The Book of Judith

This article surveys the story told in the Septuagint Book of Judith, its historicity and date, and the characters and structure of the work. It discusses biblical influences on the apocryphal book, the debated issue of the work’s original language, and theories about the author’s identity. The article also looks at the different approach to Judith found in Jerome’s influential Vulgate version, and points to the moral and feminist questions raised by the figure of Judith. As for the latter, at first sight, Judith, the savior of her people, seems to have the makings of a feminist heroine. She is undoubtedly superior to all the men who surround her, superior in wisdom as well as in action. Judith is strong and self-reliant, controlled and calm, and in many ways she seems to be an androgynous figure, an honorary male, so to speak. However, Judith’s role in the plot requires that she be without family ties, attractive, and deceptive, while her role as a religious authority and mouthpiece for the author’s theological ideas requires that she be wise, pious, and observant. This makes Judith a complex and sometimes contradictory figure, but not a feminist one.The article ends with a very brief account of the book’s reception history.

She Painted Her Eyes and Looked Out of the Window (2 Kgs 9:30)

Evidence for the production and application of perfumed oil and cosmetics is found throughout the ancient world. In contrast to the wider ancient Near East, where both men and women utilize cosmetics, in the Hebrew Bible cosmetics were associated with women in general—and with a certain type of woman in particular. Cosmetics are connected with immoral behaviour and deviant sexual practices. Yet certain biblical texts feature a female character applying perfumed oils without censure. This chapter considers these women and their application of perfumed oils in the books of Esther and Ruth from the Hebrew Bible, and the book of Judith and the story of Susanna from the Greek Bible. Turning from perfume to eye kohl, I then explore Jezebel’s application of eye pigment in the books of Kings. Examining evidence from the wider ancient world, we can uncover dimensions of how the painted eye communicated status and identity, anxiety and power, with implications for the relationship between self and other in the world of the Hebrew Bible.

Italian 17th- and 18th-Century Dramatic Works with Music, Written for the Clothing and Profession Ceremonies, with Special Reference to Compositions Based on the Book of Judith*

Late 16th- and early 17th-century Italian theatrical works (with or without music) based on the Book of Judith are perceived as associated with women, who acted as their performers (in female monasteries), dedicatees, or patrons. This paper considers the reasons for the loosening of such ties in the Baroque genres of dialogue and oratorio, which evolved in the circles of religious and lay congregations, in which women were either marginalised or altogether excluded. The link between women and the oratorio genre was thus maintained only in the case of the so-called palace oratorios. Oratorios did not gain a solid footing in the music life of female religious orders, either. Their presence mainly made itself felt in the space suspended between the monastic and secular worlds, namely, in the context of the ceremonies of clothing and profession, which were celebrated with performances of cantatas, dialogues, or oratorios. A survey of such repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries has revealed an astonishing wealth of subjects and approaches: allegorical works, saints’ lives, Old Testament stories praising parents who offered their children up to God, happy weddings, or the deeds of extraordinary women. The Book of Judith occupies an important place among the latter subjects, which emphasised the fides and fortitudo of those entering monastic life. Existing works (such as Metastasio's Betulia) were also sometimes used. Some texts were written specially for such occasions, and they demonstrate individual qualities. Metastasio's solemn and exalted model was followed even in such small-scale pieces as the Florentine componimento sacro Giuditta of 1750. The rappresentazione La Giuditte (1621) depicts the strength of faith not only of Judith herself, but also (contrary to the Biblical account) – of the Bethulian society as an allegory of Bologna and its inhabitants. Comic elements were smuggled into the Paduan oratorio Giuditta (1735). To sum up, dramatic works with music based on the Book of Judith, written for the ceremonies of women entering the monastery, which have hitherto remained marginal to academic research, represent a promising field for further studies.

No Future for Bethulia? Judith and Queer Time

The Book of Judith and its main character are fascinating for the ways in which they play with time and history. This article argues that theoretical frameworks of queer temporality are instructive for understanding Judith. Judith’s childlessness, her aberrant daily schedule, and her refusal to work on her enemies’ time mark her as someone resisting normative time and a focus on the future. At the same time, however, Judith does ensure a future for Bethulia, and, by extension, for Israel. Consequently, this article also explores how the Book of Judith itself plays with the idea of history, calling into question the very future Judith supposedly ensures. The article also highlights the absence of eschatological thinking in the Book of Judith. Finally, this article discusses the implications of such an erring, queer narrative for thinking about Jewish history and the biblical canon.

Reading LXXJudith 13:1–9 as performance

The Septuagint Book of Judith and its derivatives have had an enormous influence on the history of Western Europe and the Christian church. Judith has been employed in various situations to incite violence against a perceived opposition. In this regard, this article focuses on the climax of this book (Jdt 13:1–9) as performance text. In this context, many of the insights proffered by Perry in his seminal work Insights from Performance Criticism (2016) have been expanded upon from the perspective of a Greek and/or Hellenistic environment.Contribution: The value of reading LXXJudith as performance is clearly demonstrated. The conclusion is reached that this pericope is indeed highly subversive. Suggestion is also made that, contrary to more conservative wisdom, with reference specifically to LXXJudith 13:1–9, the Judith fabula is not really reconciliatory in nature. Rather, it seems to provoke conflict between competing powers.

Signs of Greek Education in the Book of Judith

This article examines Judith’s prayer in chapter 9 of the book of Judith from the perspective of the guidelines on speech-in-character found in Aelius Theon’s Progymnasmata (mid/end of the first century CE). According to the guidelines, it is important for an author of prose to achieve correspondence between the literary persona and the actual speech-in-character. This article examines the extent to which Judith’s prayer in chapter 9 observes Theon’s guidelines, as well as the theological implications of this.