Глава 4

1–3. The terror of the Jews before Holofernes. 4–8. Desperate preparations for defense. 9–15. Prayer to God for help. Judith 4:1 The children of Israel, who lived in Judea, heard about all that Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered all their sanctuaries and given them over for destruction, Judith 4:2 They were very, very afraid of him and trembled for Jerusalem and the church of the Lord their God; Judith 4:3 Because they had recently returned from captivity, recently all the people of Judah had gathered together, and the vessels, the altar and the house of the Lord were sanctified from desecration. 1–3. The horror of the Jews before Holofernes, as it is directly made clear, here was most of all caused by the fact that he plundered and destroyed the sanctuaries of the conquered peoples. The same danger apparently threatened the sanctuary of Jehovah, which had just been restored after returning from captivity. Judith 4:4 They sent to all the borders of Samaria and Conia, and Beteron and Velmen, and Jericho, and to Hobah and Esorah, and to the plain of Salem, 4. “Conii” – Κωνάς, otherwise Κωνά, and according to some lists even Κώμας (without the subsequent καί), and from this κώμας (villages) the further “Veterona”, etc. is placed in close dependence. as a definition (in the villages of Bethhoron, etc.). It is difficult to indicate anything as an independent locality under such a name. “Veterona” – Βαιθωρών – is ???, the current Beit-Ur. "Velmena" – Βελμέν, Alexander. Βελμαιν, otherwise 'Αβελμαείν, lat. Abelmam: a place somewhere near Dophaim (other mentions of it: Judith. 7:3 - or Βελθεμ, or Βελβαίμ and Βελμέν, as well as ' Αβελμαεν, Vet. Lat. Abelme, Vulg. Belma, and Judith 8:3 – Βελαμών) and Λαμών. “To Hobah” – Χωβά, or Χωβαι (Judith. 15:5, 4) – north of Damascus (Gen. 14:15). "Esora" - Αίσωρα, A σσαρών, is probably Hebrew. ??? – A σώρ – Azor. "Plain of Salim". – Σασλήμ, Saron Valley – one at a time; others mean here the area in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Judith.4:5 occupied all the tops of the high mountains, surrounded the villages located on them with walls and put aside reserves of grain in case of war, since their fields had recently been compressed, Judith 4:6 And the great priest Jehoiakim, who was in Jerusalem in those days, wrote to the inhabitants of Bethulia and Betomesthem, which lies opposite Esdraelon, on the front side of the plain close to Dophaim, 6. High Priest Joachim - according to some lists, bears the name Eliakim (Ί λιακείμ). "Vetiluia" – Βετυλούα, Βατυλώα, Βαιτουλία, Vulg. Bethalia is an area not mentioned anywhere else except in this book. It is difficult to identify it with well-known areas. This uncertainty and obscurity of Bethulia gave some reason to suspect its existence and recognize pure fiction here, however, Modin, where Mattathias fled, is also not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and can not easily be found among the currently known areas, and yet it would be completely unconvincing to explain everything here as fiction. Some details of the Bible in the description of Bethulia help to somewhat determine, although approximately, her position. It was adjacent to Israel and Daphaim (Judith. 4:6, 7:3), located on a mountain at the base of which there was a spring (Judith. 6:13, 7:12); Of the current localities, Sheik Shebel may fit this definition more significantly than others. “Vetomesthem” – Βαιτομεσθαίμ, also mentioned in Judith. 15:4. Judith 4:7 so that they would occupy the sunrises into the mountainous country, because through them there was an entrance into Judea, and it was easy for them to hinder those coming, since the passage was narrow even for two people. Judith 4:8 The children of Israel did as the great priest Jehoiakim and the elders of all the people of Israel, who were in Jerusalem, commanded them. 8. “The elders of all the people of Israel” - γερουσία, mentioned even further - Judith. 11:14, 15:8. Some wanted to see here an indication of the Sanhedrin, and since the latter did not exist before the captivity, the very story of Judith was attributed to times more or less significantly later than the captivity. This, however, is unfounded, in view of the fact that γερουσία here is simply a translation of the expression “elders of Israel” often found in the Bible. Judith 4:9 And all the men of Israel cried out to God with great earnestness, and humbled their souls with great earnestness: Judith 4:10 they, and their wives, and their children, and their cattle; and every stranger, and a hired servant, and that was bought with money, put sackcloth upon their loins. Judith 4:11 And every man of Israel, and every woman, and the children, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the church, put ashes on their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord, Judith 4:12 They clothed the altar in sackcloth, and diligently and with one accord cried out to the God of Israel, lest He, for the joy of the Gentiles, deliver up their children to be plundered, their wives to be spoiled, the cities of their inheritance to be destroyed, and their holy things to be desecrated and desecrated. 9–12. “They cried out... and humbled their souls... they (all the men of Israel) and their wives, and their children, and their cattle...” How even “their cattle” had to take part in the sorrow of Israel, another similar place in the book of the prophet Jonah (Jonah 3: 7-8) gives an idea of this, which tells how the king of Nineveh, touched by the preaching of the prophet and himself the first to change his royal clothes to repentant sackcloth, commanded and to his subjects, “so that neither people, nor cattle, nor oxen, nor sheep should eat anything, go to pasture or drink water, and that people and cattle should be covered in sackcloth and cry loudly to God.” The sadness and sorrow of everything around them had to accompany Israel's grief and aggravate its cry to God for mercy and hope for hearing. The altar itself - the sacred bearer of the prayers of the people and the mercies of Jehovah - was clothed in sackcloth, and with its heart-rending appearance it aggravated the streams of repentant, sorrowful tears and prayers. Judith 4:13 And the Lord heard their voice and looked upon their affliction; and throughout all Judea and Jerusalem the people fasted for many days before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty. Judith 4:14 And Joachim the high priest, and all the priests who stood before the Lord, His servants, having girded their loins with sackcloth, continually offered burnt offerings, vows, and willing gifts of the people. Judith 4:15 Their turbans had ashes on them, and they cried with all their might to the Lord to visit with mercy the whole house of Israel. 13–15. Rare in its touching and universality, the rise of the religious feeling of the Jews was not only caused by their helplessness and fear of a desperate situation, but was at the same time an indicator of their internal strong religious vitality, in which the calamities of the last years of the Kingdom’s existence especially nurtured the soul of the Jew. This is what gave the manifestations of the grief of the Jews a special touching stamp and propitiated the Lord to hear their voice and look upon their grief.