Глава 11

1–4. Holofernes interrogates Judith. 5–19. Judith explains (falsely) the reason for her departure and offers Holofernes her services to take over Judea, citing the revelation of God’s will about this. 20–23. Holofernes believes and expresses favor to Judith. Judith.11:1 Holofernes said to her, Be of good cheer, wife; Do not be afraid in your heart, for I have not done harm to anyone who voluntarily decided to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth. 1. “Do not be afraid in your heart...” Fear in the heart is the highest degree of fear (cf. 1 Sam. 27:5: Saul “was afraid and his heart trembled greatly”); therefore the tranquility directed towards her is the highest tranquility. Judith 11:2 And now, if thy people who dwell in the hill country had not despised me, I would not have lifted up my spear against them; but they did it for themselves. 2. “I would not have raised my spear against them” in order to fight with him, “but they did it for themselves,” i.e. They themselves called me to raise my spear against them, to fight with them. Judith 11:3 Tell me: why did you flee from them and come to us? You will find salvation here; do not be afraid: you will live this night and after, 3. Holofernes’ question: “Tell me: why did you run away from them and come to us?” - makes it clear that Holofernes was already largely prepared and notified by the servants about Judith in her own words (Judith. 10:12, etc.) about the motives and purpose of her coming, and, asking her a direct question about this, he expresses a desire once again personally from her lips and to question her in more detail about everything. This was a great guarantee of the success of Judith's intentions. Judith 11:4 For no one will harm you; on the contrary, everyone will do you good, as happens to the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar. Judith 11:5 Judith said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid; Let the servant speak before you: I will not tell a lie to my master this night. 5. Explaining the motive and purpose of her coming to the enemy camp, Judith consciously and, apparently, not so decently for her moral personality, allows lies, deceit, and deceit, permeating with them from beginning to end her long speech ingratiating herself to Holofernes. At the very beginning of her speech, she solemnly assures: “I will not tell a lie to my master this night,” further, she promises him: “God will accomplish the work through you, and my master will not make mistakes in his undertakings.” After several more flattering compliments to Holofernes’ pride, Judith brings up, perhaps, a fact from the life of the besieged that she did not invent, making it, however, also material for deceiving Holofernes. She reports that the extreme lack of food will soon force the besieged to rush to unclean food forbidden by the law and, further, to the sacrilegious touch of the consecrated firstfruits of wheat, wine and oil, although with the permission of the meeting of the Jerusalem elders. Judith herself, however, looks at the matter more strictly and, expecting the strictest punishment from God especially for the last crime (sacrilege), she foresees the instrument of this punishment precisely in Holofernes, for the assistance of which she was sent by revelation itself, obliging her to stand at the height of duty and obedience, stronger and stricter than the feelings of patriotism and natural compassion. The reference to revelation, which was especially conducive to Judith's confidence, takes her lie to an extreme degree, bordering closely on blasphemy, and forces her to come up with especially strong reasons for Judith's justification and apology. It was already noted above (see commentary on Judith 7:13 v.) that the cunning of Judith itself had its justifications and its apologetic meaning in this whole adventure with Holofernes. The end result of this trick is the death blow to Holofernes by the hand of Judith and the judgment of God. But since this result is considered under such a light, it is obvious that everything that preceded and prepared the success of this result must have justification in it and in common with it. It is impossible to take separately one or another phase in which the case of Judith developed so skillfully and entirely woven from the seduction, cunning and deceit of this supreme power of female weakness, chosen by God to shame human pride and arrogance. Otherwise, although we will correctly discuss essentially the individual details of the case of Judith, we will nevertheless sin against the general significance of this case, as we have indicated - quite excusable and even so glorifying for Judith. The reprehensibility of Judith’s behavior is greatly weakened in those places where she more or less obviously allows for ambiguity of speech (Judith. 11:16, 12:4, etc.) or represents as reality only the possible, using the liveliness of speech characteristic of especially prophetic depictions of the future and the possible. Be that as it may, all the behavior of Judith must ultimately be justified by her highly worthy personality, solemnly attested in many places in the book, and by the entire course and success of her brave deed, so glorious for the entire Jewish people, which was also important for the salvation of the most sacred treasures of the religion of the Jews. Judith 11:6 And if you follow the words of your handmaid, then God will accomplish the work through you, and my master will not fail in his undertakings. Judith.11:7 Long live Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth, and long live his power, who sent you to correct every soul, for not only will men serve him through you, but also the beasts of the field, and the cattle, and the birds of the air, through your power, will live under the power of Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. Judith 11:8 For we have heard of your wisdom and the cunning of your mind, and the whole earth knows that you alone are good in all the kingdom, strong in knowledge and marvelous in military exploits. 7–8. The exceptional praise and flattering words that Judith lavishes abundantly before Holofernes did not, of course, represent anything strange and suspicious for the eastern courtier, spoiled by praise and flattery. And Judith here is still far from entering, so to speak, into the “excitement” of her cunning, allowing herself to overdo her praises while completely in the spirit of the sons of the East, who to this day have refined their imagination to similar pearls of eloquent flattery in dealing with those to whom it is necessary to show signs of high respect. Judith 11:9 And what Achior spoke in your assembly, we heard his words, because the men of Bethulia left him alive, and he told them everything that he spoke to you. Judith 11:10 Therefore, O sovereign lord, do not disregard his words, but lay them down in your heart, for it is true: our generation is not punished, the sword has no power over us, if they do not sin before their God. 9–10. Showing particular truthfulness, impartiality, directness, and sincerity, Judith confirms the truth of Achior’s words about the Jews, that “the sword has no power over them if they do not sin before their God.” And as if hastening to avoid the fate of Achior for openly confessing this truth, Judith reassures Holofernes with the assurance that this position has ceased to have positive force for the Jews, but on the contrary, it now gives all the strength and time to Holofernes to act. Judith 11:11 Therefore, so that my master would not be repulsed and unsuccessful and death would overtake them, sin took possession of them, with which they anger their God by doing what should not be done; Judith.11:12 because they had a shortage of food and all the water was exhausted, and so they decided to throw themselves on their livestock and are thinking of eating everything that God strictly forbade in His law to be consumed as food. Judith 11:13 Even the firstfruits of wheat and tithes of wine and oil, which, after consecration, are kept for the priests who stand before the face of our God in Jerusalem, they decided to use, while none of the people should have touched them with their hands. Judith 11:14 They sent to Jerusalem, as the inhabitants there also did, to bring to them permission to do so from a meeting of the elders. Judith 11:15 And as soon as news is given to them, and they do this, then that same day they will be handed over to you for destruction. 11–15. The Jews allowed what alone could do and made them powerless, ensuring the complete victory of Holofernes over them. They have already been “taken over by sin, with which they anger their God by doing what they should not” (by deciding to eat food that is forbidden by God or permitted only to God’s sanctified servants). However, in fact, they have not yet carried out their criminal resolve, and they still need to wait for the moment when the crime is committed and they are finally doomed to death. Judith 11:16 That is why I, your servant, when I learned about all this, fled from them, and God sent me to do such things with you that the whole earth will be amazed, wherever they hear about them, Judith 11:17 For your handmaid is pious and serves the God of Heaven day and night. Now, my lord, I will stay with you; just let your servant go out into the valley at night to pray to God, and He will reveal to me when they commit their crime. Judith 11:18 I will come and declare it to you, and then you go out with all your army, and none of them will oppose you. Judith 11:19 I will lead you through Judea until we reach Jerusalem; I will set your seat in the midst of it, and you will drive them like sheep without a shepherd, and the dog will not lift his tongue against you. This was spoken to me by revelation and declared to me, and I was sent to tell you. 16–19. Judith, as follows from her words, undertakes a somewhat premature departure from the Jews in order to avoid any complicity in their expected crime; on the other hand, this prematureness promises to help Holofernes more accurately choose the moment that will ensure the success of the attack with the assistance of Judith, who is about to receive a revelation about the completed fall of the people from God Himself. All this was too plausible to, in connection with the enchanting beauty of the Jewish woman, influence Holofernes and explain his gullibility towards her and the lack of any precaution. Judith 11:20 Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants. They marveled at her wisdom and said: Judith 11:21 From one end of the earth to the other there is no woman so beautiful in face or wise in speech. Judith.11:22 Holofernes said to her: God has done well that he has sent you ahead of this people, so that there may be strength in our hands, and destruction among those who despise my master. Judith 11:23 You are beautiful in face and kind in your speech. If you do as you say, then your God will be my God; You will live in the house of King Nebuchadnezzar and you will be famous in all the land. 23. The first stage of Judith's enterprise ends in complete success. Until recently, such an arrogant pagan declared that the fulfillment of the words of victory over the Jews would be his submission to the God of Israel: “Your God will be mine...” True, many commentators believed that Holofernes only wanted to flatter Judith with this promise, which was important for his unclean intentions against her, however, it was hardly particularly necessary. And it is much more natural, therefore, to imagine the matter in such a way that Holofernes completely succumbed to the irresistible persuasiveness and power of charm of Judith’s speeches and seriously imagined that after such a brilliant result, the recognition of Judith’s God would be quite natural and pleasant for him.