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1–8 Genealogy of Judith and brief information about her. 9–27. Her speech with an accusatory and exhorting speech at a meeting of city elders. 28–31. Uzziah's answer. 32–36. Judith announces her attempt to save the people from their enemies. Judith.8:1 In these days Judith the daughter of Merariah, the son of Oxus, the son of Joseph, the son of Uzziel, the son of Elkiah, the son of Hananiah, the son of Gideon, the son of Raphain, the son of Akithon, the son of Eli, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Salamiel, the son of Salasadai, the son of Jeel, heard. 1. According to the general custom of Jewish genealogies, the clan of Judith reaches Israel through 20 tribes; individual tribes are mutually completed in various manuscripts; missing is Simeon, the last ancestor before Israel, about whom Judith herself clearly speaks elsewhere (Judith. 9:2 v.; cf. Num. 1:6, 2:12). Already the prudent accuracy and complete consistency of the genealogy of Judith with other data in the Bible eliminates any possibility and right to deny her actual existence and interpret her entire history as one complete fiction. For fiction, it would be too much to see it furnished with such detailed and vitally truthful details, which the book of Judith constantly accompanies its story at every step (these are, for example, the next 2-3 verses of the chapter under consideration, and many others). Judith.8:2 Her husband Manasseh, of the same tribe and nation with her, died during the barley harvest; Judith 8:3 because while he was standing in the field near those who were knitting the sheaves, the heat fell on his head, and he took to his bed and died in his city of Bethulia; he was buried with his fathers in the field between Dophaim and Valamon. Judith 8:4 And Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months. 4. The time of Judith's widowhood (3 years and 4 months) is indicated here, obviously, before the events described, and, in particular, until the moment when Judith, preparing to go to Holofernes, for the first time after the death of her husband, took off the “garments of her widowhood” and put on again the “garments of joy,” in which she dressed up during her husband’s life (Judith. 10:3). Judith 8:5 She made herself a tent on the roof of her house, and put sackcloth about her waist, and she had on her the garments of her widowhood. 5. “The clothes of widowhood” are simple, without any decoration (Judith. 10:3, 16:8; Gen. 38:14). Judith 8:6 She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except the days before the Sabbaths and the Sabbaths, the days before the new moons and the new moon, and the feasts and solemnities of the house of Israel. 6. The “days before Saturdays” and “days before new moons” mentioned here (προσάββατα and προνουμηνίαι) gave some grounds to recognize the low antiquity of the book. Judith, due to the fact that the “pre-Sabbath” and “pre-new moon” supposedly began to be revered by the Jews as holidays - at a rather late time. This would, however, be convincing only if we knew exactly at what time the celebration of the designated eves began; and since this cannot be precisely determined, it naturally cannot serve as a criterion for establishing a date. The strength of this refutation and the weakness of the objection are further aggravated by the fact that the mention of “pre-Sabbaths” and “pre-new moons” in the book of Judith is of an accidental and suspicious nature; at least - the Vulgate does not mention them at all, which makes us suspect that the original text did not talk about it either. Judith.8:7 She was beautiful in appearance and very attractive in appearance; Her husband Manasseh left her gold and silver, servants and maidservants, cattle and fields, which she owned. 7. After mentioning Judith's husband, Manasseh, Vet. Lat. also gives the genealogy of Manasseh: filius Joseph filii Achitob f. Melhis f. Elia f. Nathanahel f. Syrrasadac f. Simeon f. Israel, but this genealogy was apparently chosen from verse 1 of the chapter (from the genealogy of Judith herself), which was suggested by the mention of verse 2 about the origin of Manasseh from the same tribe and tribe with Judith. Judith 8:8 And no one reproached her with an evil word, because she was very God-fearing. Judith.8:9 She heard about the evil speeches of the people against the leader, because they were faint-hearted due to the scarcity of water, Judith heard about all the words that Uzziah said to them, how he swore to them to surrender the city to the Assyrians in five days, Judith 8:10 And she sent her maid, who was in charge of all her property, to invite Uzziah, Chabrin, and Harmin, the elders of her city. Judith.8:11 They came, and she said to them: Hear me, leaders of the inhabitants of Bethulia! your word is wrong, which you spoke today before the people, and you made an oath that you swore between God and you, and said that you will surrender the city to our enemies if the Lord does not help us in these days. 9–11. In the corresponding place of Uzziah’s conversation with the people we find only his simple promise to surrender the city to the enemies (“I will do according to your words”, Judith 7:31) if help does not come (in five days). In this verse we encounter an important feature: Uzziah “swore to surrender the city to the Assyrians in five days.” In the further verse 11, a new feature: an unreasonable oath is adopted not only by Uzziah, but by all “the leaders of the inhabitants of Bethulia,” which, by the way, is also mentioned in Judith. 7:26 art. and further. In still further verse 30, Uzziah himself seems to confirm the truth of this by expressing himself in Judith. 7:31, as if personally on his own behalf (“I will do ...”), he now prefers to speak in the language of a representative of others (“the people ... forced us to do as we told them, and obliged us with an oath, which we will not break”). All these additions must be valid due to their obvious naturalness and sufficient evidence. In verse 10, the names of the city elders according to the Russian Bible are given somewhat differently than in the parallel passage Judith. 6:15: there - Chabrias and Charmias (Greek Χαβρίς and Χαρμίς), here and further to Judith. 10:6 – Khavrin and Harmin. These same names are given in other parallel places in the Bible even differently: Gen. 46:9 – Harmi (exactly from Hebrew ???), and in Nav. 7:1 – in the same place Charmias (in Gen. Pad. “Charmia”). The actual exact, in accordance with the Hebrew, spelling and pronunciation of these names should be such as one of them is given in the indicated place in Genesis, 46:9: Harmi - ???, and therefore - Havri - ???. Forms - Chabrius and Charmias also represent accuracy and correspondence, but less, and not to the Hebrew, but to the Greek style (Χαβρίς and Χαρμίς). As for the forms - Khavrin and Kharmin, this is a complete misunderstanding. In both cases, where, according to the Russian Bible, the designated names are given in such forms (Judith. 8:10, 10:6), these names are in the accusative case, and their Greek endings, naturally, change to “ίν” (Χαβρίν and Χαρμίν). The translator into Russian did not think about this metamorphosis, which was completely understandable in the Greek text, and did not even bother to remember the forms of names he had already used (Judith. 6:15), and believing - in Judith. 8:10, 10:6, which deals with names of immutable endings, literally translated the Greek accusative cases, adding Russian accusative endings to them. Hence it came out - instead of: Khavria and Kharmiya - Khavrin and Kharmina (Χαβρίν᾿ a and Χαρμίν᾿ a). Judith 8:12 Who then are you, who have tempted God this day and stood in the place of God among the sons of men? Judith 8:13 Behold, you are now testing the Lord Almighty, but you will never know anything; Judith 8:14 For you cannot fathom the depths of a man’s heart, nor understand the words of his thoughts: how then can you test God, who created all this, and know His mind, and understand His thought? No, brothers, do not anger the Lord our God! Judith 8:15 For if He does not want to help us in these five days, then He has the power to protect us on whatever days He pleases, or to defeat us in the presence of our enemies. Judith 8:16 Do not pledge the advice of the Lord our God: God cannot be threatened as a man, nor can he be pointed out as a son of man. Judith 8:17 Therefore, expecting salvation from Him, let us call upon Him to help us, and He will hear our voice, if it pleases Him. Judith 8:18 For there was not in our generations, nor is there at this time, any tribe, nor nation, nor people, nor city, that worshiped gods made with hands, as there was in former days, Judith 8:19 for which our fathers were given over to the sword and to plunder, and fell into a great fall before our enemies. Judith 8:20 But we know no other God besides Him, and therefore we hope that He will not despise us and none of our kind. Judith 8:21 For with our captivity all Judea will fall, and our holy things will be plundered, and He will exact the desecration of them from our lips, Judith 8:22 And the slaying of our brethren and the captivity of the earth and the desolation of our inheritance will come upon our heads among the nations to whom we will be enslaved, and we will be a stumbling block and a reproach among those who take possession of us; Judith 8:23 For slavery will not serve us as an honor, but the Lord our God will count it as a dishonor. Judith.8:24 So, brothers, let us show our brothers that their lives depend on us, and the holy things, the house of the Lord, and the altar are built on us. Judith 8:25 For all this let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who tests us, as He tested our fathers. Judith 8:26 Remember what He did to Abraham, how He tempted Isaac, what happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia, when he tended the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother: Judith.8:27 Just as He did not tempt them to torture their hearts, so He does not take revenge on us, but only for admonition the Lord punishes those who approach Him. 11–27. The speech of Judith, highly animated, touching and reasonable, is in the first part (11–16 vv.) accusatory in nature, in the second (17–27 vv.) it is exhorting. Thinking deeper into the matter, one cannot help but feel that the form that Uzziah gave to his promise to surrender the city really had a defiant and demanding character in relation to the Lord God, with the destinies of His free Self-determination. If Uzziah had put it simply: “I will surrender the city if in 5 days there is no change in its situation for the better,” then this would have been quite in the order of human discussion. But when he first expressed all his hope for the help of the Lord and then arbitrarily set a deadline for this help, which was exclusively a matter of Divine Self-determination, according to his human considerations, then this, obviously, was already an encroachment on the said Self-determination, a limitation of the Unlimited and Almighty, the Wise and Most Gracious Being: this was what the similar action of Moses was in the desert, when he, unable to endure the cowardly despondency of the people to the end, “tempted” the Lord with an equally cowardly cry: “Listen, rebellious ones, should we bring water for you from this rock?” (Num. 20:10). This was a “temptation” of the Lord, a “test” or “test” of His power, a “challenge” to His omnipotence, wisdom and goodness. This was, according to the subtle definition of Judith herself (v. 16), a kind of “pledge” of the advice of the Lord our God, a “threat” to Him as a person, a hint to His actions, extortion of His miracles. All this deserved the reproof and admonition with which Judith addressed first of all the leaders of the city. The second, exhorting part of the speech, expressing the hope that the Lord will not abandon his people, confidently and thoroughly affirms this hope with deeply subtle considerations. The main of these considerations was also cited by Achior (Judith. 5:21) in a warning to Holofernes: this is the loyalty of the people to the Lord their God and ignorance of another God besides Him (v. 20). In support of this consideration, a reminder is given (in the form of an introductory sentence - v. 18-19) that all the previous misfortunes of the people were caused by betrayals of God, which has not happened for a long time in recent times and has not happened for a long time. Another consideration in favor of patiently waiting for God’s help is that the fall of their city would be the fall and captivity of all of Judea, with all its shrines, and they (the Bethulians) would be shown to be most guilty and responsible for this misfortune and desecration of the shrines. And vice versa - having begged for help with patient prayer and courageously enduring the present trial, they will become mediators of the salvation of the rest of Israel and the shrines of the church of God. The latter was so certain for Judith that she already calls for gratitude to God in advance. “For all this let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who tests us, as He tested our fathers!” (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) - concludes with inspiration and fiery faith this amazing woman, whose very appearance in such desperate moments with such presence of mind was already a miracle, forcing one to believe in the imminent possibility of other miracles necessary to save the distressed city. Uzziah was waiting for one of these miracles in the sending of rain, and now, seeing before him a miraculously courageous and inspired woman, he hopes through her prayer to ask the Lord for the saving sending of rain and to ask her to offer this prayer (vv. 28–31). However, this was also the “subordination” of the Lord to limited human considerations, a “prompt” of His actions, which often exceeded all human considerations, expectations and assumptions. That is why Judith responds to Uzziah’s request (for rain) with a completely different action, which was truly more wonderful than rain and rightly deserved to be carried “by the sons of our generation to the generations of generations” (v. 22). Judith 8:28 Uzziah said to her, “Everything that you have said, you have said from a good heart, and no one will oppose your words. Judith 8:29 For not from this day only has thy wisdom been known, but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known thy understanding and the good disposition of thy heart. Judith 8:30 But the people were weary with thirst, and forced us to do as we told them, and bound us with an oath, which we would not break. Judith 8:31 Pray for us, for you are a godly woman, and the Lord will send rain to fill our reservoirs, and we will no longer faint from thirst. Judith 8:32 Judith said to them, “Listen to me, and I will do the work that the sons of our generation will carry through the generations.” Judith 8:33 Stand at the gate this night, and I will go out with my maid, and during the days after which you decided to give the city to our enemies, the Lord will visit Israel by my hand. 33. No matter how reprehensible it seemed in the eyes of God, from the point of view of Judith, his denounced appointment of a period (5 days) for saving the city, nevertheless Judith does not change this period, obviously not finding it convenient that the oath once given could be broken, and goes about her business in full confidence that during the specified days the Lord will visit Israel by her hand. Deciding to go to the enemy camp that same night, Judith asks the commanders to come to the gates of the city. This was probably necessary in order to immediately obtain their emergency permission to open the gates, with the special vigilance of the guards (Judith. 10:9); It was inconvenient to ask for such permission in advance due to the fact that her idea could be disclosed and arouse unnecessary and dangerous curiosity. The presence of the leaders here was necessary, perhaps, so that they could see with their own eyes that the work of saving the people had begun, and with great patience and hope they endured the especially difficult last days of the city that was perishing from the siege, awaiting the end of what had begun. Judith 8:34 But do not ask about my undertaking, for I will not tell you until what I intend to do is accomplished. Judith 8:35 And Uzziah and the rulers said to her: Go in peace, and the Lord God is before you to take vengeance on our enemies! Judith 8:36 And they left her tent and went to their armies. 34–36. Judith does not let anyone in, not even her bosses, into the plans of her enterprise. Filled with deep faith that her work was God’s work, she did not expect help from anyone, did not need anyone’s advice or instructions, and therefore did not consider it necessary to disclose this God’s work to anyone until the right time. It is enough that this wondrous woman, in this whole story acting with the spirit and power of the true inspired chosen ones of God, managed to immediately inspire so much confidence in herself that the leaders, feeling the closeness of deliverance from her enemies, admonished her with such a relieved soul: “Go in peace, and the Lord God is before you to take vengeance on our enemies!”