their armour with
garlands, and with songs in their mouths.
* * Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in all
Israel, and all the people sang after her this song of
praise,
And Judith said, Begin unto my God with timbrels,
sing unto my Lord with cymbals : tune unto him a
25 new psalm : exalt him, and call upon his name.
For God breaketh the battles : for among the
camps in the midst of the people he hath delivered
me out of the hands of them that persecuted me.
Assur came out of the mountains from the north,
66
...
.
..
..
.
.
...
.
.
.
...
of Judith Steam
Ch. 16; Ver. 4-12.
he came with ten thousands of his army, the multitude Judith's
whereof stopped the torrents, and their horsemen Song of
have covered the hills.
Thanks.
He bragged that he would burn up my borders, giving
and kill my young men with the sword, and dash the s
sucking children against the ground, and make mine
infants as a prey, and my virgins as a spoil.
But the Almighty Lord hath disappointed them
by the hand of a woman.
For the mighty one did not fall by the young men, ro
neither did the sons of the Titans smite him, nor
high giants set upon him: but Judith the daughter
of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her
countenance.
For she put off the garment of her widowhood for 15
the exaltation of those that were oppressed in Israel,
and anointed her face with ointment, and bound her
hair in a tire, and took a linen garment to deceive him.
Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty took his
mind prisoner, and the fauchion passed through his 20
neck.
The Persians quaked at her boldness, and the
Medes were daunted at her hardiness.
Then my afflicted shouted for joy, and my weak
ones cried aloud ; but they were astonished: these as
lifted up their voices, but they were overthrown.
The 80D8 of the damsels have pierced them
through, and wounded them as fugitives' children:
they perished by the battle of the Lord.
67.
Ch. 16; Ver. 13.
-20
of The Book
Judith's I will sing unto the Lord a new song : O Lord,
Song of thou art great and glorious, wonderful in strength,
Thanks- and invincible.
giving Let all creatures serve thee : for thou spakest, and
they were made, thou didst send forth thy spirit, and
it created them, and there is none that can resist thy
voice.
For the mountains shall be moved from their
foundations with the waters, the rocks shall melt as
to wax at thy presence : yet thou art merciful to them
that fear thee.
For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto
thee, and all the fat is not sufficient for thy burat
offering : but he that feareth the Lord is great at
is all times.
Woe to the nations that rise up against my
kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of
them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and
worms in their fesh; and they shall feel them, and
30 weep for ever.
Now as soon as they entered into Jerusalem, they
worshipped the Lord, and as soon as the people
were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, and
their free offerings, and their gifts.
25 Judith also dedicated all the stuff of Holofernes,
which the people had given her, and gave the canopy,
which she had taken out of his bedchamber, for a
gift unto the Lord.
So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem,
of Judith se
Ch. 16; Ver. 20-25.
before the sanctuary for the space of three months, Death of
and Judith remained with them.
Judith
After this time every one returned to his own
inheritance, and Judith went to Bethulia, and re-
mained in her own possession, and was in her time 5
honourable in all the country. And many desired
her, but none knew her all the days of her life, after
that Manasses her husband was dead, and was gathered
to his people. But she increased more and more in
honour, and waxed old in her husband's house, being to
an hundred and five years old, and made her maid
free ; so she died in Bethulia : and they buried her
in the cave of her husband Manasses.
And the house of Israel lamented her seven days :
and before she died, she did distribute her goods to 15
all them that were nearest of kindred to Manasses
her husband, and to them that were the nearest of
her kindred.
And there was none that made the children of
Israel any more afraid in the days of Judith, nor a 20
long time after her death.
The History of the Destruction
OF
Bel and the Dragon
(Cut off from the end of Daniel.)
The A ND king Astyages was gathered to his fathers,
Worship A and Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom.
of Bel And Daniel conversed with the king, and was
honoured above all his friends. Now the Babylonians
s had an idol, called Bel, and there were spent upon
him every day twelve great measures of fine four,
and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine. And the
king worshipped it, and went daily to adore it : but
Daniel worshipped his own God.
10 And the king said unto him, Why dost not thou
worship Bel? Who answered and said, Because I
may not worship idols made with hands, but the
living God, who hath created the heaven and the
earth, and hath sovereignty over all filesh. Then
15 said the king unto him, Thinkest thou not that Bel
is a living God ? seest thou not how much he eateth
and drinketh every day? .
Then Daniel smiled, and said, O king, be not
deceived : for this is but clay within, and brass
.... 70.
Bel and the Dragon See
1
Ver. 7-16.
without, and did never eat or drink any thing. So Daniels
the king was wroth, and called for his priests, and Reply to
said unto them, If ye tell me not who this is that Cyrus
devoureth these expenses, ye shall die. But if ye
can certify me that Bel devoureth them, then Daniel s
shall die ; for he hath spoken blasphemy against Bel.
And Daniel said unto the king, Let it be according
to thy word.
Now the priests of Bel were threescore and ten,
beside their wives and children. And the king went to
with Daniel into the temple of Bel. So Bel's priests
said, Lo, we go out : but thou, O king, set on the
meat, and make ready the wine, and shut the door
fast, and seal it with thine own signet; and to
morrow when thou comest in, if thou findest not that 15
Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death: or else
Daniel, that speaketh falsely against us. And they
little regarded it : for under the table they had made
a privy entrance, whereby they entered in continually,
and consumed those things. So when they were 20
gone forth, the king set meats before Bel. Now
Daniel had commanded his servants to bring ashes,
and those they strewed throughout all the temple
in the presence of the king alone : then went they
out, and shut the door, and sealed it with the king's 25
signet, and so departed.
Now in the night came the priests with their
wives and children, as they were wont to do, and
did eat and drink up all. In the morning betime
. 71
Ver. 26-27.
of Bel and
How the the king arose, and Daniel with him. And the
King was king said, Daniel, are the seals whole? And he
deceived said, Yea, O king, they be whole. And as soon as
he had opened the door, the king looked upon the
s table, and cried with a loud voice, Great art thou, O
Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all. Then laughed
Daniel, and held the king that he should not go in,
and said, Behold now the pavement, and mark well
whose footsteps are these. And the king said, I
10 see the footsteps of men, women, and children. And
then the king was angry, and took the priests with
their wives and children, who shewed him the privy
doors, where they came in, and consumed such things
as were upon the table. Therefore the king slew
15 them, and delivered Bel into Daniel's power, who
destroyed him and his temple.
And in that same place there was a great dragon,
which they of Babylon worshipped. And the king
said unto Daniel, Wilt thou also say that this is of
20 brass ? lo, he liveth, he eateth and drinketh; thou
canst not say that he is no living god : therefore
worship him. Then said Daniel unto the king, I
will worship the Lord my God : for he is the living
God. But give me leave, o king, and I shall slay
25 this dragon without sword or staff. The king said,
I give thee leave. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat,
and hair, and did seethe them together, and made
lumps thereof; this he put in the dragon's mouth,
72
the Dragon se
Ver. 27-38.
and so the dragon burst in sunder : and Daniel said, Daniel in
Lo, these are the gods ye worship.
the Lion's
When they of Babylon heard that, they took great Den
indignation, and conspired against the king, saying,
The king is become a Jew, and he hath destroyed s
Bel, he hath slain the dragon, and put the priests to
death. So they came to the king, and said, Deliver
us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thine
house. Now when the king saw that they pressed
him sore, being constrained, he delivered Daniel unto 10
them: who cast him into the lions' den : where he
was six days. And in the den there were seven
lions, and they had given them every day two
carcases, and two sheep: which then were not given
to them, to the intent they might devour Daniel. 15
Now there was in Jewry a prophet, called Habbacuc,
who had made pottage, and had broken bread in a
bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to
the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said unto
Habbacuc, Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into 20
Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den. And
Habbacuc said, Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither
do I know where the den is. Then the angel of the
Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the
hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his as
spirit set him in Babylon over the den.
And Habbacuc cried, saying, O Daniel, Daniel,
take the dinner which God hath sent thee. And
Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God :
"
..
.
73
Ver. 1-3.
Of The History
Susanna's neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and
Rectitude love thee. So Daniel arose, and did eat: and the
angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place
again immediately.
5Upon the seventh day the king went to bewail
Daniel : and when he came to the den, he looked in,
and, behold, Daniel was sitting. Then cried the
king with a loud voice, saying, Great art thou, O
Lord God of Daniel, and there is none other beside
to thee. And he drew him out, and cast those that
were the cause of his destruction into the den: and
they were devoured in a moment before his face.
The History of Susanna,
Set apart from the beginning of Daniel, because it is
not in the Hebrew, as neither the Narration of
Bel and the Dragon.
THERE dwelt a man in Babylon, called Joacim :
and he took a wife, whose name was Susanna,
15 the daughter of Chelcias, a very fair woman, and one
that feared the Lord. Her parents also were
righteous, and taught their daughter according to the
74
of Susanna sem
Ver. 3-14.
law of Moses. Now Joacim was a great rich man, The
and had a fair garden joining unto his house : and to Elders
him resorted the Jews; because he was more honour- fall in
able than all others.
Love with
her.
The same year were appointed two of the ancients s
of the people to be judges, such as the Lord spake
of, that wickedness came from Babylon from ancient
judges, who seemed to govern the people. These
kept much at Joacim's house : and all that had any
suits in law came unto them. Now when the people to
departed away at noon, Susanna went into her
husband's garden to walk. And the two elders saw
her going in every day, and walking : 80 that their
lust was inflamed toward her. And they perverted
their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that 15
they might aot look unto heaven, nor remember
just judgments. And albeit they both were wounded
with her love, yet durst not one shew another his
grief. For they were ashamed to declare their lust,
that they desired to have to do with her. Yet they 20
watched diligently from day to day to see her.
And the one said to the other, Let us now go home : .
for it is dinner time.
So when they were gone out, they parted the one
from the other, and turning back again they came to 25
the same place; and after that they had asked one
another the cause, they acknowleged their lust : then
.
75
Ver. 14-24.
as The History
The appointed they a time both together, when they
Demand might find her alone.
by the
Elders And it fell out, as they watched a fit time, she
went in as before with two maids only, and she was
5 desirous to wash herself in the garden : for it was
hot. And there was no body there save the two
elders, that had hid themselves, and watched her.
Then she said to her maids, Bring me oil and
washing balls, and shut the garden doors, that I may
10 wash me. And they did as she bade them, and
shut the garden doors, and went out themselves at
privy doors to fetch the things that she had com-
manded them: but they saw not the elders, because
they were hid.
15 Now when the maids were gone forth, the two
elders rose up, and ran unto her, saying, Behold, the
garden doors are shut, that no man can see us, and
we are in love with thee: therefore consent unto us,
and lie with us. If thou wilt not, we will bear
20 witness against thee, that a young man was with
thee: and therefore thou didst send away thy maids
from thee.
Then Susanna sighed, and said, I am straitened
on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death unto
25 me ; and if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands.
It is better for me to fall into your hands, and not do
it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord. With that
: 76
of Susanna jou
Ver. 24-37.
Susanna cried with a loud voice: and the two elders False
cried out against her. Then ran the one, and opened Witness
the garden door. So when the servants of the house of the
heard the cry in the garden, they rushed in at a privy Elders
door, to see what was done unto her.
But when the elders had declared their matter,
the servants were greatly ashamed: for there was
never such a report made of Susanna. .
And it came to pass the next day, when the people
were assembled to her husband Joacim, the two elders 10
came also full of mischievous imagination against
Susanna to put her to death; and said before the
people, Send for Susanna, the daughter of Chelcias,
Joacim's wife. And so they sent. So she came
with her father and mother, her children, and all 15
her kindred.
Now Susanna was a very delicate woman, and
beauteous to behold. And these wicked men com-
manded to uncover her face, (for she was covered)
that they might be filled with her beauty. There- 40
fore her friends and all that saw her wept. Then
the two elders stood up in the midst of the people,
and laid their hands upon her head. And she
weeping looked up toward heaven : for her heart
trusted in the Lord.
And the elders said, As we walked in the garden
alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut
the garden doors, and sent the maids away. Then
a young man, who there was hid, came unto her, and
77
Ver. 37-49
ads The History
Daniel's lay with her. Then we that stood in a corner of
Indigna- the garden, seeing this wickedness, ran unto them.
tion And when we saw them together, the man we could
not hold : for he was stronger than we, and opened
s the door, and leaped out. But having taken this
woman, we asked who the young man was, but she
would not tell us : these things do we testify.
Then the assembly believed them, as those that
were the elders and judges of the people : so they
so condemned her to death.
Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and
said, O everlasting God, that knowest the secrets,
and knowest all things before they be : thou knowest
that they have borde false witness against me, and,
25 behold, I must die; whereas I never did such things
as these men have maliciously invented against me.
And the Lord heard her voice.
Therefore when she was led to be put to death,
the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young youth,
30 whose name was Daniel : who cried with a loud
voice, I am clear from the blood of this woman.
Then all the people turned them toward him, and
said, What mean these words that thou hast spoken?
So he standing in the midst of them said, Are ye
25 such fools, ye sons of Israel, that without examination
or knowledge of the truth ye have condemned a
daughter of Israel? Return again to the place of
judgment: for they have borne false witness against
of Susanna sem
Ver. 49-58.
her. Wherefore all the people turned again in haste, Daniel's
and the elders said unto him, Come, sit down among Plan to
us, and shew it us, seeing God hath given thee the discover
honour of an elder.
tbe Lie
Then said Daniel unto them, Put these two aside 5
one far from another, and I will examine them.
So when they were put asunder one from another,
be called one of them, and said unto him, O thou
that art waxen old in wickedness, now thy sins which
thou hast committed aforetime are come to light : for so
thou hast pronounced false judgment, and hast con-
demned the innocent, and hast let the guilty go free;
albeit the Lord saith, The innocent and righteous
shalt thou not slay. Now then, if thou hast seen
her, tell me, Under what tree sawest thou them 15
companying together? Who answered, Under a
mastick tree. And Daniel said, Very well; thou
hast lied against thine own head; for even now the
angel of God hath received the sentence of God to
cut thee in two. So he put him aside, and com- 30
manded to bring the other, and said unto him, O
thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath
deceived thee, and lust bath perverted thine heart.
Thus have ye dealt with the daughters of Israel, and
they for fear companied with you : but the daughter 25
of Juda would not abide your wickedness. Now
therefore tell me, Under what tree didst thou take
them companying together? Who answered, Under
an holm tree.
.
.
.
Ver. 59-64.
os Susanna
Susanna Then said Daniel unto him, Well; thou hast also
vindicated lied against thine own head : for the angel of God
waiteth with the sword to cut thee in two, that he
may destroy you. With that all the assembly cried
5 out with a loud voice, and praised God, who saveth
them that trust in him. And they rose against the
two elders, for Daniel had convicted them of false
witness by their own mouth : and according to the
law of Moses they did unto them in such sort as they
10 maliciously intended to do to their neighbour : and
they put them to death. Thus the innocent blood.
was saved the same day.
Therefore Chelcias and his wife praised God for
their daughter Susanna, with Joacim her husband,
15 and all the kindred, because there was no dishonesty
found in her. From that day forth was Daniel had
in great reputation in the sight of the people.
The Song of the
Three Holy Children
Which followeth in the third Chapter of DANIEL
after this place,-fell down bound into the midst
of the burning fiery furnace. Verse 23. That
which followeth is not in the Hebrew, to wit,
And they walked--unto these words, Then Nebu-
chadnezzar-verse 24.
A ND they walked in the midst of the fire, The Three
A praising God, and blessing the Lord. Then Jews in
Azarias stood up, and prayed on this manner ; and the Fiery
opening his mouth in the midst of the fire said, Furnace
* Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers :
thy name is worthy to be praised and glorified for
evermore: for thou art righteous in all the things
that thou hast done to us : yea, true are all thy
works, thy ways are right, and all thy judgments
truth. In all the things that thou hast brought upon 10
us, and upon the holy city of our fathers, even
Jerusalem, thou hast executed true judgment : for
according to truth and judgment didst thou bring all
these things upon us because of our sins. For we
81
Ver. 6-17.
of The Song of the
Prayer to have sinned and committed iniquity, departing from
God for thee. In all things have we trespassed, and not
Help obeyed thy commandments, nor kept them, neither
done as thou hast commanded us, that it might go
5 well with us. Wherefore all that thou hast brought
upon us, and everything that thou hast done to us,
thou hast done in true judgment. And thou didst
deliver us into the hands of lawless enemies, most
hateful forsakers of God, and to an unjust king, and
10 the most wicked in all the world. And now we
cannot open our mouths, we are become a shame and
reproach to thy servants, and to them that worship
thee. Yet deliver us not up wholly, for thy name's
sake, neither disannul thou thy covenant: and cause
15 not thy mercy to depart from us, for thy beloved
Abraham's sake, for thy servant Isaac's sake, and for
thy holy Israel's sake; to whom thou hast spoken
and promised, that thou wouldest multiply their seed
as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that lieth upon
30 the seashore,
For we, O Lord, are become less than any nation,
and be kept under this day in all the world because
of our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or
prophet, or leader, or burnt offering, or sacrifice, or
as oblation, or incense, or place to sacrifice before thee,
and to find mercy. Nevertheless in a contrite heart
and an humble spirit let us be accepted. Like as in
the burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, and like as in
Three Holy Children Son
Ver. 17-28.
ten thousand of fat lambs : so let our sacrifice be in The
thy sight this day, and grant that we may wholly go Furnace
after thee: for they shall not be confounded that put heated to
their trust in thee.
the utmost
And now we follow thee with all our heart, we s
fear thee, and seek thy face. Put us not to shame :
but deal with us after thy lovingkindness, and accord-
ing to the multitude of thy mercies. Deliver us also
according to thy marvellous works, and give glory to
thy name, O Lord : and let all them that do thy 10
servants hurt be ashamed; and let them be con-
founded in all their power and might, and let their
strength be broken; and let them know that thou art
Lord, the only God, and glorious over the whole world.
And the king's servants, that put them in, ceased 15
not to make the oven hot with rosin, pitch, tow,
and small wood; so that the flame streamed forth
above the furnace forty and nine cubits. And
it passed through, and burned those Chaldeans it
found about the furnace. But the angel of the 20
Lord came down into the oven together with
Azarias and his fellows, and smote the flame of the
fire out of the oven; and made the midst of the furnace
as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire
touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled 25
them.
Then the three, as out of one mouth, praised,
glorified, and blessed, God in the furnace, saying,
83
Ver. 29-45.
as The Song of the
Song of Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers : and
Exultation to be praised and exalted above all for ever. And
and blessed is thy glorious and holy name: and to be
Triumph praised and exalted above all for ever. Blessed art
5 thou in the temple of thine holy glory: and to be
praised and glorified above all for ever. Blessed art
thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the
cherubims: and to be praised and exalted above all
for ever. Blessed art thou on the glorious throne of
10 thy kingdom: and to be praised and glorified above
all for ever. Blessed art thou in the firmament of
heaven: and above all to be praised and glorified for
ever. O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye
15 heavens, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him
above all for ever. O ye angels of the Lord, bless
ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O all ye waters that be above the heaven, bless ye the
Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. O
20 all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye sun
and moon, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him
above all for ever. O ye stars of heaven, bless ye
the Lord : praise and exalt him above all for ever.
25 O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord : praise
and exalt him above all for ever. O all ye winds,
bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above all for
ever. O ye fire and beat, bless ye the Lord : praise
and exalt him above all for ever. O ye winter and
Three Holy Children Soo
Ver. 45-60.
summer, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him Song of
above all for ever. O ye dews and storms of snow, Exultation
bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for and
ever.' Oye nights and days, bless ye the Lord : Triumph
praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye lights
and darkness, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt
him above all for ever. O ye ice and cold, bless ye
the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye frost and snow, bless ye the Lord: praise and
exalt him above all for ever. O ye lightnings and so
clouds, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all for ever.
O let the earth bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all for ever. O ye mountains and little
hills, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above is
all for ever. O all ye things that grow on the
earth, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above
all for ever. O ye fountains, bless ye the Lord :
praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye seas
and rivers, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him so
above all for ever. O ye whales, and all that move
in the waters, bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt
him above all for ever. O all ye fowls of the air,
bless ye the Lord : praise and exalt him above all
for ever. O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the as
Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Oye children of men, bless ye the Lord : praise
.
.
.
Ver. 60-68.
gs Three Holy Children
Song of and exalt him above all for ever. O Israel, bless ye
Thanks- the Lord : praise and exalt him above all for ever.
giving O ye priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise
and exalt him above all for ever. O ye servants of
5 the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all for ever. O ye spirits and souls of the
righteous, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all for ever. Oye holy and humble men of
heart, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above
to all for ever.
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the
Lord : praise and exalt him above all for ever : for
he hath delivered us from hell, and saved us from the
hand of death, and delivered us out of the midst of
15 the furnace and burning filame: even out of the midst
of the fire hath he delivered us. O give thanks unto
the Lord, because he is gracious : for his mercy
endureth for ever. O all ye that worship the Lord,
bless the God of gods, praise him, and give him
20 thanks : for his mercy endureth for ever.
86
The Prayer of Manasses
King of Judah
When he was holden captive in Babylon.
LORD, Almighty God of our fathers, Prayer of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their Repentance
righteous seed; who hast made heaven and earth,
with all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the
sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast s
shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and
glorious name ; whom all men fear, and tremble
before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory
cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward
sinners is importable : but thy merciful promise is 10
unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the
Most High Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering,
very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men.
Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness ..
hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them 15
that have sinned against thee : and of thine infinite
mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that
they may be saved. Thou therefore, O Lord, that
art the God of the just, hast not appointed repent-
87
.:.
:
.
$ The Prayer of Manasses
Manasses' ance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and
Confession Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou
of Sin hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner :
for I have sinned above the number of the sands of
5 the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied :
my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not
worthy to bebold and see the height of heaven for
the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed
down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up
io mine head, neither have any release : for I have
provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did
not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I
have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences.
Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart,
15 beseeching thee of grace. I have sinned, O Lord,
I have singed, and I acknowledge mine iniquities :
wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O
Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine
iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by
20 reserving evil for me; neither condemn me into the
lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God,
even the God of them that repent; and in me thou
wilt shew all thy goodness : for thou wilt save me,
that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy.
25 Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of
my life : for all the powers of the heavens do praise
thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
Notes
THE BOOK OF TOBIT.
P. 1, 1. 4. Enemessar,' corruption of Shalmaneser, which is
the reading of the Chaldee, Syriac and Latin texts. It was,
however, Tiglath-Pileser III., and not Shalmaneser, who carried
the Naphthalites into captivity (2 Kings xv. 29). "Nephthali,'
moreover, was the name of a tribe, not of a city. By Thisbe
probably Tishbi (1 Kings xvii. 1) is meant. *Aser' may be
Hazor.
P. 1, 1. 21. “The heifer Baal.' The golden 'calves' of Dan
and Beth-el were symbols of Yahweh rather than of the
Phænician Baal. See, however, Hosea ii. 16.
p. 2, 1. 18. purveyor,' rather "steward.' Assyrian contract-
tablets show that Israelitish exiles could rise to high offices of
state at Nineveh in the age in which the story of Tobit is laid.
p. 2, l. 20. 'Rages,' Persian Raga, the capital of Media
Rhagiana. The ruins, now called Rhei, are about five miles
from Teherân.
p. 2, l. 25. Centuries before the Mosaic age the Egyptian
follower of Osiris was required to give bread to the hungry,
water to the thirsty, and clothing to the naked.' The formula
appears to be of Egyptian origin. Here, as in iv. 16, alms
is substituted for the water' of the original.
P. 2, 1. 29. 'Sennacherib' was the son and successor of Sargon,
and was not related to Shalmaneser. The error is due to the
supposition that the 'Shalmaneser' of 2 Kings xvii. 3 and the
king of Asyria' of 2 Kings xvii. 6 were one and the same. We
have learnt, however, from the cuneiform inscriptions that the
latter was the usurper Sargon. .
p. 3, 1. 12. Another mistaken inference from the words of
89
Notes.
Of The Book of
+
the Old Testament. From 2 Kings xix. 36, 37, it was assumed
that the murder of Sennacherib must have taken place shortly
after his return from the campaign in Judah. În reality an
interval of twenty years separated the two events.
p. 5, l. 2. Cp. Job ii. 9.
p. 6, 1. 4. Asmodeus,' the Persian Aeshma-daeva, who is
called the wicked Aeshma' in the Avesta, and ranked next to
Angro-Mainyus, the representative of evil.
p. 7, 1. 6. 'Raphael'; see xii. 15. In accordance with his name
the Hebrew text describes him as the prince who is set over
healing.' In the Book of Enoch Rafael is ordered to bind
Azazel ; see Tobit viïi. 3.
p. 9, 1. 8. Pour out, i.e., 'give freely.'
P. 11, 1. 4. About tenpence.
P. 11, l. 14. Among Semitic peoples the dog was usually
accounted unclean; its introduction here is a mark of Persian
influence. No mention of it, however, is made in the Chaldee
and Latin texts, and the Chaldee text also omits it in xi. 4.
The dog is referred to in the Vulgate text of vi. 1.
P. II, 1. 29. The exaggeration is characteristic of the Haggada.
It is probably a reminiscence of the story of Jonah, and has been
toned down in the Chaldee text, where only the bread of Tobias
is said to have been devoured.
p. 13, 1. 1. See Numb. xxvii. 8 and xxxvi. 6 599., where, how-
ever, nothing is said about the penalty of death, the reference to
which is accordingly absent in the Chaldee and Vulgate texts.
P. 14, 1. 8. For Edna' the Latin versions have the more
familiar Anna.
P. 16, 1. 5. That is, into the desert, the home of the demons
according to the ancient Babylonians, whose belief on the subject
is reflected in the Talmud. Cp. Isa. xii. 21 and Matt. xii. 43.
p. 17, 1. 3. The elect,' omitted in the Chaldee text, probably
means the post-Exilic community.
p. 19, 1. 2. A Haggadic extension of the Fifth Commandment.
p. 19, 1. 14. The Old Latin has Charam, the Vulgate Charan
(Harran), the Chaldee, Akris, 'over against Nineveh.'
Tobit, Etc. Som
Notes.
P. 22, 1. 2. The doctrine of angelic intercession is of Baby-
lonian origin (see xii. 15, Rev. viii. 3, 4).
p. 22, 1, 19. Later Jewish theology made the heavenly
glory' the food of the angels. Contrast with this Luke xxiv.
39, 43.
p. 22, l. 21. Cp. Rev. i. II, 19.
p. 22, 1. 28. This chapter is not represented in Chaldee text.
p. 23, 1. 26. The Vulgate has .Civitas Dei.'
P. 24, 1. 17. Cp. Isa. liv. II, 12. Through Tobit the imagery
has passed to the Apocalypse (Rev. xxi. 18-21).
p. 25, 11. 4-19. The reference here is plainly to the second
Temple, and not to the age of Hadrian, as has been imagined
by some German commentators.
p. 26, 1. 1. The story here referred to (which is omitted in
the Chaldee text) is a different version of that which we find in
the Book of Esther, Achiacharus taking the place of Mordechai.
Unfortunately we know nothing of it beyond what is stated in
the present passage. The Syriac text has, Remember how
Ahab requited Akikar who brought up Tobit,' where Ahab is a
corruption of Aman. For Manasses the Old Latin and Syriac
have Achiacharus (Akikar).
p. 26, 1. 24. Assuerus or Xerxes is substituted for Cyaxares,
the real conqueror of Nineveh, ‘Darius the Mede' being said
in Dan. ix. I to have been the son of Ahasuerus.' As Darius
the Mede' was sixty-two years in B.C. 538 (Dan. V. 31), the
fall of Nineveh in B.C. 606 would have occurred in the time of
his father. Similarly Nabuchodonosor or Nebuchadrezzar is
substituted for his father Nabopolassar, Belshazzar being called
the son of Nebuchadrezzar in Dan. V. 2.
THE BOOK OF JUDITH.
.p. 27, 1. 2. Nineve' was a ruin before Nebuchadrezzar began
to reign at Babylon. 'Arphaxad,'the name of a district or people,
is taken from Gen. X. 22, and is perhaps an echo of Arbaces.
Notes.
of The Book of
The description of the fortifications of Ecbatane' does not agree
with that given by Herodotus I. 98, the city walls being confused
with those of the citadel.
p. 27, 1. 20. The name of ' Arioch' comes from Gen. xiv. 1.
Cp. Dan. ii. 14. 'Chelod' may be Kalda, the Chaldeans who
inhabited the marshes in the southern part of Babylonia.
p. 27, 1. 23. *Assyrians' is used in the later Greek sense of
the word, meaning the Babylonians.
p. 28, 1. 7. 'Chelus' seems to be intended for Elusa, the modern
Khaluza, north of the river of Egypt' (El-Arish) and Kadesh-
barnea.
p. 29, 1. 20. “Holofernes' seems to be Orophernes, a Persian
name met with in the history of Cappadocia. A prince of the
name was king of Cappadocia in B.C. 158.
p. 30, 1. 2. earth and water,' the usual symbol of tribute
and submission in the Persian age.
p. 31, 1. 12. The Syriac has Bêth-qtilath (? (House of
slaughter'). Eastern Cilicia would have been more than three
days' journey distant from Nineveh.
p. 31, 1. 18. “Rasses' must be the Rosh of Ezek. xxxviii. 2,
where the Hebrew has prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal’
(instead of the A.V. 'chief prince of Meshech and Tubal').
The Syriac has Tiras (Gen. x. 2), the Vulgate, Tharsis.
p. 32, 1. 8. 'Ocina' is probably intended for Acre ; Assyrian
Akku. Sur is Tyre, which has already been named under its
Greek form; Jemnaan is Jamnia (Yabneh).
p. 32, l. 25. Cp. Dan. iii. 5, vi. 12. We may see here a
reference to the divine honours claimed by the Greek kings of
Syria.
p. 33, 1. 4. "The great saw-like ridge,' or sierra, 'of Judea.'
But the Greek text is probably corrupt.
P. 33, 1. 5. Scythopolis,' the Greek name of Beth-shean.
*Carriages" = baggage
· p. 33, 1. 15. Nebuchadrezzar, after being made a king of
Nineveh, is now transferred to the age of Cyrus and the return
from the captivity!
L
02
Tobit, Etc. Som
Notes.
.
p. 33, 1. 21. Belmen' is Baal-meon; but there is a variant
reading Abel-main. "Choba' occurs again in xv. 5. "Esora',
may be Hazor, but the Syriac has Beth-horon.
p. 33, l. 28. The high priest Joiakim lived after the Exile
(Neh. xii. 10), and therefore after Nebuchadrezzar's death.
p. 34, l. I. 'Bethulia' is probably a symbolical name, formed
in allusion to bethalath bath Ziyon, 'the virgin daughter of Zion'
(Isa. xxxvii. 22), that is to say Jerusalem. The Jewish Midrashim
substitute Jerusalem for Bethulia.
p. 37, I. 4. Sychemite' is substituted for Hivite (see Gen.
xxxiv. 2).
p. 38, 1. 12. The Moabites are called the hirelings of
Ephraim,' because Mesha of Moab is stated, in 2 Kings iii. 4,
to have paid tribute to Ahab. In ver. 5, however, Ephraim has
become Ammon. The Old Latin and Syriac accordingly have
Achior, and all the sons of Moab, and the hirelings of Ammon.'
P. 41, l. 9. 'Cyamon' means 'Bean-field' in Greek. The
Old Latin text has Chelmona.
p. 43, 1. 3. 'Ekrebel’is probably the modern village of Akraba,
ten miles south-east of Nablûs. For Mochmur' the Syriac has
Peor.
P. 45, 1. 8. Cp. 2 Kings iv. 19, 20.
p. 45, 1. 17. Cp. Mark XV. 42. The Sabbath began on Friday
evening. Observing the eve of the festival is a mark of late date.
p. 47, 1. 3. The point of view of the writer is that of his own age.
p. 47, 1. 23. Perhaps sanctuary' includes the temple' and
Saltar' which follow.
p. 51, 1. 9. After the Captivity the strict observance of the
Sabbath did more than anything else to separate the restored
Jewish community from the people among whom they dwelt.
p. 51, l. 14. Tire'=turban, as in xvi. 8.
p. 53, 1. 26. 'Canopy'= mosquito-net.
p. 55, 11. 12-26. Here again is a reflection of the over-
scrupulous conformity of the anti-Hellenistic party at Jerusalem
with the letter of the Law. Cp. Levit. xxii. 10-16.
p. 55, l. 27. Perhaps there is a reference to the Maccabees
Notes.
oss The Book of
fighting on the Sabbath (1 Macc. ii. 41). The "senate' or
counsel of elders' is the Sanhedrim, as in xv. 8.
P. 57, 1. 10. Plate'=silver plate dinner-service.
p. 57, l. 15. It is taken for granted that Holofernes is
acquainted with the post - Exilic ceremonialism of the Jew,
which prevented his eating what had been prepared by Gentile
hands.
p. 58, 1. 9. Bagoas' is a Persian name, unknown in Western
Asia before the conquests of Cyrus.
P. 65, 1. 1. "Chobai'seems to be borrowed from the Hobah of
Gen. xiv. 15. The 14th chapter of Genesis was a favourite
with the writers of Haggadah. The proper names in it lent
themselves to Haggadist interpretation and amplification, while
in the victory of Abraham over the Babylonian kings the Jew
saw a type and forecast of that which he believed his race was
destined to achieve over the Gentile world.
p. 67, 1. 10. Here we have a reference to Greek mythology
in which the Titans and the giants were distinguished from one
another. The expression belongs to the age of the Sibylline
Oracles. In 2 Sam. v. 18 the Hebrew Rephaim is translated
“Titans' in the Septuagint.
. p. 68, 1. 12. An echo of the teaching of the prophets, which
harmonises but imperfectly with the insistence upon the import-
ance of ceremonial details in other parts of the book. Cp.
Ps. 1. 8-15.
p. 68, 1. 16. Cp. Mark ix. 44, 48. The idea is found first in
Isa. Ixvi. 24, and a spiritual signification was given to it in the
age which saw the rise of Pharisaism. In Isaiah the reference is
to the cremation of half-decomposed corpses on the battle-field.
p. 69, 1. 20. The Vulgate adds: 'And the day of the victory
is commemorated as a festival by the Hebrews, and observed by
the Jews from that time unto this day,' The Jewish Midrashim
make the festival that of the Khanukka or Dedication established
by Judas Maccabeus, and transform Judith, 'the Jewess,' into a
sister of Judas Maccabeus, Holofernes being apparently identi-
fied with Nikanor.
Tobit, Etc. See
Notes.
BEL AND THE DRAGON.
p. 70, 1. 1. The writer of Bel and the Dragon was better
acquainted with history than the ordinary Jewish Haggadist,
and he knew accordingly that Cyrus of Persia supplanted
Astyages on the throne of Media.
p. 70, l. 5. 'Bel.' "The lord' was the title usually given by
his worshippers to Merodach, the god of Babylon.
p. 70, 1. 10. The cuneiform monuments have shown that
Cyrus was politic enough to conform to the religion of his
Babylonian subjects, and both he and his son Cambyses took
part in the religious services of the Babylonian temples.
. p. 72, l. 16. Ê-Sagila, the temple of Bel-Merodach at
Babylon, though partially injured from time to time, remained
standing up to the first century B.C.
p. 72, 1. 17. Tiamât, the dragon of the deep, was the Baby-
lonian impersonation of chaos, and her conquest by Bel-Mero-
dach brought about the creation of the present world. There
was a representation of her in Ê-Sagila, the temple of Bel.
Merodach at Babylon, and as we learn from an inscription of
Nebuchadrezzar that huge serpents of bronze were erected at
the gates of the city, it is quite possible that the reference to a
dragon of brass' may be intentional
p. 73, 1. 10. A variant of the account in Dan. vi., with Cyrus
substituted for Darius. Cp. the variant accounts of Haman's
wickedness in Esther and Tobit xiv. 10.
p. 73, 1. 16. The story of Habakkuk is an interpolation,
derived from a pseudepigraphic Prophecy of Habakkuk, now
lost. In the Septuagint the whole story bears the title:
"(Extract) from the Prophecy of Habakkuk, son of Joshua, of
the tribe of Levi.'
1
THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA.
p. 75. I. 1. The insistence on the Law of Moses is character
istic of the Maccabean age. “Righteous' is a technical term
95
Notes.
os The Book of Tobit, Etc.
signifying those who punctiliously performed the requirements
of the Mosaic law. Chelcias' is the Hebrew Hilkiah.
p. 75, 1. 5. According to Josephus (Ant. iv. 8), Moses
appointed a magistracy of seven elders for each city. The
institution was of Babylonian origin. The quotation seems to
be an adaptation of Jer. xxiii. 15.
· p. 77, I. 21. As prescribed by the Law (Levit. xxiv. 14;
Deut. xiii. 9, xvii. 7).
p. 79, 1. 17. 'Mastick' is the odoriferous gum of the Pistacia
lentiscus. In the next verse there is a play on the Greek name
of the tree, skhinos, and the Greek word, skhisei, to cut in
two.'
p. 79, I. 24. A reminiscence of the contrast between Judah
and the northern kingdom of Israel drawn by some of the
prophets ; c.8., Hosea iv. 15.
p. 79, 1. 26. There is again a play upon the similarity of the
Greek words, prinos, 'holm-oak, and prisai, 'to saw or cut,'
THE PRAYER OF MANASSES.
p. 87, l. 19. “The Just' became a technical term in the
later age of the Jewish community at Jerusalem, and was
specially appropriated by the Pharisees. Cp. Luke xv. 7, xviii.
11, 12, XX. 20.
The reference to the sealing' of 'the deep' with the
terrible and glorious name' of the Lord, is an echo of the
Babylonian belief that the present creation is the result of sub-
jecting the anarchic 'deep' to law, fixing bounds to it, and
sealing or stopping up its waters. Among the Semites the
Name was already a synonym of the supreme deity in the age
of Abraham. The later Jews ascribed a magical power to
the Tetragrammaton or Sacred Name, and numerous stories
were told of the irresistible efficacy of Solomon's seal upon
which the name was inscribed.
JUN 23 1921
90
..
+
Lii
CIRCULATING
NON
10
.
I'LL
..
V.
A
1914 VI
,
tit
{
.
3 9015 05448 6025
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
-...
......
........
..
.
.
Hom
తన కల అన న
న న
న
వలన రకు
న
న న