Глава 10

1–5. Preparing Judith for the journey. 6–10. Meeting with bosses at the gate. 11–17. Meeting with the Assyrians. 18–19. Judith in the enemy camp. 20–23. Judith introduces herself to Holofernes in his tent. Judith 10:1 When she had ceased to call upon the God of Israel, and had finished all these words, Judith 10:2 Then she rose to her feet, called her maid, and entered the house in which she spent her Sabbath days and her holidays. 1–2. “She entered the house in which she spent her Sabbath days and her holidays,” i.e. she entered from that “tent” that “she made for herself on the roof of her house” for privacy after the loss of her husband (Judith. 8:5). Such tents, or otherwise “uppers” for solitary intimate prayer and contemplation of God, are often mentioned in other places in the Bible and were, obviously, belonging to all pious Israeli houses (Tov. III:17; Acts 10:9, 9:39, etc.). Judith.10:3 Here she took off the sackcloth that she had put on, she also took off the clothes of her widowhood, washed her body with water and anointed herself with the precious myrrh, combed her hair and put a bandage on her head, put on the clothes of her joy, in which she dressed herself in the days of the life of her husband Manasseh; 3. According to Judith. 9:1 ​​Judith had already “taken off her sackcloth” before prayer, therefore the second mention of this, at the end of the prayer, should either be understood as a repetition of the first, or, perhaps, Judith again put on sackcloth after prayer and, having descended from the upper room into the house, again had to take it off from herself, along with all her other clothes - for her complete change of clothes, which she did with all care. Judith 10:4 put sandals on her feet, and put on chains, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her apparel, and adorned herself to deceive the eyes of the men who saw her. 4. “She put sandals on her feet,” as one of the means to seduce Holofernes (Judith. 16:9). At home she managed without them, but on this occasion they naturally had a special meaning, complementing the beauty of her attire and the power of her charm. Judith 10:5 And she gave her maid a bottle of wine and a jar of oil, and filled a sack with flour and dried fruits and clean bread, and, wrapping up all these provisions, she laid them on her. 5. “Clean bread” - as opposed to pagan bread, forbidden to Jews (Judith. 12:1-2). Judith.10:6 When they went out to the gate of the city of Bethului, they found Uzziah and the elders of the city, Chabrin and Charmin, standing there. 6. See above explanation of Judith. 8:10. Judith 10:7 When they saw her and the change in her face and clothing, they marveled greatly at her beauty and said to her: Judith 10:8 May God, the God of our fathers, give you grace and fulfill your purposes for the joy of the children of Israel and for the exaltation of Jerusalem. She bowed to God 8. “May he give you grace” – Greek. δώη σε εις χάριν, glory. more precisely and in accordance with the Greek: “may he give you grace,” i.e. may he grant that you will be at the complete disposal and custody of the grace and favor of God - in other words, “may he help and preserve you with his grace!” “She bowed to God and said to them...” According to some interpreters, after the word “bowed” in the original one should have read ??? (“to them”), but the translator considered the Hebrew. ??? for ??? and translated “bowed down to God,” when it should have been translated, “bowed down to them,” i.e. to the elders. Many manuscripts actually have just such a variation in this place. Other interpreters dispute the appropriateness of such an amendment and, referring to how Judith behaved with the elders above - far from such that they could expect a bow from her (VIII chapter) - they say that the bow to God was much more appropriate here on the part of Judith, constituting, as it were, her “Amen” to the good wishes of the elders. Judith 10:9 And she said unto them, Command the gates of the city to be opened for me; I will go out to carry out the work about which you spoke to me. And they ordered the young men to open it for her, as she said. Judith 10:10 They did it. And Judith went out and her maid with her; and the men of the city watched after her while she descended from the mountain, while she passed through the valley and until she disappeared from their eyes. Judith 10:11 They walked straight through the valley, and the leading guard of the Assyrians met Judith, Judith 10:12 And they took her and asked, “Whose are you, where are you coming from, and where are you going?” She said: I am a daughter of the Jews and I am fleeing from them, because they will be handed over to you for destruction. Judith.10:13 I am going to Holofernes, the leader of your army, to proclaim the words of truth and show him the way that he will go and take possession of the entire mountainous country, so that not a single man or living soul of his men will perish. 13. “Not a single living soul” - πνεύμα ζωής (Gen. 6:17, 7:15) - this expression is used here to strengthen the thought: “absolutely none of his husbands will perish in any way.” Judith 10:14 When these people listened to her words and looked at her face, she seemed to them a miracle of beauty, and they said to her: Judith 10:15 You saved your soul by hastening to come to our lord; Go to his tent, and our men will escort you until they hand you over to his arms. 15. “You have saved your soul,” i.e. your life (cf. Ps. 71:13 and Mark 3:4). Judith 10:16 When you stand before him, do not be afraid in your heart, but speak your words, and he will do you good. Judith 10:17 And they chose a hundred men from among them, and appointed them to her and her maid, and they led them to the tent of Holofernes. 17. The number of guides proposed by Judith is somewhat too large (100 people). Probably, this was necessary not only to protect Judith, but to express the special importance that the enemies felt in this extraordinary incident. Perhaps Judith’s royal posture also immediately inspired royal respect for her, which immediately prompted the royal staff of the convoy to be assigned to her for the official presentation to Holofernes. Finally, the large number of Judith’s guides makes it natural that the enemies were in a foreign area, and their advanced detachments, where Judith was captured, of course, were not so close from the rest of the camp that communication with it was completely safe from any accidents; in all important cases, this communication, naturally, had to be carried out by entire detachments. Judith 10:18 There was a stir throughout the whole camp, because the news of her coming had spread throughout the tents: those who ran surrounded her, since she was standing outside the tent of Holofernes, until they told him about her; Judith 10:19 And they marveled at her beauty, and because of her they marveled also at the children of Israel, and they said every one to his neighbor, Who can despise such a people as have such wives among themselves? It would be unwise to leave even one husband behind, because those who remain would be able to outwit the whole earth. 19. “Who would despise such a people who have such wives among themselves! It is unwise to leave even a single husband among them, because those who remain will be able to outwit the whole earth.” The first of these sentences is interrogative in nature and has no answer, because the second sentence answers with a completely different thought. Both of these proposals are probably given as two independent extremes to which the conversations and judgments of enemies reach at the sight of Judith. Some said that this people, the people of Judith, should probably be distinguished by outstanding virtues and deservedly deserved respect, and not contempt. The historian Judith expressed this idea in question form, implying an answer confirming the justice of the questioned or questioner (“who?...” - “no one”). Others, on the contrary, saw precisely in the merits of this people a serious danger for themselves and drew the completely opposite conclusion - about the need for the complete extermination of Jewish men. The historian contrasted this idea with the first, as an answer that destroys the power of persuasiveness of a direct answer and is more consistent with the presentation of the terrible danger that threatened the Jews from their enemies. “Outwit the whole earth” – κατασοφίσασθαι πάσαν τήν γήν – Vet. Lat. possidere totam terram. An ancient Latin text explains more precisely the meaning of the Greek, saying “those who remain will be able to occupy (possidere) the whole earth.” – However, such an explanation takes away from the original a very characteristic shade of thought. The expression “to outwit” emphasizes a particularly outstanding property of the Jewish people, which made them, from the enemy’s point of view, an invincible force: this is the property of their mind, rationality, fortitude, sufficient insight, which the speeches of Judith, which enchanted everyone, could give. Here, therefore, it is once again confirmed that to defeat the Jews, numerical superiority and physical strength are not enough (Achior’s thought): this requires a special art - “cunning” - the highest work of the mind and in general spiritual forces, of which there are so many on the side of the Jews that even those defeated by their own weapons, they can wriggle out of difficulties and retain the decisive significance of victory for themselves. Judith 10:20 Meanwhile those who slept under Holofernes and all his servants came out and brought her into the tent. 20. “Those who slept under Holofernes and all his servants,” i.e. who made up his guard, keeping guard with him. Judith.10:21 Holofernes rested on his bed behind a curtain decorated with purple, gold, emerald and precious stones. Judith 10:22 When they told him about her, he went out to the front part of the tent, and silver lamps were carried before him. 22. “Before him (Holofernes) they carried silver lamps.” This was necessary not only according to the requirements, perhaps, of etiquette, but also due to the real need for light - for a better inspection of the captured Jewish woman, since the matter took place at night (Judith. 11:3, and earlier Judith. 8:33). Judith.10:23 When Judith introduced herself to him and his servants, everyone was surprised at the beauty of her face. She, falling on her face, bowed to him, and his servants lifted her up. 23. “She fell on her face and bowed to him.” The Jews generally avoided such expressions of respect for mere mortals, especially pagans, considering such honoring befitting only Jehovah God. In the story of Esther we have an example of a sharp and decisive refusal on the part of Mordecai to pay similar honor to Haman. But in the same story we also see that Esther herself falls at the feet of Artaxerxes with her request (Esther 8:3). Obviously, this action of prostrating and worshiping allowed for other interpretations and a certain distinction in application to God and man, and not everyone applied it with the same scrupulousness as we see in Mordecai.