{"id":2126,"date":"2019-05-28T07:26:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T05:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2019-05-28T07:26:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T05:26:30","slug":"outside-the-bible-ancient-jewish-writings-related-to-scripture-translation-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/outside-the-bible-ancient-jewish-writings-related-to-scripture-translation-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture: Translation \u2013 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

they were like hands of life, . And after these things, Joseph grasped her right hand and kissed it, and Aseneth kissed his head and sat at his right.
\n6And her father and mother and all of her kindred came from the field of their inheritance. And they saw Aseneth like a vision of light, and her beauty was \t heavenly beauty. And they saw her sitting with Joseph and clothed in a wedding garment. 7And they were amazed at her beauty, and they rejoiced and gave glory to God who brings the dead to life. 8And after these things, they ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves.
\nAnd Pentephres said to Joseph, \u201cTomorrow, I will summon all the notable men and the satraps of the entire land of Egypt, and I will host a wedding celebration for you, and you will take my daughter Aseneth as a wife.\u201d 9And Joseph said, \u201cI will go tomorrow to Pharaoh the king because he is like my father and he appointed me (as) ruler over the entire land of Egypt, and I will speak into his ears about Aseneth, and he himself will give her to me as a wife.\u201d 10And Pentephres said to him, \u201cGo in peace.\u201d
\n21:1And Joseph remained that day with Pentephres, and he did not sleep with Aseneth because Joseph said, \u201cIt is not fitting for a god-fearing man to sleep with his wife before the wedding.\u201d
\n2And Joseph rose at dawn and went to Pharaoh and said to him, \u201cGive me Aseneth, (the) daughter of Pentephres, priest of Heliopolis, as a wife.\u201d 3 Pharaoh was very glad, and he said to Joseph, \u201cLook, is she not betrothed from the beginning (of time)? Let her be your wife from now on and forever.\u201d 4And Pharaoh sent and summoned Pentephres, and he came and brought Aseneth and stood her before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh saw her and was amazed at her beauty and said, \u201cThe LORD, the God of Joseph, will bless you, child, and let this beauty of yours remain forever because the LORD, the god of Joseph, chose you as a bride for Joseph, because he is the firstborn son of God, and you shall be called a daughter of the Most High and bride of Joseph from now on and forever.\u201d 5And Pharaoh took Joseph and Aseneth and placed golden crowns their heads, (crowns) that were in his household from the beginning and from of old. Pharaoh set Aseneth at the right of Joseph, 6and he put his hands upon their heads, and his right hand was upon Aseneth, and Pharaoh said, \u201cThe LORD God, the Most High, will bless you (both), multiply you, and and glorify you forever.\u201d 7And Pharaoh turned them toward each other face to face and brought them mouth to mouth, and he [joined them together] with their lips, and they kissed each other.
\n8After these things, Pharaoh hosted a wedding celebration and large feast and great carousal for seven days. And he summoned all the chief officials of land of Egypt and all the kings of the nations, and he announced to the entire land of Egypt, \u201cEvery person who does work during the seven days of the wedding celebration of Joseph and Aseneth will suffer death!\u201d
\n9And after these things, Joseph slept with Aseneth, and she conceived from Joseph and bore Manasseh and his brother, Ephraim, in the house of Joseph.
\n10Then Aseneth began to confess to the LORD God, praying (and giving thanks) for all (the) good things of which she was considered worthy by the LORD.<\/the><\/magnify><\/the><\/and><\/on><\/rightly><\/to><\/and><\/like><\/and><\/p>\n

11\u201cI sinned, O LORD, .
\nI, Aseneth, .
\n12 I sinned. Before you I sinned .
\nI flourishing in my father\u2019s house, and I was a boastful and arrogant parthenos.
\n13
\nAnd I worshiped strange gods that were without number, and I ate bread from their sacrificial offerings.
\n14
\n15
\nAnd I did not know the LORD God of heaven, and I did not trust in God the Most High of life.
\n16I sinned, O LORD, I sinned greatly.
\nFor I trusted in the wealth of my glory and in my beauty, and I was boastful and arrogant.
\n17
\nAnd I used to disdain every man on the earth,
\nand there was no who could do anything before me.
\n18I sinned, O LORD, greatly.
\n all those who courted me, I disdained them and spat at them.
\n19
\n20
\n21
\nuntil the time when Joseph, the mighty one of God, came.
\nHe brought me down from my power, he lowered me from my arrogant state,
\nand with his beauty, ; with his wisdom, he seized me like a fish on a fishhook;
\nwith his spirit like live bait; with his power, he strengthened me
\nand brought me to the God of the ages and to the ruler of the of the Most High;
\nand he gave me bread of life to eat and a cup of wisdom ,
\nand I became his bride forever .\u201d<\/and><\/to><\/house><\/he><\/he><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/and><\/and><\/i><\/one><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/was><\/greatly><\/i><\/daughter><\/i><\/p>\n

22:1And after these things, the seven years of abundance passed, and the seven years of famine began to come. 2And Jacob heard about Joseph, his son, and Israel came to Egypt with his entire kindred in the second year of the famine, in the second month, on the 21st of the month, and he dwelled in the land of Goshen. 3And Aseneth said to Joseph, \u201cI will go and see your father because your father Israel is like a father and a god to me.\u201d 4And Joseph said to her, \u201cYou will go with me and see my father.\u201d 5And Joseph and Aseneth went to the land of Goshen to Jacob. And the brothers of Joseph met them and paid obeisance to them with (their) face(s) on the ground. 6And they went in (the house) to Jacob. And Israel was sitting on his bed, and he was an old man in (his) ripe old age. 7And Aseneth saw him and was amazed at his beauty because Jacob was very handsome in appearance, and his old age was like (the) youth of an attractive man. And his head was all white like snow, and the hairs of his head were completely full and very thick \t, and his beard was white and dropped down to his chest. And his eyes were bright and flashing (like lightening), his , shoulders, and arms like an angel\u2019s, his thighs, calves, and feet were like a giant\u2019s. 8And Aseneth him was amazed, and she paid obeisance to him with (her) face on the ground. And Jacob said to Joseph, \u201cIs this my daughter-in-law, your wife? Blessed she will be by God the Most High!\u201d 9And Jacob called her to himself and blessed her and kissed her. And Aseneth reached out her hands and grasped Jacob\u2019s neck and hung upon the neck of father , and she kissed him. 10And after these things, they ate and drank.
\nAnd Joseph and Aseneth went (back) to their home. 11Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Joseph and the sons of Leah, alone joined in escorting them, but the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah, the servants of Leah and Rachel (respectively), did not join in escorting them because they envied them and they were at enmity with them. 12And Levi was on the right of Aseneth and Joseph on the left, 13and Aseneth grasped Levi\u2019s hand. And Aseneth loved Levi very much, more than all the brothers of Joseph, because he was devoted to the LORD, he was an intelligent man and a prophet of the Most High, and he saw (things) clearly with his eyes. He would see writings that had been written in heaven , and he the inexpressible matters , and he revealed them secretly to Aseneth because Levi himself also loved Aseneth very much, and he would see the place of her rest in the highest places .
\n23:1And it happened (one day) when Joseph and Aseneth were passing by, the firstborn son of Pharaoh saw them from the wall. And he Aseneth and was stricken and fiercely indignant, and he became ill because of her beauty and said, \u201cThus it will not be!\u201d 2And the son of Pharaoh sent messengers and summoned Simeon and Levi to himself. And the men came to him and stood before him. And the firstborn son of Pharaoh said to them, \u201cI know today that you are men more powerful than all people on the earth, and with these right hands of yours, the city of the Shechemites has been overthrown, and with these two swords of yours, 30,000 warriors were cut down. 3And, see, today I shall take you as for myself, and I will give you much gold and silver, male and female servants, and houses and large inheritances. Only carry out this matter and show me mercy because I have been very insulted by your brother Joseph, because he took my wife Aseneth, who was betrothed to me from the beginning. 4And now, come, cooperate with me, and we will make war against Joseph your brother, and I will kill him with my sword and have Aseneth as a wife, and you will be to me as brothers and trustworthy friends. 5Only, carry out . But if you hesitate to act on this word and you disdain my plan, look! my sword is prepared against you.\u201d 6And at the same time he was saying these words, he exposed his sword and showed (it) to them.
\nBut when , Simeon and Levi, heard these words, they were extremely stunned because the Pharaoh\u2019s son spoke to them in a tyrannical manner. 7And Simeon was a brash and audacious man, and he considered placing his hand upon the of his sword and drawing it from its sheath and striking the son of Pharaoh because he spoke harsh things to them. 8And Levi saw the consideration of his (Simeon\u2019s) heart because Levi was a prophet and he would observe (things) with mind and eyes and in the heart . And Levi stepped on Simeon\u2019s right foot with his foot and pressed it, and he signaled to him to cease from his anger. 9And Levi said to Simeon quietly, \u201cWhy are you furious with anger against this man? We are god-fearing men, and it is not fitting for us to repay evil for evil.\u201d
\n10And Levi spoke boldly to Pharaoh\u2019s son with a cheerful countenance\u2014 with a disciplined calmness of heart he said to him, \u201cWhy does our lord speak according to these words? We are god-fearing men, and our father is a friend of God the Most High and Joseph our brother is like a firstborn son of God. 11And how could we do this malicious deed and sin before our God, before our father, Israel, and before our brother Joseph? 12And now, listen to my words. It is not fitting for a god-fearing man to harm any person in any way. But if someone wants to harm a god-fearing man, that god-fearing man does not assist him (the one who wants to harm), because a sword is not in his hands. 13And you, be wary of speaking further about our brother Joseph these words. But if you persist in this malicious plan of yours, see, our swords are drawn in our right hands before you.\u201d
\n14And Simeon and Levi drew their swords from their sheaths and said, \u201cLook, have you seen these swords? With these two swords, the LORD God avenged the insult of the Shechemites (by) which they insulted the sons of Israel, because of our sister Dinah whom Shechem the son of Hamor defiled.\u201d 15And the son of Pharaoh saw their swords drawn, and he was very afraid and trembled in his entire body because their swords were flashing like a flame of fire, and the eyes of Pharaoh\u2019s son became dim, and he fell on his face upon the ground under their feet. 16And Levi stretched out his right hand and grasped him and said to him, \u201cArise and do not be afraid. Only be wary of speaking any longer a malicious word about our brother Joseph.\u201d 17And Simeon and Levi went away from the presence of Pharaoh\u2019s son.
\n24:1And Pharaoh\u2019s son was full of fear and grief because he was afraid of the brothers of Joseph, Simeon and Levi, and he was still weighed down by Aseneth\u2019s beauty, and he was overwhelmed with tremendous grief. 2And his servants said to him into (his) ear, saying, \u201cLook, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the servants of Leah and Rachel, Jacob\u2019s wives, are at enmity with Joseph and Aseneth and envy them, and they will be under your control according to your will.\u201d 3And Pharaoh\u2019s son sent messengers and called them . And they came to him at the first hour of the night and stood before him. The Pharaoh\u2019s son said to them, \u201cI have a word (to say) to you because you are powerful men.\u201d 4And Dan and Gad, the older brothers, said to him, \u201cLet our lord speak to his servants what he wishes, and your servants will listen and act according to your will.\u201d 5And Pharaoh\u2019s son was extremely glad, and he said to his servants, \u201cNow withdraw from me a little because I have a secret word (to say) to these men.\u201d 6And they all withdrew. 7And Pharaoh\u2019s son lied to them and said, \u201cSee, blessing and death are before your face. Therefore choose rather the blessing and not the death because you are powerful men and you will not die like women, but act like men and defend yourself against your enemies. 8For I heard Joseph your brother speaking to Pharaoh my father about you, saying, \u2018Dan, Gad, Naphtali, and Asher are children of my father\u2019s servants, and they are not my brothers. I the death of my father, and I will wipe them out from the earth and all their offspring so that they not be joint heirs with us, because they are children of servants. 9And these men have sold me to the Ishmaelites, and I, on my part, will pay them back in accordance with (the) entire insult of theirs that they committed maliciously against me. Only let my father die (first).\u2019 10And Pharaoh, my father, praised him and said to him, \u2018You have spoken well, son. As for the rest, from me men powerful in battle and go out to meet them just as they did to you, and I will be a helper for you.\u2019 \u201d 11And when the men heard the words of Pharaoh\u2019s son, they were greatly disturbed and distressed, and they said to Pharaoh\u2019s son, \u201cWe beg you, lord, help us!\u201d
\n12And the son of Pharaoh said to them, \u201cI will be a helper for you if you listen to my words.\u201d 13And the men said, \u201c, we are your servants before you. Command us, and we shall act according to your will.\u201d 14And Pharaoh\u2019s son said to them, \u201cI will kill my father Pharaoh on this night because my father Pharaoh is like a father to Joseph and he told him (that he would) help him against you. And you kill Joseph, and I will take Aseneth for myself as a wife. And you will be brothers to me and coheirs of all my possessions. Only, carry out this matter.\u201d
\n15And Dan and Gad said to him, \u201cWe are your servants today, and we will do everything that you have commanded us. And we have heard Joseph today speaking to Aseneth, \u2018Go tomorrow into the field of our inheritance because it is the time of the (vineyard) harvest.\u2019 And he gave 600 men powerful in battle and 50 forerunners (to go) with her. 16And now, listen to us, and we to our lord.\u201d 17And they told him all their words in secret, , \u201cGive to us men .\u201d 18And Pharaoh\u2019s son gave to the four brothers 500 men each, and he appointed them (as) their chief officials and commanders. 19And Dan and Gad said to him, \u201cWe are your servants today, and we will do everything that you have commanded us. We will go at night and lie in wait in the wadi, and we will hide in the thicket of the reeds. And you, take with you 50 archers on horses, and go in front of us at a distance. And Aseneth will come and will fall into our hands, and we will cut down the men who are with her. And Aseneth will flee ahead with her carriage and fall into your hands, and you will do to her just as your soul desires. And after these things, we will kill Joseph as he grieves about Aseneth, and we will kill his children before his eyes.\u201d
\nAnd Pharaoh\u2019s son rejoiced when he heard these words. And he sent them out and 2,000 warriors with them. 20And they came to the wadi and hid in the thicket of the reeds. And they had divided into four companies. And they sat on the further side of the wadi\u2014so with regard to the (military) division in front, (there were) 500 men each on either side of the road\u2014and on this side of the wadi, the rest remained and sat, and they were in the thicket of the reeds on either side of the road, 500 men (on) each (side). And the road between them was broad and wide.
\n25:1And Pharaoh\u2019s son rose during night and went to his father\u2019s room in order to kill his father with a sword. And his father\u2019s guards prevented him from going in to his father, and they said to him, \u201cWhat do you command, lord?\u201d 2And Pharaoh\u2019s son said to them, \u201cI wish to see my father because I am going to harvest my newly planted vineyard.\u201d 3And the guards said to him, \u201cYour father is suffering from a headache, and he lay awake the entire night, and now he is resting a little. He said to us, \u2018Let no one come near me, not even my firstborn son.\u2019 \u201d 4And these (words), Pharaoh\u2019s son went away quickly, took with 50 archers on horseback, and went away ahead of them just as Dan and Gad had told him.
\n5And the younger brothers, Naphtali and Asher, spoke to their older brothers Dan and Gad, saying, \u201cWhy are you again acting maliciously against our father Israel and our brother Joseph? The LORD protects him like an apple of (the) eye. Look, have you sold him once, and today he is king of the entire land of Egypt, savior, and grain provider? 6And now if you attempt to act maliciously against him again, he will cry out to the Most High, and he will send fire from heaven, and it will consume you, and the angels of God will wage war against you on his behalf.\u201d 7And their older brothers, Dan and Gad, were angry at them and said, \u201cBut shall we die like women? May it not happen!\u201d 8And they went out to meet Joseph and Aseneth.
\n26:1And Aseneth rose at dawn and said to Joseph, \u201cI will go, just as you have said, to the field of our inheritance. And my soul is anxious because you are leaving me.\u201d 2And Joseph said to her, \u201cHave courage and do not be afraid. But go, because the LORD is with you, and he himself will protect you from every malicious act like an apple of (the) eye. 3For I also will go to my grain distributing, and I will give bread to all the people, and certainly the entire land will not be destroyed from the face of the LORD.\u201d 4And Aseneth went away on her way, and Joseph went away to his distribution of grain.
\n5And Aseneth and the 600 men with her came to the place of the wadi. And all of a sudden those lying in wait rushed out of their ambushes and engaged in battle with Aseneth\u2019s men. And they cut them down with the edge of (the) sword and killed all her forerunners. And Aseneth fled ahead with her carriage.
\n6And Levi, the son of Leah, perceived all these matters in (his) spirit like a prophet, and he reported (about) the danger Aseneth (was in) to his brothers, the sons of Leah. And each took his sword and put (it) upon his thigh, and they took their shields and put them upon their arms, and they their spears in their right hands and pursued after Aseneth at a swift pace.
\n7And Aseneth fled ahead, and lo, the son of Pharaoh met her (along with) 50 cavalrymen with him. 8And Aseneth saw him, and she was very afraid and troubled, and her entire body trembled. And she called on the name of the LORD her God.
\n27:1And Benjamin sat at Aseneth\u2019s left in her carriage. And Benjamin was a boy of 18 years, and (he was) big, strong and . There was an unspeakable beauty in him and strength (in him) like (that of) a lion cub, and he feared the LORD greatly. 2And Benjamin leapt down from the carriage and took a round stone from the wadi and filled his hand (with the stone). And he hurled it at Pharaoh\u2019s son, and it struck his left temple and severely injured him. 3And Pharaoh\u2019s son fell from his horse onto the ground, being half-dead. 4And Benjamin leapt and went up upon the rock and said to Aseneth\u2019s driver, \u201cGive me stones from the wadi.\u201d 5So he gave him 50 stones, and Benjamin hurled the 50 stones and killed the 50 men who were with Pharaoh\u2019s son. And all the stones sunk in through their temples.
\n6And the sons of Leah\u2014Reuben and Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun\u2014pursued after the men who were lying in wait for Aseneth, and they (the sons) fell upon them suddenly, and the six men cut them all down and killed 2,000 men.
\n7And their brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, fled from their presence and said, \u201cWe have been ruined by of our brothers, and Pharaoh\u2019s son has died by the hand of the boy, Benjamin, and all those with him (son of Pharaoh) have perished by the single hand of the boy, Benjamin. 8And now, come let us kill Aseneth and Benjamin and flee into the thicket of these reeds.\u201d 9And they came against Aseneth with their blood-soaked swords drawn. 10And Aseneth saw them and was very afraid, and she said, \u201cO LORD, my God, who restored me to life and rescued me from the idols and the destruction of death, the one who said to me, \u2018Your soul shall live forever,\u2019 deliver me from the hands of these malicious men.\u201d 11And the LORD God heard Aseneth\u2019s voice, and immediately their swords fell from their hands onto the ground and burned to ashes.
\n28:1And the sons Bilhah and Zilpah saw this great event, and they were very afraid and said, \u201cThe LORD wages war against us on behalf of Aseneth!\u201d 2And they fell upon their faces on the ground and paid obeisance to Aseneth and said, \u201cHave mercy on us, your slaves, because you are our lady and queen. 3We have committed malicious acts against you and against our brother Joseph, and the LORD repaid us according to our deeds. 4And now, we, your slaves, pray that you have mercy on us and deliver us from the hands of our brothers because they have come to you as the avengers of the insult (committed against) you, and their swords are against us. 5And we know that our brothers are god-fearing men and not ones who repay evil for evil with anyone. 6Therefore, be gracious, O lady, to your slaves before them.\u201d 7And Aseneth said to them, \u201cHave courage and do not be afraid of your brothers because they are god-fearing men, fearing God and respecting everyone. But go into the thicket of these reeds until I appease them regarding you and put an end to their anger because you have dared (to commit) great things against them. Have courage then, and do not be afraid. Nevertheless, the LORD will judge between me and you.\u201d 8And Dan, Gad, and their brothers fled into the thicket of the reeds.
\nAnd behold, the sons of Leah came running against them like three-year-old stags. 9And Aseneth descended from the covering of her carriage and greeted them (with her right hand) with tears, and they fell upon the ground and paid obeisance, and they wept in a loud voice. And they began to search for their brothers, the sons of servants, in order to destroy them. 10And Aseneth said to them, \u201cI beg you, spare your brothers, and do not commit evil for evil against them because the LORD defended me from them and shattered their swords from their hands. And see, they have melted upon the ground just like wax from the presence of fire. And this is enough for them that the LORD waged war against them on our behalf. 11And you, spare them because they are your brothers and the blood of your father Israel.\u201d 12And Simeon said to her, \u201cWhy does our lady say good things on behalf of her enemies? 13No, but let us cut them down with our swords because they first planned evil things against us, against our father Israel, against our brother Joseph\u2014this now twice\u2014and against you, our lady and queen, today.\u201d 14And Aseneth stretched out her right hand, touched Simeon\u2019s beard, kissed him and said, \u201cBrother, by no means will you commit evil for evil against your neighbor! To the LORD will you give (the power) the insult (done by) them. And your brothers themselves are also kin of our father Israel, and they fled far from your presence. Therefore, grant them pardon.\u201d 15And Levi came to her and kissed her right hand, and he realized that she wanted to save the men from their brothers\u2019 anger so that they not kill them. 16And they were nearby in the thicket of the reeds, 17and their brother Levi realized (it), and he did not report it to his brothers. For he was afraid lest they cut them down in their anger.
\n29:1And Pharaoh\u2019s son rose from the ground, sat up, and spat blood from his mouth because the blood ran down from his temple over his mouth. 2And Benjamin ran toward him, took his sword, drew it from its sheath\u2014because Benjamin did not have a sword on his thigh\u2014and he was about to strike the chest of Pharaoh\u2019s son. 3And Levi ran to him, grabbed his hand, and said, \u201cBy no means, brother, will you commit this act because we are god-fearing men, and it is not fitting for a god-fearing man to repay evil for evil, to trample underfoot a fallen man, or to press his enemy to death. 4And now, put your sword back into its place and come help me, and we will heal him from his wound. If he lives, he will be our friend after this, and his father, Pharaoh, will be like our father.\u201d 5And Levi raised up Pharaoh\u2019s son from the ground, washed the blood off of his face, and bound a bandage to his wound. And he placed him upon his horse, carried him to his father, Pharaoh, and described to him all matters. 6And Pharaoh rose from his throne and paid obeisance to Levi upon the ground and blessed him.
\n7And on the third day, Pharaoh\u2019s son died from the wound (caused) by the stone of Benjamin, the boy. 8And Pharaoh mourned very much for his firstborn son, and he became weak from his mourning, and Pharaoh died at the age of 109. And he left his diadem to Joseph, 9and Joseph reigned in Egypt for 48 years. And after this, Joseph gave the diadem to the younger descendant of Pharaoh who was at the breast when Pharaoh died. And Joseph was like a father to Pharaoh\u2019s younger son in the land of Egypt .<\/all><\/these><\/to><\/their><\/her><\/commanding><\/took><\/not><\/him><\/when><\/that><\/powerful><\/saying><\/will><\/see><\/take><\/will><\/to><\/according><\/there><\/of><\/he><\/his><\/his><\/clearly><\/handle><\/the><\/this><\/companions><\/saw><\/and><\/of><\/knew><\/with><\/just><\/her><\/and><\/saw><\/jacob><\/and><\/were><\/sinews><\/and><\/like>\n

Judith<\/p>\n

Betsy Halpern-Amaru<\/p>\n

The book of Judith is an artfully crafted tale of victory \u201cby the hand of a woman\u201d over a threatening world power. Casting the adversary as an amalgam of Israel\u2019s enemies from earlier eras and the heroine as a widow empowered only by piety and beauty, the author advances a political theology of zealous activism rooted in faith in the God of Israel. At least one scholar has suggested that Judith was written \u201cto neutralize the book of Esther,\u201d which does not include prayers, divine intervention, Jerusalem, or the Temple, and whose heroine, in contrast to Judith, is no model of religious piety.
\nThe book is symmetrically structured, with each part presenting one particular theological perspective and rejecting another. The first half presents the stance of the enemy\u2014military might conveys universal sovereignty and divinity on its bearer. That a different type of force operates with Israel\u2019s destiny is heard and quite literally cast off by Holofernes, the enemy commander. The second half sets forth the position that the only true god is the God of Israel who rules all and protects His people. The possibility that God\u2019s protection is not always certain is voiced and silenced by Judith\u2019s words and deeds.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Most contemporary scholars identify Judith as a work of fiction composed in Hebrew by an unknown author during the Maccabean era. More precise dating remains elusive; some favor a pre-Maccabean date (before 180 BCE); some a Maccabean one (160s BCE); and others, a date in the post-Maccabean Hasmonean era (150\u2013100 BCE). Modern scholars have variously identified the religious ideas of the author as Pharisaic, pre-Pharisaic, Sadducean, and as the \u201claw-piety\u201d associated with the Maccabean hasidim.
\nNo ancient Hebrew text of Judith has been preserved. Evidence for its existence rests upon the Hebraisms (phrases that reflect an underlying Hebrew text) in the Septuagint (LXX). In addition to an Old Latin translation (OL) there also may have been an Aramaic one, for Jerome mentions using a \u201cChaldean\u201d version in his Vulgate Latin translation. There are several medieval Hebrew manuscripts of Judith; but most scholars view them as translations from the Latin. A. M. Dubarle, however, has argued that they are copies of very early Hebrew versions and represent a Judith tradition\u2014separate from the one used in the LXX\u2014that entered the Vulgate through an Aramaic translation.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

As part of the LXX, Judith entered the Catholic canon and attained the quasi-sacred status attributed to apocryphal books by Protestants. The story and the heroine became prominent subjects in European music, literature, and art, where Judith was variously portrayed as a symbol for the Church, as the personification of civic virtue, as a licentious female sinner, and most recently by some feminist interpreters as a failed example of female leadership.
\nThe reception of Judith in Jewish tradition and culture is quite different. Although featuring a heroine far more pious in her ways than the biblical Queen Esther, the book of Judith was not included in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars attribute its omission to a number of factors, among them the positive treatment of conversion (Judith 14) and the date of its composition. Judith influenced Pseudo-Philo\u2019s treatment of the story of Jael and Sisera (Judg. 4:17\u201324; L.A.B. 31), but there are no explicit references to it in Second Temple or early Rabbinic literature. It is only in the 10th\u201311th centuries that Judith reemerges in a midrashic form.
\nExtant are a long version of Ma\u2019aseh Yehudit (The Judith Story) found in the collection of legends Hemdat Yamim (Livorno, 1793); a shorter one in Hibbur me-ha-Yeshu\u2019ah of R. Nissim b. Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahin (990\u20131062); and a number of other short versions preserved in scattered manuscripts. Many of the names and identities of characters have been changed or omitted in these midrashim, all of which set the story in Jerusalem, begin with the attack on the Israelites, and usually portray the conflict as between the Jews and the Greeks.
\nIn some of the midrashim, in synagogue liturgy, in Talmud commentaries, and in Jewish art, the Judith legend became a religious symbol for the Jewish nation, specifically associated with Hanukkah. Adaptations of the story in 11th-century piyyutim (liturgical poems) were recited in the yotzer (the first blessing of the morning Shema prayer) for the first Sabbath of Hanukkah and in the zulat (after the morning Shema prayer) for the second Sabbath of Hanukkah. The talmudist Rashbam (1085\u20131184) credited the miracle of Hanukkah to the actions of Judith much as he ascribes the miracle of Purim to the actions of Esther (Tosafot on B. Meg. 4a). Commenting on R. Joshua b. Levi\u2019s position that women were obliged to light Hanukkah lamps \u201csince they too were involved in that miracle\u201d (B. Shab. 23a), R. Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi (RaN) (ca. 1310\u20131375) related that obligation and the custom of eating dairy products on Hanukkah to \u201cYehudit the daughter of Yochanan, the High Priest\u201d who \u201cfed the Greek general cheese [to increase his thirst], got him drunk, and cut off his head, causing the enemy to flee.\u201d Depictions of Judith frequently appeared in illustrated manuscripts, Hanukkah birkhonim (booklets containing the Grace after Meals), and prayer books. From the 16th century onward, her image was a standard feature on European Hanukkah menorahs. Although no longer so prominent, Judith has remained a model of faithfulness and courage in the modern Jewish imagination.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

To appreciate the artistry of the book of Judith, the reader is encouraged to access its wealth of biblical allusions by referring to the biblical sources noted in the commentary.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Craven, Toni. Artistry and Faith in the Book of Judith. Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1983.
\nFriedman, Mira. \u201cThe Metamorphoses of Judith.\u201d Jewish Art 12\u201313 (1986): 225\u201346.
\nMehlman, Bernard, and Daniel Polish. \u201cMa\u2019aseh Yehudit: A Chanukah Midrash.\u201d Journal of Reform Judaism 26:1 (1979): 73\u201391.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cA Midrash for Hanukkah.\u201d Conservative Judaism 36:2 (1982\u201383): 26\u201335.
\nMoore, Carey A. Judith: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible 40. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1985.
\nNewman, Judith. \u201cThe Past as Blueprint for Present: Salvation by Typology in Judith 9.\u201d Chap. 3 in Praying By the Book: The Scripturalization of Prayer in Second Temple Judaism. SBL Early Judaism and Its Literature 14. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999.
\nOtzen, Benedikt. Tobit and Judith. Guides to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002.
\nSkehan, Patrick. W. \u201cThe Hand of Judith.\u201d Catholic Biblical Quarterly 25 (1963): 94\u2013110.
\nStocker, Margarita. Judith: Sexual Warrior; Women and Power in Western Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
\nVanderKam, James, ed. \u201cNo One Spoke Ill of Her\u201d: Essays on Judith. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992.<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/p>\n

1It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. In those days Arphaxad ruled over the Medes in Ecbatana. 2He built walls around Ecbatana with hewn stones three cubits thick and six cubits long; he made the walls seventy cubits high and fifty cubits wide. 3At its gates he raised towers one hundred cubits high and sixty cubits wide at the foundations. 4He made its gates seventy cubits high and forty cubits wide to allow his armies to march out in force and his infantry to form their ranks. 5Then King Nebuchadnezzar made war against King Arphaxad in the great plain that is on the borders of Ragau. 6There rallied to him all the people of the hill country and all those who lived along the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Hydaspes, and, on the plain, Arioch, king of the Elymeans. Thus, many nations joined the forces of the Chaldeans.
\n7Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, sent messengers to all who lived in Persia and to all who lived in the west, those who lived in Cilicia and Damascus, Lebanon and Antilebanon, and all who lived along the seacoast, 8and those among the nations of Carmel and Gilead, and Upper Galilee and the great plain of Esdraelon, 9and all who were in Samaria and its towns, and beyond the Jordan as far as Jerusalem and Bethany and Chelous and Kadesh and the river of Egypt, and Tahpanhes and Raamses and the whole land of Goshen, 10even beyond Tanis and Memphis, and all who lived in Egypt as far as the borders of Ethiopia. 11But all who lived in the whole region disregarded the summons of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and refused to join him in the war; for they were not afraid of him, but regarded him as only one man. So they sent back his messengers empty-handed and in disgrace.
\n12Then Nebuchadnezzar became very angry with this whole region, and swore by his throne and kingdom that he would take revenge on the whole territory of Cilicia and Damascus and Syria, that he would kill with his sword also all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the people of Ammon, and all Judea, and every one in Egypt, as far as the coasts of the two seas.
\n13In the seventeenth year he led his forces against King Arphaxad and defeated him in battle, overthrowing the whole army of Arphaxad and all his calvary and all his chariots. 14Thus he took possession of his towns and came to Ecbatana, captured its towers, plundered its markets, and turned its glory into disgrace. 15He captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau and struck him down with his spears, thus destroying him once and for all. 16Then he returned to Nineveh, he and all his combined forces, a vast body of troops; and there he and his forces rested and feasted for one hundred twenty days.<\/p>\n

Chapter 2<\/p>\n

1In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, there was talk in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, about carrying out his revenge on the whole region, just as he had said. 2He summoned all his ministers and all his nobles and set before them his secret plan and recounted fully, with his own lips, all the wickedness of the region. 3They decided that every one who had not obeyed his command should be destroyed.
\n4When he had completed his plan, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, called Holofernes, the chief general of his army, second only to himself, and said to him, 5\u201cThus says the Great King, the lord of the whole earth: Leave my presence and take with you men confident in their strength, one hundred twenty thousand foot soldiers and twelve thousand cavalry. 6March out against all the land to the west, because they disobeyed my orders. 7Tell them to prepare earth and water, for I am coming against them in my anger, and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of my troops, to whom I will hand them over to be plundered. 8Their wounded shall fill their ravines and gullies, and the swelling river shall be filled with their dead. 9I will lead them away captive to the ends of the whole earth. 10You shall go and seize all their territory for me in advance. They must yield themselves to you, and you shall hold them for me until the day of their punishment. 11But to those who resist show no mercy, but hand them over to slaughter and plunder throughout your whole region. 12For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, what I have spoken I will accomplish by my own hand. 13And you\u2014take care not to transgress any of your lord\u2019s commands, but carry them out exactly as I have ordered you; do it without delay.\u201d
\n14So Holofernes left the presence of his lord, and summoned all the commanders, generals, and officers of the Assyrian army. 15He mustered the picked troops by divisions as his lord had ordered him to do, one hundred twenty thousand of them, together with twelve thousand archers on horseback, 16and he organized them as a great army is marshaled for a campaign. 17He took along a vast number of camels and donkeys and mules for transport, and innumerable sheep and oxen and goats for food; 18also ample rations for everyone, and a huge amount of gold and silver from the royal palace.
\n19The he set out with his whole army, to go ahead of King Nebuchadnezzar and to cover the whole face of the earth to the west with their chariots and cavalry and picked foot soldiers. 20Along with them went a mixed crowd like a swarm of locusts, like the dust of the earth\u2014a multitude that could not be counted.
\n21They marched for three days from Nineveh to the plain of Bectileth, and camped opposite Bectileth near the mountain that is to the north of Upper Cilicia. 22From there Holofernes took his whole army, the infantry, cavalry, and chariots, and went up into the hill country. 23He ravaged Put and Lud, and plundered all the Rassisites and the Ishmaelites on the border of the desert, south of the country of the Chelleans. 24Then he followed the Euphrates and passed through Mesopotamia and destroyed all the fortified towns along the brook Abron, as far as the sea. 25He also seized the territory of Cilicia, and killed everyone who resisted him. Then he came to the southern borders of Japheth, facing Arabia. 26He surrounded all the Midianites, and burned their tents and plundered their sheepfolds. 27Then he went down into the plain of Damascus during the wheat harvest, and burned all their fields and destroyed their flocks and herds and sacked their towns and ravaged their lands and put all their young men to the sword.
\n28So fear and dread of him fell upon all the people who lived along the seacoast, at Sidon and Tyre, and those who lived in Sur and Ocina and all who lived in Jamnia. Those who lived in Azotus and Ascalon feared him greatly.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3<\/p>\n

1They therefore sent messengers to him to sue for peace in these words: 2\u201cWe, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, the Great King, lie prostrate before you. Do with us whatever you will. 3See, our buildings and all our land and all our wheat fields and our flocks and herds and all our encampments lie before you; do with them as you please. 4Our towns and their inhabitants are also your slaves; come and deal with them as you see fit.\u201d
\n5The men came to Holofernes and told him all this. 6Then he went down to the seacoast with his army and stationed garrisons in the fortified towns and took picked men from them as auxiliaries. 7These people and all in the countryside welcomed him with garlands and dances and tambourines. 8Yet he demolished all their shrines and cut down their sacred groves; for he had been commissioned to destroy all the gods of the land, so that all nations should worship Nebuchadnezzar alone, and that all their dialects and tribes should call upon him as a god.
\n9Then he came toward Esdraelon, near Dothan, facing the great ridge of Judea; 10he camped between Geba and Scythopolis, and remained for a whole month in order to collect all the supplies for his army.<\/p>\n

Chapter 4<\/p>\n

1When the Israelites living in Judea heard of everything that Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered and destroyed all their temples, 2they were therefore greatly terrified at his approach; they were alarmed both for Jerusalem and for the temple of the LORD their God. 3For they had only recently returned from exile, and all the people of Judea had just now gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been consecrated after their profanation. 4So they sent word to every district of Samaria, and to Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, and Jericho, and to Choba and Aesora, and the valley of Salem. 5They immediately seized all the high hilltops and fortified the villages on them and stored up food in preparation for war\u2014since their fields had recently been harvested.
\n6The high priest, Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan, 7ordering them to seize the mountain passes, since by them Judea could be invaded; and it would be easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, wide enough for only two at a time to pass.
\n8So the Israelites did as they had been ordered by the high priest Joakim and the senate of the whole people of Israel, in session at Jerusalem. 9And every man of Israel cried out to God with great fervor, and they humbled themselves with much fasting. 10They and their wives and their children and their cattle and every resident alien and hired laborer and purchased slave\u2014they all put sackcloth around their waists. 11And all the Israelite men, women, and children, living at Jerusalem prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the LORD. 12They even draped the altar with sackcloth and cried out in unison, praying fervently to the God of Israel not to allow their infants to be carried off and their wives to be taken as booty, and the towns they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles.
\n13The LORD heard their prayers and had regard for their distress; for the people fasted many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the LORD Almighty. 14The high priest Joakim and all the priests who stood before the LORD and ministered to the LORD, with sackcloth around their loins, offered the daily burnt offerings, the votive offerings, and freewill offerings of the people. 15With ashes on their turbans, they cried out to the LORD with all their might to look with favor on the whole house of Israel.<\/p>\n

Chapter 5<\/p>\n

1It was reported to Holofernes, the general of the Assyrian army, that the people of Israel had prepared for war and had closed the mountain passes and fortified all the high hilltops and set up barricades in the plains. 2In great anger he called together all the princes of Moab and the commanders of Ammon and all the governors of the coastland, 3and said to them, \u201cTell me, you Canaanites, what people is this that lives in the hill country? What towns do they inhabit? How large is their army, and in what does their power and strength consist? Who rules over them as king and leads their army? 4And why have they alone, of all who live in the west, refused to come out and meet me?\u201d
\n5Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites, said to him, \u201cMay my lord please listen to a report from the mouth of your servant, and I will tell you the truth about this people that lives in the mountain district near you. No falsehood shall come from your servant\u2019s mouth. 6These people are descended from the Chaldeans. 7At one time they lived in Mesopotamia, because they did not wish to follow the gods of their ancestors who were in Chaldea. 8Since they had abandoned the ways of their ancestors, and worshiped the God of heaven, the God they had come to know, their ancestors drove them out from the presence of their gods. So they fled to Mesopotamia, and lived there for a long time. 9Then their God commanded them to leave the place where they were living and go to the land of Canaan. There they settled, and grew very prosperous in gold and silver and very much livestock. 10When a famine spread over the land of Canaan they went down to Egypt and lived there as long as they had food. There they became so great a multitude that their race could not be counted. 11So the king of Egypt became hostile to them; he exploited them and forced them to make bricks. 12They cried out to their God and he afflicted the whole land of Egypt with incurable plagues. So the Egyptians drove them out of their sight. 13Then God dried up the Red Sea before them, 14and he led them by the way of Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. They drove out all the people of the desert, 15and took up residence in the land of the Amorites, and by their might destroyed all the inhabitants of Heshbon; and crossing over the Jordan they took possession of all the hill country. 16They drove out before them the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and all the Gergesites, and lived there a long time.
\n17\u201cAs long as they did not sin against their God they prospered, for the God who hates iniquity is with them. 18But when they departed from the way he had prescribed for them, they were utterly defeated in many battles and were led away captive to a foreign land. The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their towns were occupied by their enemies. 19But now they have returned to their God, and have come back from the places where they were scattered, and have occupied Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and have settled in the hill country, because it was uninhabited.
\n20\u201cSo now, my master and lord, if there is any oversight in this people and they sin against their God and we find out their offense, then we can go up and defeat them. 21But if they are not a guilty nation, then let my lord pass them by; for their LORD and God will defend them, and we shall become the laughingstock of the whole world.\u201d
\n22When Achior had finished saying these things, all the people standing around the tent began to complain; Holofernes\u2019s officers and all the inhabitants of the seacoast and Moab insisted that he should be cut to pieces. 23They said, \u201cWe are not afraid of the Israelites; they are a people with no strength or power for making war. 24Therefore let us go ahead, LORD Holofernes, and your vast army will swallow them up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapter 6<\/p>\n

1When the disturbance made by the people outside the council had died down, Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, said to Achior in the presence of all the foreign contingents:
\n2\u201cWho are you, Achior and you mercenaries of Ephraim, to prophesy among us as you have done today and tell us not to make war against the people of Israel because their God will defend them? What god is there except Nebuchadnezzar? He will send his forces and destroy them from the face of the earth. Their God will not save them; 3we the king\u2019s servants will destroy them as one man. They cannot resist the might of our cavalry. 4We will overwhelm them; their mountains will be drunk with their blood, and their fields will be full of their dead. Not even their footprints will survive our attack; they will utterly perish. So says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of the whole earth. For he has spoken; none of his words shall be in vain.
\n5\u201cAs for you, Achior, you Ammonite mercenary, you have said these words in a moment of perversity; you shall not see my face again from this day until I take revenge on this race that came out of Egypt. 6Then at my return the sword of my army and the spear of my servants shall pierce your sides, and you shall fall among their wounded. 7Now my slaves are going to take you back into the hill country and put you in one of the towns beside the passes. 8You will not die until you perish along with them. 9If you really hope in your heart that they will not be taken, then do not look downcast! I have spoken, and none of my words will fail to come true.\u201d
\n10Then Holofernes ordered his slaves, who waited on him in his tent, to seize Achior and take him away to Bethulia and hand him over to the Israelites. 11So the slaves took him and led him out of the camp into the plain, and from the plain they went up into the hill country and came to the springs below Bethulia. 12When the men of the town saw them, they seized their weapons and ran out of the town to the top of the hill, and all the slingers kept them from coming up by throwing stones at them. 13So having taken shelter below the hill, they bound Achior and left him lying at the foot of the hill, and returned to their master.
\n14Then the Israelites came down from their town and found him; they untied him and brought him into Bethulia and placed him before the magistrates of their town, 15who in those days were Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris son of Gothoniel, and Charmis son of Melchiel. 16They called together all the elders of the town, and all their young men and women ran to the assembly. They set Achior in the midst of all their people, and Uzziah questioned him about what had happened. 17He answered and told them what had taken place at the council of Holofernes, and all that he had said in the presence of the Assyrian leaders, and all that Holofernes had boasted he would do against the house of Israel. 18Then the people fell down and worshiped God, and cried out:
\n19\u201cO LORD God of heaven, see their arrogance, and have pity on our people in their humiliation, and look kindly today on the faces of those who are consecrated to you.\u201d
\n20Then they reassured Achior, and praised him highly. 21Uzziah took him from the assembly to his own house and gave a banquet for the elders; and all that night they called on the God of Israel for help.<\/p>\n

Chapter 7<\/p>\n

1The next day Holofernes ordered his whole army, and all the allies who had joined him, to break camp and move against Bethulia, and to seize the passes up into the hill country and make war on the Israelites. 2So all their warriors marched off that day; their fighting forces numbered one hundred seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, not counting the baggage and the foot soldiers handling it, a very great multitude. 3They encamped in the valley near Bethulia, beside the spring, and they spread out in breadth over Dothan as far as Balbaim and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.
\n4When the Israelites saw their vast numbers, they were greatly terrified and said to one another, \u201cThey will now strip clean the whole land; neither the high mountains nor the valleys nor the hills will bear their weight.\u201d 5Yet they all seized their weapons, and when they had kindled fires on their towers, they remained on guard all that night.
\n6On the second day, Holofernes led out all his cavalry in full view of the Israelites in Bethulia. 7He reconnoitered the approaches to their town, and visited the springs that supplied their water; he seized them and set guards of soldiers over them, and then returned to his army.
\n8Then all the chieftains of the Edomites and all the leaders of the Moabites and the commanders of the coastland came to him and said, 9\u201cListen to what we have to say, my lord, and your army will suffer no losses. 10This people, the Israelites, do not rely on their spears but on the height of the mountains where they live, for it is not easy to reach the tops of their mountains. 11Therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in regular formation, and not a man of your army will fall. 12Remain in your camp, and keep all the men in your forces with you; let your servants take possession of the spring of water that flows from the foot of the mountain, 13for this is where all the people of Bethulia get their water. So thirst will destroy them, and they will surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and our people will go up to the tops of the nearby mountains and camp there to keep watch to see that no one gets out of the town. 14They and their wives and children will waste away with famine, and before the sword reaches them they will be strewn about in the streets where they live. 15Thus you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled and did not receive you peaceably.\u201d
\n16These words pleased Holofernes and all his attendants, and he gave orders to do as they had said. 17So the army of the Ammonites moved forward, together with five thousand Assyrians, and they encamped in the valley and seized the water supply and the springs of the Israelites. 18And the Edomites and Ammonites went up and encamped in the hill country opposite Dothan; and they sent some of their men toward the south and the east, toward Egrebeh, which is near Chusi beside the Wadi Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army encamped in the plain, and covered the whole face of the land. Their tents and supply trains spread out in great number, and they formed a vast multitude.
\n19The Israelites then cried out to the LORD their God, for their courage failed, because all their enemies had surrounded them, and there was no way of escape from them. 20The whole Assyrian army, their infantry, chariots, and cavalry, surrounded them for thirty-four days, until all the water containers of every inhabitant of Bethulia were empty; 21 their cisterns were going dry, and on no day did they have enough water to drink, for their drinking water was rationed. 22Their children were listless, and the women and young men fainted from thirst and were collapsing in the streets of the town and in the gateways; they no longer had any strength.
\n23Then all the people, the young men, the women, and the children, gathered around Uzziah and the rulers of the town and cried out with a loud voice, and said before all the elders, 24\u201cLet God judge between you and us! You have done us a great injury in not making peace with the Assyrians. 25For now we have no one to help us; God has sold us into their hands, to be strewn before them in thirst and exhaustion. 26Now summon them and surrender the whole town as booty to the army of Holofernes and to all his forces. 27For it would be better for us to be captured by them. We shall indeed become slaves, but our lives will be spared, and we shall not witness our little ones dying before our eyes, and our wives and children drawing their last breath. 28We call to witness against you heaven and earth and our God, the LORD of our ancestors, who punishes us for our sins and the sins of our ancestors; do today the things that we have described!\u201d
\n29Then great and general lamentation arose throughout the assembly, and they cried out to the LORD God with a loud voice. 30But Uzziah said to them, \u201cCourage, my brothers and sisters! Let us hold out for five days more; by that time the LORD our God will turn his mercy to us again, for he will not forsake us utterly. 31But if these days pass by, and no help comes for us, I will do as you say.\u201d
\n32Then he dismissed the people to their various posts, and they went up on the walls and towers of their town. The women and children he sent home. In the town they were in great misery.<\/p>\n

Chapter 8<\/p>\n

1Now in those days Judith heard about these things: she was the daughter of Merari son of Ox son of Joseph son of Oziel son of Elkiah son of Ananias son of Gideon son of Raphain son of Ahitub son of Elijah son of Hilkiah son of Eliab son of Nathanael son of Salamiel son of Sarasadai son of Israel. 2Her husband Manasseh, who belonged to her tribe and family, had died during the barley harvest. 3For as he stood overseeing those who were binding sheaves in the field, he was overcome by the burning heat, and took to his bed and died in his town Bethulia. So they buried him with his ancestors in the field between Dothan and Balamon. 4Judith remained as a widow for three years and four months 5at home where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house. She put sackcloth around her waist and dressed in widow\u2019s clothing. 6She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except the day before the Sabbath and the Sabbath itself, the day before the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the festivals and days of rejoicing of the house of Israel. 7She was beautiful in appearance, and was very lovely to behold. Her husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, men and women slaves, livestock, and fields; and she maintained this estate. 8No one spoke ill of her, for she feared God with great devotion.
\n9When Judith heard the harsh words spoken by the people against the ruler, because they were faint for lack of water, and when she heard all that Uzziah said to them, and how he promised them under oath to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days, 10she sent her maid, who was in charge of all she possessed, to summon Uzziah and Chabris and Charmis, the elders of her town. 11They came to her, and she said to them,
\n\u201cListen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to the people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the LORD turns and helps us within so many days. 12Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs? 13You are putting the LORD Almighty to the test, but you will never learn anything! 14You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brothers, do not anger the LORD our God. 15For if he does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our enemies. 16Do not try to bind the purposes of the LORD our God; for God is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by pleading. 17Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him.
\n18 \u201cFor never in our generation, nor in these present days, has there been any tribe or family or people or town of ours that worships gods made with hands, as was done in days gone by. 19That was why our ancestors were handed over to the sword and to pillage, and so they suffered a great catastrophe before our enemies. 20But we know no other god but him, and so we hope that he will not disdain us or any of our nation. 21For if we are captured, all Judea will be captured and our sanctuary will be plundered; and he will make us pay for its desecration with our blood. 22The slaughter of our kindred and the captivity of the land and the desolation of our inheritance\u2014all this he will bring on our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we serve as slaves; and we shall be an offense and a disgrace in the eyes of those who acquire us. 23For our slavery will not bring us into favor, but the LORD our God will turn it to dishonor.
\n24\u201cTherefore, my brothers, let us set an example for our kindred, for their lives depend upon us, and the sanctuary\u2014both the temple and the altar\u2014rests upon us. 25In spite of everything let us give thanks to the LORD our God, who is putting us to the test as he did our ancestors. 26Remember what he did with Abraham, and how he tested Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia, while he was tending the sheep of Laban, his mother\u2019s brother. 27For he has not tried us with fire, as he did them, to search their hearts, nor has he taken vengeance on us; but the LORD scourges those close to him in order to admonish them.\u201d
\n28Then Uzziah said to her, \u201cAll that you have said was spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words. 29Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart\u2019s disposition is right. 30But the people were so thirsty that they compelled us to do for them what we have promised, and made us take an oath that we cannot break. 31Now since you are a God-fearing woman, pray for us, so that the LORD may send us rain to fill our cisterns. Then we will no longer feel faint from thirst.\u201d
\n32Then Judith said to them, \u201cListen to me. I am about to do something that will go down through all generations of our descendants. 33Stand at the town gate tonight so that I may go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the town to our enemies, the LORD will deliver Israel by my hand. 34Only, do not try to find out what I am doing; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do.\u201d
\n35Uzziah and the rulers said to her, \u201cGo in peace, and may the LORD God go before you, to take vengeance on our enemies.\u201d 36So they returned from the tent and went to their posts.<\/p>\n

Chapter 9<\/p>\n

1Then Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the LORD with a loud voice, and said,
\n2\u201cO LORD God of my ancestor Simeon, to whom you gave a sword to take revenge on those strangers who had torn off a virgin\u2019s clothing to defile her, and exposed her thighs to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for you said, \u2018It shall not be done\u2019\u2014yet they did it. 3So you gave up their rulers to be killed, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, was stained with blood, and you struck down slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones. 4You gave up their wives for booty and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among your beloved children who burned with zeal for you and abhorred the pollution of their blood and called on you for help\u2014O God, my God, hear me also\u2014a widow.
\n5\u201cFor you have done these things and those that went before and those that followed. You have designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. What you had in mind has happened; 6the things you decided on presented themselves and said, \u2018Here we are!\u2019 For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgment is with foreknowledge.
\n7\u201cHere now are the Assyrians, a greatly increased force, priding themselves in their horses and riders, boasting in the strength of their foot soldiers, and trusting in shield and spear, in bow and sling. They do not know that you are the LORD who crushes wars; the LORD is\u2014your name. 8Break their strength by your might, and bring down their power in your anger; for they intend to defile your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns of your altar with the sword. 9Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the strong hand to do what I plan. 10By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman.
\n11 \u201cFor your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope. 12Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, LORD of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! 13Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. 14Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapter 10<\/p>\n

1When Judith had stopped crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words, 2she rose from where she lay prostrate. She called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on Sabbaths and on her festal days. 3She removed the sackcloth she had been wearing, took off her widow\u2019s garments, bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed herself in the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. 4She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her other jewelry. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men who might see her. 5She gave her maid a skin of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with roasted grain, dried fig cakes and fine bread; then she wrapped up all her dishes and gave them to her to carry.
\n6Then they went out to the town gate of Bethulia and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the town, Chabris and Charmis. 7When they saw her transformed in appearance and dressed differently, they were very greatly astounded at her beauty and said to her, 8\u201cMay the God of our ancestors grant you favor and fulfill your plans, so that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted.\u201d She bowed down to God.
\n9Then she said to them, \u201cOrder the gate of the town to be opened for me so that I may go out and accomplish the things you have just said to me.\u201d So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she requested. 10When they had done this, Judith went out, accompanied by her maid. The men of the town watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley, where they lost sight of her. 11As the women were going straight on through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met her 12and took her into custody. They asked her, \u201cTo what people do you belong, and where are you coming from, and where are you going?\u201d She replied, \u201cI am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured. 13I am on my way to see Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him a true report; I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain.\u201d
\n14When the men heard her words, and observed her face\u2014she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful\u2014they said to her, 15\u201cYou have saved your life by hurrying down to see our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to him. 16When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart, but tell him what you have just said, and he will treat you well.\u201d
\n17They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes. 18There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent. They came and gathered around her as she stood outside the tent of Holofernes, waiting until they told him about her. 19They marveled at her beauty and admired the Israelites, judging them by her. They said to one another, \u201cWho can despise these people, who have women like this among them? It is not wise to leave one of their men alive, for if we let them go they will be able to beguile the whole world!\u201d
\n20Then the guards of Holofernes and all his servants came out and led her into the tent. 21Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy that was woven with purple and gold, emeralds and other precious stones. 22When they told him of her, he came to the front of the tent, with silver lamps carried before him. 23When Judith came into the presence of Holofernes and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She prostrated herself and did obeisance to him, but his slaves raised her up.<\/p>\n

Chapter 11<\/p>\n

1Then Holofernes said to her, \u201cTake courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth. 2Even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them. They have brought this on themselves. 3But now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us. In any event, you have come to safety. Take courage! You will live tonight and ever after. 4No one will hurt you. Rather, all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar.\u201d
\n5Judith answered him, \u201cAccept the words of your slave, and let your servant speak in your presence. I will say nothing false to my lord this night. 6If you follow out the words of your servant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes. 7By the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to direct every living being! Not only do human beings serve him because of you, but also the animals of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live, because of your power, under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house. 8For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you alone are the best in the whole kingdom, the most informed and the most astounding in military strategy.
\n9\u201cNow as for Achior\u2019s speech in your council, we have heard his words, for the people of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you. 10Therefore, lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true. Indeed our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their God.
\n11\u201cBut now, in order that my lord may not be defeated and his purposes frustrated, death will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them by which they are about to provoke their God to anger when they do what is wrong. 12Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their livestock and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat. 13They have decided to consume the firstfruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in Jerusalem\u2014things it is not lawful for any of the people even to touch with their hands. 14Since even the people in Jerusalem have been doing this, they have sent messengers there in order to bring back permission from the council of the elders. 15When the response reaches them and they act upon it, on that very day they will be handed over to you to be destroyed.
\n16\u201cSo when I, your slave, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world wherever people shall hear about them. 17Your servant is indeed God-fearing and serves the God of heaven night and day. So, my lord, I will remain with you; but every night your servant will go out into the valley and pray to God. He will tell me when they have committed their sins. 18Then I will come and tell you, so that you may go out with your whole army, and not one of them will be able to withstand you. 19Then I will lead you through Judea, until you come to Jerusalem; there I will set your throne. You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and no dog will so much as growl at you. For this was told me to give me foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you.\u201d
\n20Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants. They marveled at her wisdom and said, 21\u201cNo other woman from one end of the earth to the other looks so beautiful or speaks so wisely!\u201d 22Then Holofernes said to her, \u201cGod has done well to send you ahead of the people, to strengthen our hands and bring destruction on those who have despised my lord. 23You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech. If you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapter 12<\/p>\n

1Then he commanded them to bring her in where his silver dinnerware was kept, and ordered them to set a table for her with some of his own delicacies, and with some of his own wine to drink. 2But Judith said, \u201cI cannot partake of them, or it will be an offense; but I will have enough with the things I brought with me.\u201d 3Holofernes said to her, \u201cIf your supply runs out, where can we get you more of the same? For none of your people are here with us.\u201d 4Judith replied, \u201cAs surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up the supplies I have with me before the LORD carries out by my hand what he has determined.\u201d 5Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight. Toward the morning watch she got up 6and sent this message to Holofernes: \u201cLet my lord now give orders to allow your servant to go out and pray.\u201d 7So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp three days. She went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp. 8After bathing, she prayed the LORD God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his people. 9Then she returned purified and stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening. 10On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his personal attendants only, and did not invite any of his officers. 11He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs, \u201cGo and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and to eat and drink with us. 12For it would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without having intercourse with her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.\u201d
\n13So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and approached her and said, \u201cLet this pretty girl not hesitate to come to my lord to be honored in his presence, and to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to become today like one of the Assyrian women who serve in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.\u201d 14Judith replied, \u201cWho am I to refuse my lord? Whatever pleases him I will do at once, and it will be a joy to me until the day of my death.\u201d 15So she proceeded to dress herself in all her woman\u2019s finery. Her maid went ahead and spread for her on the ground before Holofernes the lambskins she had received from Bagoas for her daily use in reclining.
\n16Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes\u2019s heart was ravished with her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. 17So Holofernes said to her, \u201cHave a drink and be merry with us!\u201d 18Judith said, \u201cI will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life.\u201d 19Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him. 20Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.<\/p>\n

Chapter 13<\/p>\n

1When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his master\u2019s presence. They went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted so long. 2But Judith was left alone in the tent, with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was dead drunk.
\n3Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did on the other days; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. She had said the same thing to Bagoas. 4So everyone went out, and no one, either small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in her heart, \u201cO LORD God of all might, look in this hour on the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. 5Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out my design to destroy the enemies who have risen up against us.\u201d 6She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes\u2019s head, and took down his sword that hung there. 7She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, \u201cGive me strength today, O LORD God of Israel!\u201d 8Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. 9Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes\u2019s head to her maid, 10who placed it in her food bag.
\nThen the two of them went out together, as they were accustomed to do for prayer. They passed through the camp, circled around the valley, and went up the mountain to Bethulia, and came to its gates. 11From a distance Judith called out to the sentries at the gates, \u201cOpen, open the gates! God, our God, is with us, still showing his power in Israel and his strength against our enemies, as he has done today!\u201d
\n12When the people of her town heard her voice, they hurried down to the town gate and summoned the elders of the town. 13They all ran together, both small and great, for it seemed unbelievable that she had returned. They opened the gate and welcomed them. Then they lit a fire to give light, and gathered around them. 14Then she said to them with a loud voice, \u201cPraise God, O praise him! Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy from the house of Israel, but has destroyed our enemies by my hand this very night!\u201d 15Then she pulled the head out of the bag and showed it to them, and said, \u201cSee here, the head of Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, and here is the canopy beneath which he lay in his drunken stupor. The LORD has struck him down by the hand of a woman. 16As the LORD lives, who has protected me in the way I went, I swear that it was my face that seduced him to his destruction, and that he committed no sin with me, to defile and shame me.\u201d
\n17All the people were greatly astonished. They bowed down and worshiped God, and said with one accord, \u201cBlessed are you our God, who has this day humiliated the enemies of your people.\u201d
\n18Then Uzziah said to her, \u201cO daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women on earth; and blessed be the LORD God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to cut off the head of the leader of our enemies. 19Your praise will never depart from the hearts of those who remember the power of God. 20May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because you risked your own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God.\u201d And all the people said, \u201cAmen. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapter 14<\/p>\n

1Then Judith said to them, \u201cListen to me, my friends. Take this head and hang it upon the parapet of your wall. 2As soon as day breaks and the sun rises on the earth, each of you take up your weapons, and let every able-bodied man go out of the town; set a captain over them, as if you were going down to the plain against the Assyrian outpost; only do not go down. 3Then they will seize their arms and go into the camp and rouse the officers of the Assyrian army. They will rush into the tent of Holofernes and will not find him. Then panic will come over them, and they will flee before you. 4Then you and all who live within the borders of Israel will pursue them and cut them down in their tracks. 5But before you do all this, bring Achior the Ammonite to me so that he may see and recognize the man who despised the house of Israel and sent him to us as if to his death.\u201d
\n6So they summoned Achior from the house of Uzziah. When he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hand of one of the men in the assembly of the people, he fell down on his face in a faint. 7When they raised him up he threw himself at Judith\u2019s feet, and did obeisance to her, and said, \u201cBlessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation those who hear your name will be alarmed. 8Now tell me what you have done during these days.\u201d
\nSo Judith told him in the presence of the people all that she had done, from the day she left until the moment she began speaking to them. 9When she had finished, the people raised a great shout and made a joyful noise in their town. 10When Achior saw all that the God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God. So he was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this day.
\n11As soon as it was dawn they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall. Then they all took their weapons, and they went out in companies to the mountain passes. 12When the Assyrians saw them they sent word to their commanders, who then went to the generals and the captains and to all their other officers. 13They came to Holofernes\u2019s tent and said to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, \u201cWake up our lord, for the slaves have been so bold as to come down against us to give battle, to their utter destruction.\u201d
\n14So Bagoas went in and knocked at the entry of the tent, for he supposed that he was sleeping with Judith. 15But when no one answered, he opened it and went into the bedchamber and found him sprawled on the floor dead, with his head missing. 16He cried out with a loud voice and wept and groaned and shouted, and tore his clothes. 17Then he went to the tent where Judith had stayed, and when he did not find her, he rushed out to the people and shouted, 18\u201cThe slaves have tricked us! One Hebrew woman has brought disgrace on the house of King Nebuchadnezzar. Look, Holfernes is lying on the ground, and his head is missing!\u201d
\n19When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard this, they tore their tunics and were greatly dismayed, and their loud cries and shouts rose up throughout the camp.<\/p>\n

Chapter 15<\/p>\n

1When the men in the tents heard it, they were amazed at what had happened. 2Overcome with fear and trembling, they did not wait for one another, but with one impulse all rushed out and fled by every path across the plain and through the hill country. 3Those who had camped in the hills around Bethulia also took to flight. Then the Israelites, everyone that was a soldier, rushed out upon them. 4Uzziah sent men to Betomasthaim and Choba and Kola, and to all the frontiers of Israel, to tell what had taken place and to urge all to rush out upon the enemy to destroy them. 5When the Israelites heard it, with one accord they fell upon the enemy, and cut them down as far as Choba. Those in Jerusalem and all the hill country also came, for they were told what had happened in the camp of the enemy. The men in Gilead and in Galilee outflanked them with great slaughter, even beyond Damascus and its borders. 6The rest of the people of Bethulia fell upon the Assyrian camp and plundered it, acquiring great riches. 7And the Israelites, when they returned from the slaughter, took possession of what remained. Even the villages and towns in the hill country and in the plain got a great amount of booty, since there was a vast quantity of it.
\n8Then the high priest Joakim and elders of the Israelites who lived in Jerusalem came to witness the good things that the LORD had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to wish her well. 9When they met her, they all blessed her with one accord and said to her, \u201cYou are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the great boast of Israel, you are the great pride of our nation! 10You have done all this with your own hand; you have done great good to Israel, and God is well pleased with it. May the Almighty LORD bless you forever!\u201d And all the people said, \u201cAmen.\u201d
\n11All the people plundered the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of Holofernes and all his silver dinnerware, his beds, his bowls, and all his furniture. She took them and loaded her mules and hitched up her carts and piled the things on them.
\n12All the women of Israel gathered to see her, and blessed her, and some of them performed a dance in her honor. She took ivy-wreathed wands in her hands and distributed them to the women who were with her; 13and she and those who were with her crowned themselves with olive wreaths. She went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women, while all the men of Israel followed, bearing their arms and wearing garlands and singing hymns.
\n14Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel, and all the people loudly sang this song of praise.<\/p>\n

Chapter 16<\/p>\n

1And Judith said,
\nBegin a song to my God with tambourines,
\nsing to my LORD with cymbals.
\nRaise to him a new psalm;
\nexalt him, and call upon his name.
\n2For the LORD is a God who crushes wars;
\nhe sets up his camp among his people;
\nhe delivered me from the hands of my pursuers.
\n3The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north;
\nhe came with myriads of his warriors;
\ntheir numbers blocked up the wadis,
\nand their cavalry covered the hills.
\n4He boasted that he would burn up my territory,
\nand kill my young men with the sword,
\nand dash my infants to the ground,
\nand seize my children as booty,
\nand take my virgins as spoil.<\/p>\n

5But the LORD Almighty has foiled them
\nby the hand of a woman.
\n6For their mighty one did not fall by the hands of the young men,
\nnor did the sons of the Titans strike him down,
\nnor did tall giants set upon him;
\nbut Judith daughter of Merari
\nwith the beauty of her countenance undid him.<\/p>\n

7For she put away her widow\u2019s clothing
\nto exalt the oppressed in Israel.
\nShe anointed her face with perfume;
\n8she fastened her hair with a tiara
\nand put on a linen gown to beguile him.
\n9Her sandal ravished his eyes,
\nher beauty captivated his mind,
\nand the sword severed his neck!
\n10The Persians trembled at her boldness,
\nthe Medes were daunted at her daring.<\/p>\n

11Then my oppressed people shouted;
\nmy weak people cried out, and the enemy trembled;
\nthey lifted up their voices, and the enemy were turned back.
\n12Sons of slave-girls pierced them through
\nand wounded them like the children of fugitives;
\nthey perished before the army of my LORD.<\/p>\n

13I will sing to my God a new song:
\nO LORD, you are great and glorious,
\nwonderful in strength, invincible.
\n14Let all your creatures serve you,
\nfor you spoke, and they were made.
\nYou sent forth your spirit, and it formed them;
\nthere is none that can resist your voice.
\n15For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters;
\nbefore your glance the rocks shall melt like wax.
\nBut to those who fear you
\nyou show mercy.
\n16For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing,
\nand the fat of all whole burnt offerings to you is a very little thing;
\nbut whoever fears the LORD is great forever.<\/p>\n

17Woe to the nations that rise up against my people!
\nThe LORD Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment;
\nhe will send fire and worms into their flesh;
\nthey shall weep in pain forever.<\/p>\n

18When they arrived at Jerusalem, they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts. 19Judith also dedicated to God all the possessions of Holofernes, which the people had given her; and the canopy that she had taken for herself from his bedchamber she gave as a votive offering. 20For three months the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary, and Judith remained with them.
\n21After this they all returned home to their own inheritances. Judith went to Bethulia, and remained on her estate. For the rest of her life she was honored throughout the whole country. 22Many desired to marry her, but she gave herself to no man all the days of her life after her husband Manasseh died and was gathered to his people. 23She became more and more famous, and grew old in her husband\u2019s house, reaching the age of one hundred five. She set her maid free. She died in Bethulia, and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh; 24and the house of Israel mourned her for seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her husband Manasseh, and to her own nearest kindred. 25No one ever again spread terror among the Israelites during the lifetime of Judith, or for a long time after her death.<\/p>\n

Tobit<\/p>\n

George W. E. Nickelsburg<\/p>\n

Tobit is a piece of historical fiction set in the Assyrian captivity that recounts the sufferings of a pious Israelite and his family and God\u2019s alleviation of these troubles. From a literary point of view Tobit is a rich and complex text that eludes simple analysis. Taken as a whole, however, the work is a sophisticated and carefully crafted narrative.
\nIn spite of his faithfulness to God and his many deeds of mercy to others, Tobit suffers greatly. When he can no longer believe that God will deliver him, he prays for death. In another city, his relative Sarah also sees death as the only likely solution to her suffering. But when all appears hopeless, God sends healing by means of the angel Raphael. Parallel to the story of Tobit is the uncompleted story of Israel. Tobit\u2019s situation is paradigmatic for the exiled nation. As God has chastised Tobit, so Israel, suffering in exile, is being chastised. But God\u2019s mercy on Tobit and his family guarantees that this mercy will bring the Israelites back to their land. Since this event, described only in predictions, awaits fulfillment, one level of the double story is incomplete.
\nThe author\u2019s mastery of narrative technique is evident at many points. The plot develops, is complicated, and is resolved in classic fashion. Parallel scenes advance the plot and develop characterization. Narrative tension is maintained by revealing to readers what the characters do not know and by moving in and out of alternating scenes with different subplots and characters. These characters are exemplary in their piety and believable in their human flaws. The protagonist, Tobit, is a complex figure. Although he epitomizes the right life and is articulate in his conviction that God rewards the righteous, he can vacillate between faith and doubt. His movement, however, from despair at the beginning to praise at the end offers a model and a promise for readers who can empathize with his predicament. Humor is an important component in Tobit, and one often senses the author\u2019s delight in entertaining readers. This factor notwithstanding, the book is a serious treatment of the religious problem of innocent suffering.
\nThe characters express sorrow and praise in prayers and hymns written in the diction and forms of contemporary Israelite liturgical usage. Twice Tobit instructs his son in a deathbed testament. First he speaks in proverbs. Later, his prediction of future events is reminiscent of historical apocalypses such as Dan. 11. God\u2019s resolution of Tobit\u2019s suffering, which dominates the narrative, is recounted in an extended angelic epiphany, or appearance.
\nIn addition to these clearly discernible forms are traces of folkloristic motifs and themes such as \u201cthe grateful dead\u201d and \u201cthe dangerous bride.\u201d Also reflected is the traditional tale of the persecuted and vindicated courtier (Dan. 1\u20136; Esther; and the nonbiblical story of Ahiqar). Finally, Tobit evinces striking parallels with the first three books of Homer\u2019s Odyssey and Gen. 27\u201329, two accounts of young men on a journey.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Tobit is thoroughly exilic in its viewpoint, and return to the land of Israel and Jerusalem is a consummation devoutly to be awaited. These factors, inextricably woven into the narrative fabric, strongly suggest that the book was written in the Diaspora (i.e., among Jews living outside the land of Palestine). A date in the 3rd century BCE seems likely, although the oral and folkloric roots are older.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The literary complexity of Tobit mirrors the richness of the book\u2019s religious expression. Fundamentally, the work makes a multifaceted statement about the interrelationships of God, humanity, and the world, and it does so through many traditional religious themes. Basic is the assertion that a providential God orchestrates the events of life and history for the benefit of Israel and the Israelites. Faithfulness to God and love toward others are rewarded.
\nThe author\u2019s assertions about the sovereignty of God do not avoid the problematic aspects of human experience, which are explained in several ways. Evil spirits wreak havoc on the righteous and innocent. Since the righteous are not perfect, the merciful God must sometimes \u201cscourge\u201d or \u201cchastise\u201d them before providing their due rewards. The dispensing of such rewards is, moreover, no simple matter and involves a complex divine juggling act; final benefit for all requires temporary suffering for some. A central factor in the book is the inability of human beings to perceive divine activity. This failure to understand is, in an important sense, the point of the work. God\u2019s purpose moves on in spite of human ignorance of it. Heaven\u2019s decisions and actions are hidden from human knowledge. The healing angel is thought to be merely a friendly and helpful companion. A journey undertaken for one purpose has unimaginably beneficial consequences. People widely separated wrongly suppose that the worst is happening. The resolution of the plot involves a revelation\u2014not simply of the angel\u2019s identity, but of the triumph of God\u2019s purpose and the frailty of human faith. Tobit is not an apocalyptic work. Nonetheless, in its two-storied universe, with angels and demons, its claim that God\u2019s hidden purposes are operative, and its assertion that God\u2019s triumph will be revealed, the book owes a debt to apocalyptic texts like 1 Enoch.
\nAlthough the author\u2019s eye is on the workings of the heavenly court, God intervenes on earth in human life and history. God and the angels are \u201cwith\u201d the righteous as they live their lives and \u201cwith\u201d Israel in its exile. Human beings are healed now, and final healing will restore the people to their land and again give them access to the sanctuary from which they apostasized.
\nConstitutive of the book\u2019s portrayal of God\u2019s activity on earth is its own version of the cross-cultural myth of the disguised heavenly helper. Another example occurs in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus, the hidden Son of God comes to heal and combat Satan, and whose unique saving death reveals his identity.
\nFor the author of Tobit, God\u2019s merciful, saving activity is cause for praise, and the book is replete with hymns and hymnic language. Tobit\u2019s progress from doubt to affirmation is marked by his successive use of a prayer of lament and a hymn of praise. It is not accidental that the book itself is said to be an expression of God\u2019s great and marvelous activity (12:16\u201322).
\nIn Tobit, religion is embodied in social realities\u2014of which we are given some tantalizing glimpses. Marriage and family are central for social stability and for Israelite national and religious identity. Of marriage customs and family obligations there are numerous hints. Within this domestic sphere the men dominate, although the portrayal of Anna mitigates somewhat this patriarchal familial structure. When the author focuses on religious matters, men are clearly privileged and superior to women. Proper burial of the dead is a pervasive concern. The pious life is enacted in concrete deeds of loving-kindness. Thus, the religious obligation to bring tithes and firstfruits is intended to benefit others, and the rich have a special responsibility to share their wealth through the giving of alms.
\nFor Israelites in exile the righteous life has its negative social consequences. Tobit is persecuted and ridiculed by antagonistic and unsympathetic neighbors. The importance of endogamy (i.e., marriage within one\u2019s own tribal group) must be underscored, because intermarriage and assimilation are an easy capitulation to the social pressures felt in a minority situation.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

Tobit was composed in Aramaic and translated into Hebrew and Greek. The Greek was transmitted in a long form (G2, supported by the Old Latin [OL] version) and a short form (G1). Fragments of several Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran indicate that the long form is more original (although it lacks two sections found in G1 and the Old Latin: 4:7\u201319; 13:6\u201310a). All major English editions are now based on the long form. This commentary follows that form, but makes occasional reference to possible original readings in G1 (sometimes supported by the OL).<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Bow, B., and G. W. E. Nickelsburg. \u201cPatriarchy with a Twist: Men and Women in Tobit.\u201d In \u201cWomen Like This\u201d: New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World, edited by A.-J. Levine, 127\u201343. Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature 6. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991.
\nDoran, R. \u201cNarrative Literature.\u201d In Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters, edited by R. A. Kraft and G. W. E. Nickelsburg, 287\u2013310. Philadelphia: Fortress; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986.
\nLindenberger, J. M. \u201cAhiqar.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth. 2 vols, 2:479\u2013507. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1985.
\nMoore, C. A. Tobit. Anchor Bible, 40A. New York: Doubleday, 1996.
\nNickelsburg, G. W. E. Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. A Historical and Literary Introduction, Second Ed. with CD-ROM. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005, 29\u201335.
\nPetersen, N. R. \u201cTobit.\u201d In The Books of the Bible, edited by B. W. Anderson, 2:35\u201342. New York: Scribner, 1989.<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/p>\n

1:1 This book tells the story of Tobit son of Tobiel son of Hananiel son of Aduel son of Gabael son of Raphael son of Raguel of the descendants of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali, 2who in the days of King Shalmaneser of the Assyrians was taken into captivity from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh Naphtali in Upper Galilee, above Asher toward the west, and north of Phogor.
\n3I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life. I performed many acts of charity for my kindred and my people who had gone with me in exile to Nineveh in the land of the Assyrians. 4When I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of my ancestor Naphtali deserted the house of David and Jerusalem. This city had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, where all the tribes of Israel should offer sacrifice and where the temple, the dwelling of God, had been consecrated and established for all generations forever.
\n5All my kindred and our ancestral house of Naphtali sacrificed to the calf that King Jeroboam of Israel had erected in Dan and on all the mountains of Galilee. 6But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the festivals, as it is prescribed for all Israel by an everlasting decree. I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the firstfruits of the crops and the firstlings of the flock, the tithes of the cattle, and the first shearings of the sheep. 7I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar; likewise the tenth of the grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates, figs, and the rest of the fruits to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem. Also for six years I would save up a second tenth in money and go and distribute it in Jerusalem. 8A third tenth I would give to the orphans and widows and to the converts who had attached themselves to Israel. I would bring it and give it to them in the third year, and we would eat it according to the ordinance decreed concerning it in the law of Moses and according to the instructions of Deborah, the mother of my father Tobiel, for my father had died, and left me an orphan. 9When I became a man I married a woman, a member of our own family, and by her I became the father of a son whom I named Tobias.
\n10After I was carried away captive to Assyria and came as a captive to Nineveh, everyone of my kindred and my people ate the food of the Gentiles, 11but I kept myself from eating the food of the Gentiles.12 Because I was mindful of God with all my heart, 13the Most High gave me favor and good standing with Shalmaneser, and I used to buy everything he needed. 14Until his death I used to go into Media, and buy for him there. While in the country of Media I left bags of silver worth ten talents in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabri. 15But when Shalmaneser died, and his son Sennacherib reigned in his place, the highways into Media became unsafe and I could no longer go there.
\n16In the days of Shalmaneser I performed many acts of charity to my kindred, those of my tribe. 17I would give my food to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw the dead body of any of my people thrown out behind the wall of Nineveh, I would bury it.18I also buried any whom King Sennacherib put to death when he came fleeing from Judea in those days of judgment that the king of heaven executed upon him because of his blasphemies. For in his anger he put to death many Israelites; but I would secretly remove the bodies and bury them. So when Sennacherib looked for them he could not find them. 19Then one of the Ninevites went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them; so I hid myself. But when I realized that the king knew about me and that I was being searched for to be put to death, I was afraid and ran away. 20Then all my property was confiscated; nothing was left to me that was not taken into the royal treasury except my wife Anna and my son Tobias.
\n21But not forty days passed before two of Sennacherib\u2019s sons killed him, and they fled to the mountains of Ararat, and his son Esar-haddon reigned after him. He appointed Ahikar, the son of my brother Hanael over all the accounts of his kingdom, and he had authority over the entire administration. 22Ahikar interceded for me, and I returned to Nineveh. Now Ahikar was chief cupbearer, keeper of the signet, and in charge of administrations of the accounts under King Sennacherib of Assyria; so Esar-haddon reappointed him. He was my nephew and so a close relative.
\n2:1Then during the reign of Esar-haddon I returned home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me. At our festival of Pentecost, which is the sacred festival of weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me and I reclined to eat. 2When the table was set for me and an abundance of food placed before me, I said to my son Tobias, \u201cGo, my child, and bring whatever poor person you may find of our people among the exiles in Nineveh; who is wholeheartedly mindful of God, and he shall eat together with me. I will wait for you, until you come back.\u201d 3So Tobias went to look for some poor person of our people. When he had returned he said, \u201cFather!\u201d And I replied, \u201cHere I am, my child.\u201d Then he went on to say, \u201cLook, father, one of our own people has been murdered and thrown into the market place, and now he lies there strangled.\u201d 4Then I sprang up, left the dinner before even tasting it, and removed the body from the square and laid it in one of the rooms until sunset when I might bury it.\u201d 5When I returned, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. 6Then I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said against Bethel,<\/p>\n

\u201cYour festivals shall be turned into mourning,
\nand all your songs into lamentation.\u201d
\nAnd I wept.<\/p>\n

7 When the sun had set, I went and dug a grave and buried him. 8And my neighbors laughed and said, \u201cIs he still not afraid? He has already been hunted down to be put to death for doing this, and he ran away; yet here he is again burying the dead!\u201d 9That same night I washed myself and went into my courtyard and slept by the wall of the courtyard; and my face was uncovered because of the heat. 10I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall; their fresh droppings fell into my eyes and produced white films. I went to physicians to be healed, but the more they treated me with ointments the more my vision was obscured by the white films, until I became completely blind. For four years I remained unable to see. All my kindred were sorry for me, and Ahikar took care of me for two years before he went to Elymais.
\n11At that time, also, my wife Anna earned money at women\u2019s work. 12She used to send what she made to the owners and they would pay wages to her. One day, the seventh of Dystrus, when she cut off a piece she had woven and sent it to the owners, they paid her full wages and also gave her a young goat for a meal. 13When she returned to me, the goat began to bleat. So I called her and said, \u201cWhere did you get this goat? It is surely not stolen is it? Return it to the owners; for we have no right to eat anything stolen.\u201d 14But she said to me, \u201cIt was given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.\u201d But I did not believe her, and told her to return it to the owners. I became flushed with anger against her over this. Then she replied to me, \u201cWhere are your acts of charity? Where are your righteous deeds? These things are known about you!\u201d
\n3:1Then with much grief and anguish of heart I wept and with groaning began to pray:<\/p>\n

2\u201cYou are righteous, O LORD, and all your deeds are just;
\nall your ways are mercy and truth; you judge the world.
\n3And now, O LORD, remember me and look favorably upon me.
\nDo not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offenses and those that my ancestors committed before you.
\nThey sinned against you, 4and disobeyed your commandments.
\nSo you gave us over to plunder, exile, and death, to become the talk, the byword, and an object of reproach among all the nations among whom you have dispersed us.
\n5And now your many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins.
\nFor we have not kept your commandments and have not walked in accordance with truth before you.
\n6So now deal with me as you will; command my spirit to be taken from me, so that I may be released from the face of the earth and become dust.
\nFor it is better for me to die than to live, because I have had to listen to undeserved insults, and great is the sorrow within me.
\nCommand, O LORD, that I be released from this distress; release me to go to the eternal home, and do not, O LORD, turn your face away from me.
\nFor it is better for me to die than to see so much distress in my life and to listen to insults.\u201d<\/p>\n

7On the same day, at Ecbatana in Media, it also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was reproached by one of her father\u2019s maids. 8For she had been married to seven husbands, and the wicked demon Asmodeus had killed each of them before they had been with her as is customary for wives. So the maid said to her, \u201cYou are the one who kills your husbands! See, you have already been married to seven husbands and have not borne the name of a single one of them. 9Why do you beat us? Because your husbands are dead? Go with them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!\u201d
\n10On that day she was grieved in spirit and wept. When she had gone up to her father\u2019s upper room, she intended to hang herself. But she thought it over and said, \u201cNever shall they reproach my father saying to him, \u2018You had only one beloved daughter but she hanged herself because of her distress.\u2019 And I shall bring my father in his old age down in sorrow to Hades. It is better for me not to hang myself but to pray the LORD that I may die and not listen to these reproaches anymore.\u201d 11At that same time, with hands outstretched toward the window, she prayed and said,<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you, merciful God! Blessed is your name forever; let all your works praise you forever.
\n12And now, LORD, I turn my face to you, and raise my eyes toward you.
\n13Command that I be released from the earth and not listen to such reproaches any more.
\n14You know, O Master, that I am innocent of any defilement with a man,
\n15and that I have not disgraced my name or the name of my father in the land of my exile.
\nI am my father\u2019s only child; he has no other child to be his heir; and he has no close relative or other kindred for whom I should keep myself as wife.
\nAlready seven husbands of mine have died. Why should I still live?
\nBut if it is not pleasing to you, O LORD, to take my life, hear me in my disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

16At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God. 17So Raphael was sent to heal both of them: Tobit, by removing the white films from his eyes, so that he might see God\u2019s light with his eyes; and Sarah, daughter of Raguel, by giving her in marriage to Tobias son of Tobit, and by setting her free from the wicked demon Asmodeus. For Tobias was entitled to have her before all others who had desired to marry her. At the same time that Tobit returned from the courtyard into his house, Sarah daughter of Raguel came down from her upper room.
\n4:1That same day Tobit remembered the money that he had left in trust with Gabael at Rages in Media, 2and he said to himself, \u201cNow I have asked for death. Why do I not call my son Tobias and explain to him about the money before I die?\u201d 3Then he called his son Tobias, and when he came to him he said, \u201cMy son, when I die, give me a proper burial. Honor your mother and do not abandon her all the days of her life. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her in anything. 4Remember her, my son, because she faced many dangers for you while you were in her womb. And when she dies, bury her beside me in the same grave.
\n5\u201cRevere the LORD all your days, my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing; 6for those who act in accordance with truth will prosper in all their activities. To all those who practice righteousness 7give alms from your possessions, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. 8If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 9So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. 10For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps you from going into the Darkness. 11Indeed, almsgiving, for all who practice it, is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High.
\n12\u201cBeware, my son, of every kind of fornication. First of all, marry a woman from among the descendants of your ancestors; do not marry a foreign woman, who is not of your father\u2019s tribe; for we are the descendants of the prophets. Remember, my son, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our ancestors of old, all took wives from among their kindred. They were blessed in their children, and their posterity will inherit the land. 13So now, my son, love your kindred, and in your heart do not disdain your kindred, the sons and daughters of your people, by refusing to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in pride there is ruin and great confusion. And in idleness there is loss and dire poverty, because idleness is the mother of famine.
\n14\u201cDo not keep over until the next day the wages of those who work for you, but pay them at once.\u201d If you serve God you will receive payment. \u201cWatch yourself, my son, in everything you do, and discipline yourself in all your conduct. 15And what you hate, do not do to anyone. Do not drink wine to excess or let drunkenness go with you on your way. 16Give some of your food to the hungry, and some of your clothing to the naked. Give all your surplus as alms, and do not let your eye begrudge your giving of alms. 17Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners. 18Seek advice from every wise person and do not despise any useful counsel. 19At all times bless the LORD God, and ask him that your ways may be made straight and that all your paths and plans may prosper. For none of the nations has understanding, but the LORD himself will give them good counsel; but if he chooses otherwise, he casts down to deepest Hades. So now, my child, remember these commandments, and do not let them be erased from your heart.
\n20\u201cAnd now, my son, let me explain to you that I left ten talents of silver in trust with Gabael son of Gabrias, at Rages in Media. 21Do not be afraid my son, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God and flee from every sin and do what is good in the sight of the LORD your God.\u201d
\n5:1Then Tobias answered his father Tobit, \u201cI will do everything that you have commanded me, father; 2but how can I obtain the money from him, since he does not know me and I do not know him? What evidence am I to give him so that he will recognize and trust me, and give me the money? Also, I do not know the roads to Media, or how to get there.\u201d 3Then Tobit answered his son Tobias, \u201cHe gave me his bond and I gave him my bond. I divided his in two; we each took one part, and I put one with the money. And now twenty years have passed since I left this money in trust. So now, my son, find yourself a trustworthy man to go with you, and we will pay him wages until you return. But get back the money from Gabael.\u201d
\n4So Tobias went out to look for a man to go with him to Media, someone who was acquainted with the way. He went out and found the angel Raphael standing in front of him; but he did not perceive that he was an angel of God. 5Tobias said to him, \u201cWhere do you come from, young man?\u201d \u201cFrom your kindred, the Israelites,\u201d he replied, \u201cand I have come here to work.\u201d Then Tobias said to him, \u201cDo you know the way to go to Media?\u201d 6\u201cYes,\u201d he replied, \u201cI have been there many times; I am acquainted with it and know all the roads. I have often traveled to Media, and would stay with our kinsman Gabael who lives in Rages of Media. It is a journey of two days from Ecbatana to Rages; for it lies in a mountainous area, while Ecbatana is in the middle of the plain.\u201d 7Then Tobias said to him, \u201cWait for me, young man, until I go in and tell my father; for I do need you to travel with me, and I will pay you your wages.\u201d8 He replied, \u201cAll right, I will wait; but do not take too long.\u201d
\n9So Tobias went in to tell his father Tobit and said to him, \u201cI have just found a man who is one of our own Israelite kindred!\u201d He replied, \u201cCall the man in, my son, so that I may learn about his family and to what tribe he belongs, and whether he is trustworthy enough to go with you.\u201d
\n10Then Tobias went out and called him, and said, \u201cYoung man, my father is calling for you.\u201d So he went in to him, and Tobit greeted him first. He replied, \u201cJoyous greetings to you!\u201d But Tobit retorted, \u201cWhat joy is left for me any more? I am a man without eyesight; I cannot see the light of heaven, but I lie in darkness like the dead who no longer see the light. Although still alive, I am among the dead. I hear people but I cannot see them.\u201d But the young man said, \u201cTake courage; the time is near for God to heal you; take courage.\u201d Then Tobit said to him, \u201cMy son Tobias wishes to go to Media. Can you accompany him and guide him? I will pay your wages, brother.\u201d He answered, \u201cI can go with him and I know all the roads, for I have often gone to Media and have crossed all its plains, and I am familiar with its mountains and all of its roads.\u201d
\n11Then Tobit said to him, \u201cBrother, of what family are you and from what tribe? Tell me, brother.\u201d 12He replied, \u201cWhy do you need to know my tribe?\u201d But Tobit said, \u201cI want to be sure, brother, whose son you are and what your name is.\u201d 13He replied, \u201cI am Azariah, the son of the great Hananiah, one of your relatives.\u201d 14Then Tobit said to him, \u201cWelcome! God save you, brother. Do not feel bitter toward me, brother, because I wanted to be sure about your ancestry. It turns out that you are a kinsman, and of good and noble lineage. For I knew Hananiah and Nathan, the two sons of Shemeliah, and they used to go with me to Jerusalem and worshiped with me there, and were not led astray. Your kindred are good people; you come of good stock. Hearty welcome!\u201d
\n15Then he added, \u201cI will pay you a drachma a day as wages, as well as expenses for yourself and my son. So go with my son, 16and I will add something to your wages.\u201d Raphael answered, \u201cI will go with him; so do not fear. We shall leave in good health and return to you in good health, because the way is safe.\u201d 17So Tobit said to him, \u201cBlessings be upon you, brother.\u201d
\nThen he called his son and said to him, \u201cSon, prepare supplies for the journey and set out with your brother. May God in heaven bring you safely there and return you in good health to me; and may his angel, my son, accompany you both for your safety.\u201d
\nBefore he went out to start his journey, he kissed his father and mother. Tobit then said to him, \u201cHave a safe journey.\u201d
\n18But his mother began to weep, and said to Tobit, \u201cWhy is it that you have sent my child away? Is he not the staff of our hand as he goes in and out before us? 19Do not heap money upon money, but let it be a ransom for our child. 20For the life that is given to us by the LORD is enough for us.\u201d 21Tobit said to her, \u201cDo not worry; our child will leave in good health and return to us in good health. Your eyes will see him on the day when he returns to you in good health. Say no more! Do not fear for them, my sister. 22For a good angel will accompany him; his journey will be successful, and he will come back in good health.\u201d
\n6:1So she stopped weeping. The young man went out and the angel went with him; 2and the dog came out with him and went along with them. So they both journeyed along, and when the first night overtook them they camped by the Tigris river. 3Then the young man went down to wash his feet in the Tigris river. Suddenly a large fish leaped up from the water and tried to swallow the young man\u2019s foot, and he cried out. 4But the angel said to the young man, \u201cCatch hold of the fish and hang on to it!\u201d So the young man grasped the fish and drew it up on the land. Then the angel said to him, \u201cCut open the fish and take out its gall, heart, and liver. Keep them with you, but throw away the intestines. For its gall, heart, and liver are useful as medicine.\u201d 6So after cutting open the fish the young man gathered together the gall, heart, and liver; then he roasted and ate some of the fish, and kept some to be salted.
\nThe two continued on their way together until they were near Media. 7Then the young man questioned the angel and said to him, \u201cBrother Azariah, what medicinal value is there in the fish\u2019s heart and liver, and in the gall?\u201d 8He replied, \u201cAs for the fish\u2019s heart and liver, you must burn them to make a smoke in the presence of a man or woman afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, and every affliction will flee away and never remain with that person any longer. 9And as for the gall, anoint a person\u2019s eyes where white films have appeared on them; blow upon them, upon the white films, and the eyes will be healed.\u201d
\n10When he entered Media and already was approaching Ecbatana, 11Raphael said to the young man, \u201cBrother Tobias.\u201d \u201cHere I am,\u201d he answered. Then Raphael said to him, \u201cWe must stay this night in the home of Raguel. He is your relative, and he has a daughter named Sarah. 12He has no male heir and no daughter except Sarah only, and you, as next of kin to her, have before all other men a hereditary claim on her. Also it is right for you to inherit her father\u2019s possessions. Moreover, the girl is sensible, brave, and very beautiful, and her father is a good man.\u201d 13He continued, \u201cYou have every right to take her in marriage. So listen to me, brother; tonight I will speak to her father about the girl, so that we may take her to be your bride. When we return from Rages we will celebrate her marriage. For I know that Raguel can by no means keep her from you or promise her to another man without incurring the penalty of death according to the decree of the book of Moses. Indeed he knows that you, rather than any other man, are entitled to marry his daughter. So now listen to me, brother, and tonight we shall speak concerning the girl and arrange her engagement to you. And when we return from Rages we will take her and bring her back with us to your house.\u201d
\n14Then Tobias said in answer to Raphael, \u201cBrother Azariah, I have heard that she already has been married to seven husbands and that they died in the bridal chamber. On the night when they went in to her, they would die. I have heard people saying that it was a demon that killed them. 15It does not harm her, but it kills anyone who desires to approach her. So now, since I am the only son my father has, I am afraid that I may die and bring my father\u2019s and mother\u2019s life down to their grave, grieving for me\u2014and they have no other son to bury them.\u201d
\n16But Raphael said to him, \u201cDo you not remember your father\u2019s orders when he commanded you to take a wife from your father\u2019s house? Now listen to me, brother, and say no more about this demon. Take her. I know that this very night she will be given to you in marriage. 17When you enter the bridal chamber, take some of the fish\u2019s liver and heart, and put them on the embers of the incense. An odor will be given off; 18the demon will smell it and flee, and will never be seen near her any more. Now when you are about to go to bed with her, both of you must first stand up and pray, imploring the LORD of heaven that mercy and safety may be granted to you. Do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world was made. You will save her, and she will go with you. I presume that you will have children by her, and they will be as brothers to you. Now say no more!\u201d When Tobias heard the words of Raphael and learned that she was his kinswoman, related through his father\u2019s lineage, he loved her very much, and his heart was drawn to her.
\n7:1Now when they entered Ecbatana, Tobias said to him, \u201cBrother Azariah, take me straight to our brother Raguel.\u201d So he took him to Raguel\u2019s house, where they found him sitting beside the courtyard door. They greeted him first, and he replied, \u201cJoyous greetings, brothers; welcome and good health!\u201d Then he brought them into his house. 2He said to his wife Edna, \u201cHow much the young man resembles my kinsman Tobit!\u201d 3Then Edna questioned them, saying, \u201cWhere are you from, brothers?\u201d They answered, \u201cWe belong to the descendants of Naphtali who are exiles in Nineveh.\u201d \u201cShe said to them, \u201cDo you know our kinsman Tobit?\u201d And they replied, \u201cYes, we know him.\u201d Then she asked them, \u201cIs he in good health?\u201d 5They replied, \u201cHe is alive and in good health.\u201d And Tobias added, \u201cHe is my father!\u201d6 At that Raguel jumped up and kissed him and wept. 7He also spoke to him as follows, \u201cBlessings on you, my child, son of a good and noble father! O most miserable of calamities that such an upright and beneficent man has become blind!\u201d He then embraced his kinsman Tobias and wept.8 His wife Edna also wept for him, and their daughter Sarah likewise wept. 9Then Raguel slaughtered a ram from the flock and received them very warmly.
\nWhen they had bathed and washed themselves and had reclined to dine, Tobias said to Raphael, \u201cBrother Azariah, ask Raguel to give me my kinswoman Sarah.\u201d 10But Raguel overheard it and said to the lad, \u201cEat and drink, and be merry tonight. For no one except you, brother, has the right to marry my daughter Sarah. Likewise I am not at liberty to give her to any other man than yourself, because you are my nearest relative. But let me explain to you the true situation more fully, my child. 11I have given her to seven men of our kinsmen, and all died on the night when they went in to her. But now, my child, eat and drink, and the LORD will act on behalf of you both.\u201d But Tobias said, \u2018Twill neither eat nor drink anything until you settle the things that pertain to me.\u201d So Raguel said, \u201cI; will do so. She is given to you in accordance with the decree in the book of Moses, and it has been decreed from heaven that she be given to you. Take your kinswoman; from now on you are her brother and she is your sister. She is given to you from today and forever. May the LORD of heaven, my child, guide and prosper you both this night and grant you mercy and peace.\u201d 12Then Raguel summoned his daughter Sarah. When she came to him he took her by the hand and gave her to Tobias, saying, \u201cTake her to be your wife in accordance with the law and decree written in the book of Moses. Take her and bring her safely to your father. And may the God of heaven prosper your journey with his peace.\u201d 13Then he called her mother and told her to bring writing material; and he wrote out a copy of a marriage contract to the effect that he gave her to him as wife according to the decree of the law of Moses. 14Then they began to eat and drink. 15Raguel called his wife Edna and said to her, \u201cSister, get the other room ready, and take her there.\u201d 16So she went and made the bed in the room as he had told her, and brought Sarah there. She wept for her daughter. Then, wiping away the tears, she said to her, \u201cTake courage, my daughter; the LORD of heaven grant you joy in place of your sorrow. Take courage, my daughter.\u201d Then she went out.
\n8:1When they had finished eating and drinking they wanted to retire; so they took the young man and brought him into the bedroom. 2Then Tobias remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the fish\u2019s liver and heart out of the bag where he had them and put them on the embers of the incense. 3The odor of the fish so repelled the demon that he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt. But Raphael followed him, and at once bound him there hand and foot.
\n4When the parents had gone out and shut the door of the room, Tobias got out of bed and said to Sarah, \u201cSister, get up, and let us pray and implore our LORD that he grant us mercy and safety.\u201d 5So she got up, and they began to pray and implore that they might be kept safe. Tobias began by saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you, O God of our ancestors, and blessed is your name in all generations forever.
\nLet the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever.
\n6You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve as a helper and support. From the two of them the human race has sprung.
\nYou said, \u2018It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make a helper for him like himself.\u2019
\n7I now am taking this kinswoman of mine, not because of lust, but with sincerity.
\nGrant that she and I may find mercy and that we may grow old together.\u201d
\n8And they both said, \u201cAmen, Amen.\u201d 9Then they went to sleep for the night.<\/p>\n

But Raguel arose and called his servants to him, and they went and dug a grave, 10for he said, \u201cIt is possible that he will die and we will become an object of ridicule and derision.\u201d 11When they had finished digging the grave, Raguel went into his house and called his wife, 12saying, \u201cSend one of the maids and have her go in to see if he is alive. But if he is dead, let us bury him without anyone knowing it.\u201d 13So they sent the maid, lit a lamp, and opened the door; and she went in and found them sound asleep together. 14 Then the maid came out and informed them that he was alive and that nothing was wrong.15So they blessed the God of heaven, and Raguel said,<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you, O God, with every pure blessing;
\nlet all your chosen ones bless you.
\nLet them bless you forever.
\n16Blessed are you because you have made me glad.
\nIt has not turned out as I expected, but you have dealt with us according to your great mercy.
\n17Blessed are you because you had compassion on two only children.
\nBe merciful to them, O Master, and keep them safe; bring their lives to fulfillment in happiness and mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

18Then he ordered his servants to fill in the grave before daybreak. 19After this he asked his wife to bake many loaves of bread; and he went out to the herd and brought two steers and four rams and ordered them to be slaughtered. So they began to make preparations. 20Then he called for Tobias and swore on oath to him in these words: \u201cYou shall not leave here for fourteen days, but shall stay here eating and drinking with me; and you shall cheer up my daughter, who has been depressed. 21Take at once half of what I own and return in safety to your father; the other half will be yours when my wife and I die. Take courage, my child. I am your father and Edna is your mother, and we belong to you as well as to your wife now and forever. Take courage, my child.\u201d
\n9:1Then Tobias called Raphael and said to him, 2\u201cBrother Azariah, take four servants and two camels with you and travel to Rages. Go to the home of Gabael, give him the bond, get the money, and then bring him with you to the wedding celebration. 4For you know that my father must be counting the days, and if I delay even one day I will upset him very much. 3You are witness to the oath Raguel has sworn, and I cannot violate his oath.\u201d 5So Raphael with the four servants and two camels went to Rages in Media and stayed with Gabael. Raphael gave him the bond and informed him that Tobit\u2019s son Tobias had married and was inviting him to the wedding celebration. So Gabael got up and counted out to him the money bags, with their seals intact; then they loaded them on the camels. 6In the morning they both got up early and went to the wedding celebration. When they came into Raguel\u2019s house they found Tobias reclining at table. He sprang up and greeted Gabael, who wept and blessed him with the words, \u201cGood and noble, son of a father good and noble, upright and generous! May the LORD grant the blessing of heaven to you and your wife, and to your wife\u2019s father and mother. Blessed be God, for I see in Tobias the very image of my cousin Tobit.\u201d
\n10:1Now, day by day, Tobit kept counting how many days Tobias would need for going and for returning. And when the days had passed and his son did not appear, 2he said, \u201cIs it possible that he has been detained? Or that Gabael has died, and there is no one to give him the money?\u201d 3And he began to worry. 4His wife Anna said, \u201cMy child has perished and is no longer among the living.\u201d And she began to weep and mourn for her son, saying, 5\u201cWoe to me, my child, the light of my eyes, that I let you make the journey.\u201d 6But Tobit kept saying to her, \u201cBe quiet and stop worrying, my dear; he is all right. Probably something unexpected has happened there. The man who went with him is trustworthy and is one of our own kin. Do not grieve for him, my dear; he will soon be here.\u201d 7She answered him, \u201cBe quiet yourself! Stop trying to deceive me! My child has perished.\u201d She would rush out every day and watch the road her son had taken, and would heed no one. When the sun had set she would go in and mourn and weep all night long, getting no sleep at all. Now when the fourteen days of the wedding celebration had ended that Raguel had sworn to observe for his daughter, Tobias came to him and said, \u201cSend me back, for I know that my father and mother do not believe that they will see me again. So I beg of you, father, to let me go so that I may return to my own father. I have already explained to you how I left him.\u201d 8But Raguel said to Tobias, \u201cStay, my child, stay with me; I will send messengers to your father Tobit and they will inform him about you.\u201d 9But he said, \u201cNo! I beg you to send me back to my father.\u201d 10So Raguel promptly gave Tobias his wife Sarah, as well as half of all his property: male and female slaves, oxen and sheep, donkeys and camels, clothing, money, and household goods. 11Then he saw them safely off; he embraced Tobias and said, \u201cFarewell, my child; have a safe journey. The LORD of heaven prosper you and your wife Sarah, and may I see children of yours before I die.\u201d 12Then he kissed his daughter Sarah and said to her, \u201cMy daughter, honor your father-in-law and your mother-in-law since from now on they are as much your, parents as those who gave you birth. Go in peace, daughter, and may I hear a good report about you as long as I live.\u201d Then he bade them farewell and let them go. Then Edna said to Tobias, \u201cMy child and dear brother, the LORD of heaven bring you back, safely, and may I live long enough to see children of you and of my daughter Sarah before l die. In the sight of the LORD I entrust my daughter to you; do nothing to grieve her all the days of your life. Go in peace, my child. From now on I am your mother and Sarah is your beloved wife. May we all prosper together all the days of our lives.\u201d Then she kissed them both arid saw them safely off. 13Tobias parted from Raguel with happiness and joy, praising the LORD of heaven and earth, King over all, because he had made his journey a success. Finally, he blessed Raguel and his wife Edna, and said, \u201cI have been commanded by the LORD to honor you all the days of my life.\u201d
\n11:1When they came near to Kaserin, which is opposite Nineveh, Raphael said, 2\u201cYou are aware of how we left your father. 3Let us run ahead of your wife and prepare the house while they are still on the way.\u201d 4As they went on together Raphael said to him, \u201cHave the gall ready.\u201d And the dog went along behind them.5 Meanwhile Anna sat looking intently down the road by which her son would come. 6When she caught sight of him coming, she said to his father, \u201cLook, your son is coming, and the man who went with him!\u201d7 Raphael said to Tobias, before he had approached his father, \u201cI know that his eyes will be opened.8 Smear the gall of the fish on his eyes; the medicine will make the white films shrink and peel off from his eyes, and your father will regain his sight and see the light.\u201d 9Then Anna ran up to her son and threw her arms around him, saying, \u201cNow that I have seen you my child, I am ready to die.\u201d And she wept. 10Then Tobit got up and came stumbling out through the courtyard door. Tobias went up to him, 11with the gall of the fish in his hand, and holding him firmly, he blew into his eyes, saying, \u201cTake courage, father.\u201d With this he applied the medicine on his eyes, 12and it made them smart. 13Next, with both his hands he peeled off the white films from the corners of his eyes. Then Tobit saw his son and threw his arms around him, 14and he wept and said to him, \u201cI see you, my son, the light of my eyes!\u201d Then he said,<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed be God, and blessed be his great name, and blessed be all his holy angels.
\nMay his holy name be blessed throughout all the ages.15Though he afflicted me, he has had mercy upon me. Now I see my son Tobias!\u201d<\/p>\n

So Tobit went in rejoicing and praising God at the top of his voice. Tobias reported to his father that his journey had been successful, that he had brought the money, that he had married Raguel\u2019s daughter Sarah, and that she was, indeed, on her way there, very near to the gate of Nineveh.
\n16Then Tobit, rejoicing and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gate of Nineveh. When the people of Nineveh saw him coming, walking along in full vigor and with no one leading him, they were amazed. 17Before them all, Tobit acknowledged that God had been merciful to him and had restored his sight. When Tobit met Sarah the wife of his son Tobias, he blessed her saying, \u201cCome in, my daughter, and welcome. Blessed be your God who has brought you to us, my daughter. Blessed be your father and your mother, blessed be my son Tobias, and blessed be you, my daughter. Come in now to your home, and welcome, with blessing and joy. Come in, my daughter.\u201d So on that day there was rejoicing among all the Jews who were in Nineveh. 18Ahikar and his nephew Nadab were also present to share Tobit\u2019s joy. With merriment they celebrated Tobias\u2019s wedding feast for seven days, and many gifts were given to him.
\n12:1When the wedding celebration was ended, Tobit called his son Tobias and said to him, \u201cMy child, see to paying the wages of the man who went with you, and give him a bonus as well.\u201d 2He replied, \u201cFather, how much shall I pay him? It would do no harm to give him half of the possessions brought back with me. 3For he has led me back to you safely, he cured my wife, he brought the money back with me, and he healed you. How much extra shall I give him as a bonus?\u201d 4Tobit said, \u201cHe deserves, my child, to receive half of all that he brought back.\u201d 5So Tobias called him and said, \u201cTake for your wages half of all that you brought back, and farewell.\u201d
\n6Then Raphael called the two of them privately and said to them, \u201cBless God and acknowledge him in the presence of all the living for the good things he has done for you. Bless and sing praise to his name. With fitting honor declare to all people the deeds of God. Do not be slow to acknowledge him. 7It is good to conceal the secret of a king, but to acknowledge and reveal the works of God, and with fitting honor to acknowledge him. Do good and evil will not over take you. 8Prayer with fasting is good, but better than both is almsgiving with righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than wealth with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold. 9For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those, who give alms will enjoy a full life, 10 but those who commit sin and do wrong are their own worst enemies.
\n11\u201cI will now declare the whole truth to you and will conceal nothing from you. Already I have declared it to you when I said, \u2018It is good to conceal the secret of a king, but to reveal with due honor the, works of God.\u2019 12So now when you and Sarah prayed, it was I who brought and read the record of your prayer before the glory of the LORD, and likewise whenever you would bury the dead. 13And that time when you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner to go and bury the dead, 14I was sent to you to test you. And at the same time God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law. 15I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the LORD.\u201d
\n16The two of them were shaken; they fell face down, for they were afraid. 17But he said to them, \u201cDo not be afraid; peace be with you. Bless God forevermore. 18As for me, when I was with you, I was not acting on my own will, but by the will of God. Bless him each and every day; sing his praises. 19Although you were watching me, I really did not eat or drink anything\u2014but what you saw was a vision. 20So now get up from the ground, and acknowledge God. See, I am ascending to him who sent me. Write down.all these things that have happened to you.\u201d And he ascended. 21Then they stood up, and could see him no more. 22They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and they acknowledged God for these marvelous deeds of his, when an angel of God had appeared to them.<\/p>\n

13.1Then Tobit said:
\n\u201cBlessed be God who lives forever, because his kingdom lasts throughout all ages.
\n2For he afflicts, and he shows mercy; he leads down to Hades in the lowest regions of the earth, and he brings up from the great abyss, and there is nothing that can escape his hand.
\n3Acknowledge him before the nations, O children of Israel; for he has scattered you among them. 4He has shown you his greatness even there.
\nExalt him in the presence of every living being, because he is our LORD and he is our God;
\nhe is our Father and he is God forever.
\n5He will afflict you for your iniquities, but he will again show mercy on all of you. He will gather you from all the nations among whom you have been scattered.
\n6If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul, to do what is true before him, then he will turn to you and will no longer hide his face from you.
\nSo now see what he has done for you; acknowledge him at the top of your voice.
\nBless the LORD of righteousness, and exalt the King of the ages.
\nIn the land of my exile I acknowledge him, and show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners:
\n\u201cTurn back, you sinners, and do what is right before him; perhaps he may look with favor upon you and show you mercy.
\n7As for me, I exalt my God, and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven.
\n8 Let all people speak of his majesty, and acknowledge him in Jerusalem.
\n9O Jerusalem, the holy city, he afflicted you for the deeds of your hands, but will again have mercy on the children of the righteous.
\n10Acknowledge the LORD, for he is good, and bless the King of the ages, so that his tent may be rebuilt in you in joy.
\nMay he cheer all those, within you who are captives, and love all those within you who are distressed, to all generations forever.
\n11A bright light will shine to all the ends of the earth; many nations will come to you from far away,
\nthe inhabitants of the remotest parts of the earth to your holy name, bearing gifts in their hands for the King of heaven.
\nGeneration after generation will give joyful praise in you; the name of the chosen city will endure forever.
\n12Cursed are all who speak a harsh word against you; cursed are all who conquer you and pull
\ndown your walls, all who overthrow your towers and set your homes on fire. But blessed forever
\nwill be all who revere you.
\n13Go, then, and rejoice over the children of the righteous, for they will be gathered together and will praise the LORD of the ages.
\n14Happy are those who love you, and happy are those who rejoice in your prosperity. Happy also
\nare all people who grieve with you because of your afflictions; for they will rejoice with you,
\nand witness all your glory forever.
\n15My soul blesses the LORD, the great King! 16For Jerusalem will be built as his house for all ages.
\nHow happy I will be if a remnant of my descendants should survive to see your glory and acknowledge the King of heaven.
\nThe gates of Jerusalem will be built with sapphire and emerald, and all your walls with precious stones.
\nThe towers of Jerusalem will be built with gold, and their battlements with pure gold.
\nThe streets of Jerusalem will be paved with ruby and with stones of Ophir.
\n17The gates of Jerusalem will sing hymns of joy, and all her houses will cry, \u2018Hallelujah! Blessed be the God of Israel!\u2019 and the blessed will bless the holy name forever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

14:1So ended Tobit\u2019s words of praise. 2Tobit died in peace when he was one hundred twelve years old, and was buried with great honor in Nineveh. He was sixty-two years old when he lost his eyesight, and after regaining it he lived in prosperity, giving alms and continually blessing God and acknowledging God\u2019s majesty.
\n3When he was about to die, he called his son Tobias and the seven sons of Tobias and gave this command: \u201cMy son, take your children and hurry off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel, whom God sent, will occur. None of all their words will fail, but all will come true at their appointed times. So it will be safer in Media than in Assyria and Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has said will be fulfilled and will come true; not a single word of the prophecies will fail. All of our kindred, inhabitants of the land of Israel, will be scattered and taken as captives from the good land; and the whole land of Israel will be desolate, even Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate. And the temple of God in it will be burned to the ground, and it will be desolate for a while.
\n5\u201cBut God will again have mercy on them, and God will bring them back into the land of Israel; and they will rebuild the temple of God, but not like the first one until the period when the times of fulfillment shall come. After this they all will return from their exile and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor; and in it the temple of God will be rebuilt, just as the prophets of Israel have said concerning it. 6Then the nations in the whole world will all be converted and worship God in truth. They will all abandon their idols, which deceitfully have led them into their error; 7and in righteousness they will praise the eternal God. All the Israelites who are saved in those days and are truly mindful of God will be gathered together; they will go to Jerusalem and live in safety forever in the land of Abraham, and it will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God will rejoice, but those who commit sin and injustice will vanish from all the earth. 8,9So now, my children, I command you, serve God faithfully and do what is pleasing in his sight. Your children are, also to be commanded, to do what is right and to give alms, and to be mindful of God and to bless his name at all times with sincerity and with all their strength. So now, my son, leave Nineveh; do not remain here.10On whatever day you bury your mother beside me, do not stay overnight within the confines, of the, city. For I see that there is much wickedness within it, and that much deceit is practiced within it, while the people are without shame. See, my son, what Nadab did to Ahikar who had reared him. Was he not, while still alive, brought down into the earth? For God repaid him to his face for this shameful treatment. Ahikar came out into the light, but Nadab went into the eternal darkness, because he tried to kill Ahikar. Because he gave alms, Ahikar escaped the fatal trap that Nadab had set for him, but Nadab fell into it himself, and was destroyed. 11So now, my children, see what almsgiving accomplishes, and what injustice does\u2014it brings death! But now my breath fails me.\u201d
\nThen they laid him on his bed, and he died; and he received an honorable funeral. 12When Tobias\u2019s mother died, he buried her beside his father. Then he and his wife and children returned to Media and settled in Ecbatana with Raguel his father-in-law. 13He treated his parents-in-law with great respect in their old age, and buried them in Ecbatana of Media. He inherited both the property of Raguel and that of his father Tobit. 14He died highly respected at the age of one hundred seventeen years. 15Before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh and he saw its prisoners being led into Media, those whom King Cyaxares of Media had taken captive. Tobias praised God for all he had done to the people of Nineveh and Assyria; before he died he rejoiced over Nineveh, and he blessed the LORD God forever and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n

4 Baruch<\/p>\n

Pablo Torijano<\/p>\n

4 Baruch (or the Things Omitted from Jeremiah the Prophet) describes several events that happened around the time of the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (586 BCE). Jeremiah, after being warned by God of the impending destruction of the city, grieves with his secretary, Baruch, and asks for divine favor on behalf of Abimelech the Ethiopian (cf. Jer. 38:7\u201313); God tells Jeremiah to send Abimelech away to the vineyard of Agrippa for safety. After this, following God\u2019s instructions, Jeremiah entrusts the Temple vessels to the earth and the Temple keys to the sun. Finally, God orders Jeremiah to go with the people into captivity, while Baruch is to remain in Jerusalem. After the city falls and the people are taken to Babylon, Baruch laments alone in a tomb near the city.
\nMeanwhile, following Jeremiah\u2019s instructions, Abimelech has left the city early in the morning to gather some figs at the so-called farm of Agrippa, an unidentified place. On his way back, he takes a nap and sleeps for 66 years. When he awakens, he is confused and cannot recognize his surroundings. An angel leads him to Baruch, who interprets Abimelech\u2019s return as a sign of the return of the exiles, and his figs, still fresh, as symbolizing personal resurrection and national restoration. Baruch sends a letter and some of the figs to Jeremiah so that he may prepare the people for their anticipated return. Jeremiah comes back with the people, but some of those with Babylonian spouses, refuse to leave them, even though God has ordered the people to \u201cforsake the works of Babylon.\u201d Jeremiah, Baruch, and Abimelech bar entry into Jerusalem for these mixed couples, as do the Babylonians when they attempt to return there. Eventually they settle in Samaria, becoming the ancestors of the Samaritans. Once back in Jerusalem, Jeremiah sees a marvelous vision of many divine mysteries, and prophesies about the future coming of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As a consequence, the people stone him to death.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Two different authors worked on 4 Baruch. The first one was a Jew, whose familiarity with Jerusalem and Israel comes through clearly and who wrote between the two Jewish revolts (i.e., between 70 and 135 CE). He developed the traditions about Jeremiah into a tale of hope and national redemption while addressing several challenges (Samaritans, the Temple, the Law, messianic expectations). The second author, a Christian, edited the text by adding the final story about Jeremiah\u2019s martyrdom. With this addition, he tried to change the text into a missionary work addressed to the Jewish people after the failure of the second revolt.
\nThe work poses several problems in relation to its dating, provenance, original language, composition, and sources. Since it is a text that draws from several sources and has a complicated composition, and in its final form was adapted by Christians, it could have been produced over a lengthy period of time. However, the central place given to God\u2019s Law, the expression of hope in the resurrection, and the idea of the heavenly Jerusalem all point to the period between the rebellions of 70 and 132 CE (the Bar Kokhba revolt occurred during 132\u2013135 CE) as the time frame of its compilation: it is quite likely that 4 Baruch was written around 130 CE. The Christian edition would have been made after the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt.
\nThe language of composition has also been debated. The text as it stands has been preserved in Greek, but the presence of some elements (grammatical oddities in the Greek, transliterations of Hebrew words) could point to a Semitic original, or more likely to an author whose mother tongue was Hebrew or Aramaic.
\nSeveral details of this text suggest that Israel was its place of origin: the references to the vineyard of Agrippa (4 Bar. 3:14, 21; 5:22) and the market of the Gentiles (6:19). This provenance is reinforced if the text\u2019s purported date at the time of the Babylon conquest and the Restoration is taken into account, although this dating could be also a literary device used by the author to give the work more ancient authority.
\nThe Greek text is represented by a total of 63 manuscripts in two different forms: a longer, older version (in 23 extant manuscripts), and a shorter one (in 40 manuscripts) that abridged the former. The large number of manuscripts testifies to the importance and popularity of the work in Christian literature. It has been translated also into Ethiopic, Armenian, and Old Church Slavonic (an ancient Slavic language).<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The Jewish author elaborates the biblical traditions about Jeremiah and uses the prophet\u2019s story to show the importance of God\u2019s Law, the resurrection, and the hope for spiritual restoration. The text is a sort of historical haggadah that retells a chapter of Israel history to instruct people. The text appears to address the Diaspora, with an orientation of eschatological hope. However, it shows a critical vision of the messianic expectations of the day. The Christian redactor reworks the text into a positive view of Jewish history after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt and extends a missionary invitation to the Jewish people; thus Jeremiah is presented as a Christian witness to the messiah.
\n4 Baruch has similarities and points of contact with several other early Jewish writings, but it is difficult to establish a direct link with them to decide if they were sources of it. 2 Baruch, a Jewish text that is preserved in Syriac (an Aramaic dialect), seems to be a main source text, but 4 Baruch elaborates traditions that were known in late antiquity and that appear also in other works such as Pesikta Rabbati, which tells the story of Jeremiah\u2019s life from his birth until the destruction of the Temple; and 2 Maccabees, whose second chapter could be the basis for the narrative about the Temple vessels that appears in 4 Baruch.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Herzer, Jens. 4 Baruch (Paraleipomena Jeremiou). Writings from the Greco-Roman World 22. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005.
\nKraft, Robert A., and Ann-Elizabeth Purintun. Paraleipomena Jeremiou. SBL Texts and Translations 1. Missoula MT: SBL, 1972.
\nRiaud, Jean. \u201cThe Figure of Jeremiah in the Paralipomena Jeremiae Prophetae: His Originality; His Christianization by the Christian Author of the Conclusion (9:10\u201332).\u201d Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 22 (2000): 31\u201344.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Les Paralipom\u00e8nes du proph\u00e8te J\u00e9r\u00e9mie. Pr\u00e9sentation, texte original, traduction et commentaires. Cahiers du Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches en Histoire, Lettres, et Langues 14. Angers: Universit\u00e9 Catholique de l\u2019Ouest, 1994.
\nRobinson, Stephen E. \u201c4 Baruch (First to Second Century AD): A New Translation.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 413\u201325. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1983\u201385.
\nSchaller, Berndt. \u201cIs the Greek Version of the Paralipomena Jeremiou Original or a Translation?\u201d JSP 22 (2000): 51\u201389.<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/p>\n

1:1It came to pass, when the children of Israel were taken captive by the king of the Chaldeans, that God spoke to Jeremiah saying: Jeremiah, my chosen one, arise and depart from this city, you and Baruch, since I am going to destroy it because of the multitude of 2the sins of those who dwell in it. For your prayers are like a solid pillar in its midst, and like an indestructible wall surrounding it. 3Now, then, arise and depart before the host of the Chaldeans surrounds it. 4And Jeremiah answered, saying: I beseech you, LORD, permit me, your servant, to speak in your presence. 5And the LORD said to him: Speak, my chosen one Jeremiah. 6And Jeremiah spoke, saying: LORD Almighty, would you deliver the chosen city into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that the king with the multitude of his people might boast and say: \u201cI have prevailed over the holy city of God\u201d? 7No, my LORD, but if it is your will, let it be destroyed by your hands. 8And the LORD said to Jeremiah: Since you are my chosen one, arise and depart from this city, you and Baruch, for I am going to destroy it because of the multitude of the 9sins of those who dwell in it. For neither the king nor his host will be able to enter it unless I first open its gates. 10Arise, then, and go to Baruch, and tell him these words. 11And when you have arisen at the sixth hour of the night, go out on the city walls and I will show you that unless I first destroy the city, they cannot enter it. 12When the LORD had said this, he departed from Jeremiah.
\n2:1And Jeremiah ran and told these things to Baruch; and as they went into the temple of God, Jeremiah tore his garments and put dust on his head and entered the holy place of God. 2And when Baruch saw him with dust sprinkled on his head and his garments torn, he cried out in a loud voice, saying: Father Jeremiah, what are you doing? What sin has the people committed? 3(For whenever the people sinned, Jeremiah would sprinkle dust on his head and would pray for the people until their sin was forgiven.) 4So Baruch asked him, saying: Father, what is this? 5And Jeremiah said to him: Refrain from rending your garments\u2014rather, let us rend our hearts! And let us not draw water for the troughs, but let us weep and fill them with tears! For the LORD will not have mercy on this people. 6And Baruch said: Father Jeremiah, what has happened? 7And Jeremiah said: God is delivering the city into the hands of the king of the Chaldeans, to take the people captive into Babylon. 8And when Baruch heard these things, he also tore his garments and said: Father Jeremiah, who has made this known to you? 9And Jeremiah said to him: Stay with me awhile, until the sixth hour of the night, so that you may know that this word is true. 10Therefore they both remained in the altar area weeping, and their garments were torn.
\n3:1And when the hour of the night arrived, as the LORD had told Jeremiah, they came up together on the walls of the city, Jeremiah and Baruch. 2And behold, there came a sound of trumpets; and angels emerged from heaven holding torches in their hands, and they set them on the walls of the city. 3And when Jeremiah and Baruch saw them, they wept, saying: Now we know that the word is true! 4And Jeremiah besought the angels, saying: I beseech you, do not destroy the city yet, until I say something to the LORD. 5And the LORD spoke to the angels, saying: Do not destroy the city until I speak to my chosen one, Jeremiah. 6Then Jeremiah spoke, saying: I beg you, LORD, bid me to speak in your presence. 7And the LORD said: Speak, my chosen one: Jeremiah. 8And Jeremiah said: Behold, LORD, now we know that you are delivering the city into the hands of its enemies, and they will take the people away to Babylon. 9What do you want me to do with the holy vessels of the temple service? 10And the LORD said to him: Take them and consign them to the earth, saying: Hear, Earth, the voice of your creator who formed you in the abundance of waters, who sealed you with seven seals for seven epochs, and after this you will receive your ornaments (?)\u201411Guard the vessels of the temple service until the gathering of the beloved. 12And Jeremiah spoke, saying: I beseech you, LORD, show me what I should do for Abimelech the Ethiopian, for he has done many kindnesses to your servant Jeremiah.
\n13For he pulled me out of the miry pit; and I do not wish that he should see the destruction and desolation of this city, but that you should be merciful to him and that he should not be grieved. 14(And) the LORD said to Jeremiah: Send him to the vineyard of Agrippa, and I will hide him in the shadow of the mountain until I cause the people to return to the city. 15And you, Jeremiah, go with your people into Babylon and stay with them, preaching to them, until I cause them to return to the city. 16But leave Baruch here until I speak with him. 17When he had said these things, the LORD ascended from Jeremiah into heaven. 18But Jeremiah and Baruch entered the holy place, and taking the vessels of the temple service, they consigned them to the earth as the LORD had told them. 19And immediately the earth swallowed them. 20And they both sat down and wept. 21And when morning came, Jeremiah sent for Abimelech, saying: Take a basket and go to the estate of Agrippa by the mountain road, and bring back some figs to give to the sick among the people; for the favor of the LORD is on you and his glory is on your head. 22And when he had said this, Jeremiah sent him away; and Abimelech went as he told him.
\n4:1And when morning came, behold the host of the Chaldeans surrounded 4the city. 2And the great angel trumpeted, saying: Enter the city, host of the Chaldeans; for behold, the gate is opened for you. 3Therefore let the king enter, with his multitudes, and let him take all the people captive. 4But taking the keys of the temple, Jeremiah went outside the city and threw them away in the presence of the sun, saying: I say to you, Sun, take the keys of the temple of God and guard them until the day in which the LORD asks you for them. 5For we have not been found worthy to keep them, for we have become unfaithful guardians. 6While Jeremiah was still weeping for the people, they brought him out with the people and dragged them into Babylon. 7But Baruch put dust on his head and sat and wailed this lamentation, saying: Why has Jerusalem been devastated? Because of the sins of the beloved people she was delivered into the hands of enemies\u2014because of our sins and those of the people. 8But let not the lawless ones boast and say: \u201cWe were strong enough to take the city of God by our might\u201d; but it was delivered to you because of our sins. 9And God will pity us and cause us to return to our city, but you will not survive! 10Blessed are our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for they departed from this world and did not see the destruction of this city. 11When he had said this, Baruch departed from the city, weeping and saying: Grieving because of you, Jerusalem, I went out from you. 12And he remained sitting in a tomb, while the angels came to him and explained to him everything that the LORD revealed to him through them.
\n5:1But Abimelech took the figs in the burning heat; and coming upon a tree, he sat under its shade to rest a bit. 2And leaning his head on the basket of figs, he fell asleep and slept for 66 years; and he was not awakened from his slumber. 3And afterward, when he awoke from his sleep, he said: I slept sweetly for a little while, but my head is heavy because I did not get enough sleep. 4Then he uncovered the basket of figs and found them dripping milk. 5And he said: I would like to sleep a little longer, because my head is heavy. But I am afraid that I might fall asleep and be late in awakening and my father Jeremiah would think badly of me; for if he were not in a hurry, he would not have sent me today at daybreak. 6So I will get up, and proceed in the burning heat; for isn\u2019t there heat, isn\u2019t there toil every day? 7So he got up and took the basket of figs and placed it on his shoulders, and he entered into Jerusalem and did not recognize it\u2014neither his own house, nor the place\u2014nor did he find his own family or any of his acquaintances. 8And he said: The LORD be blessed, for a great trance has come over me today! 9This is not the city Jerusalem\u2014and I have lost my way because I came by the mountain road when I arose from my sleep; and since my head was heavy because I did not get enough sleep, I lost my way. 10It will seem incredible to Jeremiah that I lost my way! 11And he departed from the city; and as he searched he saw the landmarks of the city, and he said: Indeed, this is the city; I lost my way. 12And again he returned to the city and searched, and found no one of his own people; and he said: The LORD be blessed, for a great trance has come over me! 13And again he departed from the city, and he stayed there grieving, not knowing where he should go.
\n14And he put down the basket, saying: I will sit here until the LORD takes this trance from me.
\n15And as he sat, he saw an old man coming from the field; and Abimelech said to him: I say to you, old man, what city is this? 16And he said to him: It is Jerusalem. 17And Abimelech said to him: Where is Jeremiah the priest, and Baruch the secretary, and all the people of this city, for I could not find them? 18And the old man said to him: Are you not from this city, seeing that you remember Jeremiah today, because you are asking about him after such a long time? 19For Jeremiah is in Babylon with the people; for they were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah is with them to preach the good news to them and to teach them the word. 20As soon as Abimelech heard this from the old man, he said: If you were not an old man, and if it were not for the fact that it is not lawful for a man to upbraid one older than himself, I would laugh at you and say that you are out of your mind\u2014since you say that the people have been taken captive into Babylon. 21Even if the heavenly torrents had descended on them, there has not yet been time for them to go into Babylon! 22For how much time has passed since my father Jeremiah sent me to the estate of Agrippa to bring a few figs, so that I might give them to the sick among the people? 23And I went and got them, and when I came to a certain tree in the burning heat, I sat to rest a little; and I leaned my head on the basket and fell asleep. 24And when I awoke I uncovered the basket of figs, supposing that I was late; and I found the figs dripping milk, just as I had collected them. 25But you claim that the people have been taken captive into Babylon. 26But that you might know, take the figs and see! 27And he uncovered the basket of figs for the old man, and he saw them dripping milk. 28And when the old man saw them, he said: O my son, you are a righteous man, and God did not want you to see the desolation of the city, so he brought this trance upon you. 29For behold, it is 66 years today since the people were taken captive into Babylon. 30But that you might learn, my son, that what I tell you is true\u2014look into the field and see that the ripening of the crops has not appeared. 31And notice that the figs are not in season, and be enlightened. 32Then Abimelech cried out in a loud voice, saying: bless you, God of heaven and earth, the Rest of the souls of the righteous in every place! 33Then he said to the old man: What month is this? 34And he said: Nisan (which is Abib). 35And taking some of the figs, he gave them to the old man and said to him: May God illumine your way to the city above, Jerusalem.
\n6:1After this, Abimelech went out of the city and prayed to the LORD. 2And behold, an angel of the LORD came and took him by the right hand and brought him back to where Baruch was sitting, and he found him in a tomb. 3And when they saw each other, they both went and kissed each other. 4But when Baruch looked up he saw with his own eyes the figs that were covered in Abimelech\u2019s basket. 5And lifting his eyes to heaven, he prayed, saying: 6You are the God who gives a reward to those who love you. Prepare yourself, my heart, and rejoice and be glad while you are in your tabernacle, saying to your fleshly house, \u201cyour grief has been changed to joy\u201d; for the Sufficient One is coming and will deliver you in your tabernacle\u2014for there is no sin in you. 7Revive in your tabernacle, in your virginal faith, and believe that you will live! 8Look at this basket of figs\u2014for behold, they are 66 years old and have not become shriveled or rotten, but they are dripping milk. 9So it will be with you, my flesh, if you do what is commanded you by the angel of righteousness. 10He who preserved the basket of figs, the same will again preserve you by his power.
\n11When Baruch had said this, he said to Abimelech: Stand up and let us pray that the LORD may make known to us how we shall be able to send to Jeremiah in Babylon the report about the shelter provided for you on the way. 12And Baruch prayed, saying: LORD God, our strength is the elect light which comes forth 13from your mouth. We beseech and beg of your goodness\u2014you whose great name no one is able to know\u2014hear the voice of your servants and let knowledge come into our hearts. 14What shall we do, and how shall we send this report to Jeremiah in Babylon? 15And while Baruch was still praying, behold an angel of the LORD came and said all these words to Baruch: Agent of the light, do not be anxious about how you will send to Jeremiah; for an eagle is coming to you at the hour of light tomorrow, and you will direct him to Jeremiah. 16Therefore, write in a letter: Say to the children of Israel: Let the stranger who comes among you be set apart and let 15 days go by; and after this I will lead you into your city, says the LORD. 17He who is not separated from Babylon will not enter into the city; and I will punish them by keeping them from being received back by the Babylonians, says the LORD. 18And when the angel had said this, he departed from Baruch.
\n19And Baruch sent to the market of the Gentiles and got papyrus and ink and wrote a letter as follows: Baruch, the servant of God, writes to Jeremiah in the captivity of Babylon: 20Greetings! Rejoice, for God has not allowed us to depart from this body grieving for the city which was laid waste and outraged. 21Wherefore the LORD has had compassion on our tears, and has remembered the covenant which he established with our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 22And he sent his angel to me, and he told me these words which I send to you. 23These, then, are the words which the LORD, the God of Israel, spoke, who led us out of Egypt, out of the great furnace: Because you did not keep my ordinances, but your heart was lifted up, and you were haughty before me, in anger and wrath I delivered you to the furnace in Babylon. 24If, therefore, says the LORD, you listen to my voice, from the mouth of Jeremiah my servant, I will bring the one who listens up from Babylon; but the one who does not listen will become a stranger to Jerusalem and to Babylon. 25And you will test them by means of the water of the Jordan; whoever does not listen will be exposed\u2014this is the sign of the great seal.
\n7:1And Baruch got up and departed from the tomb and found the eagle sitting outside the tomb. 2And the eagle said to him in a human voice: Hail, Baruch, steward of the faith. 3And Baruch said to him: You who speak are chosen from among all the birds of heaven, for this is clear from the gleam of your eyes; tell me, then, what are you doing here? 4And the eagle said to him: I was sent here so that you might through me send whatever message you want. 5And Baruch said to him: Can you carry this message to Jeremiah in Babylon? 6And the eagle said to him: Indeed, it was for this reason I was sent. 7And Baruch took the letter, and 15 figs from Abimelech\u2019s basket, and tied them to the eagle\u2019s neck and said to him: I say to you, king of the birds, go in peace with good health and carry the message for me. 8Do not be like the raven which Noah sent out and which never came back to him in the ark; but be like the dove which, the third time, brought a report to the righteous one. 9So you also, take this good message to Jeremiah and to those in bondage with him, that it may be well with you\u2014take this papyrus to the people and to the chosen one of God. 10Even if all the birds of heaven surround you and want to fight with you, struggle\u2014the LORD will give you strength. 11And do not turn aside to the right or to the left, but straight as a speeding arrow, go in the power of God, and the glory of the LORD will be with you the entire way. 12Then the eagle took flight and went away to Babylon, having the letter tied to his neck; and when he arrived he rested on a post outside the city in a desert place. 13And he kept silent until Jeremiah came along, for he and some of the people were coming out to bury a corpse outside the city. 14(For Jeremiah had petitioned King Nebuchadnezzar, saying: \u201cGive me a place where I may bury those of my people who have died\u201d; and the king gave it to him.) 15And as they were coming out with the body, and weeping, they came to where the eagle was. 16And the eagle cried out in a loud voice, saying: I say to you, Jeremiah the chosen one of God, go and gather together the people and come here so that they may hear a letter which I have brought to you from Baruch and Abimelech.
\n17And when Jeremiah heard this, he glorified God; and he went and gathered together the people along with their wives and children, and he came to where the eagle was. 18And the eagle came down on the corpse, and it revived. 19(Now this took place so that they might believe.) 20And all the people were astounded at what had happened, and said: This is the God who appeared to our fathers in the wilderness through Moses, and now he has appeared to us through this eagle. 21And the eagle said: I say to you, Jeremiah, come, untie this letter and read it to the people\u2014So he untied the letter and read it to the people. 22And when the people heard it, they wept and put dust on their heads, and they said to Jeremiah: Deliver us and tell us what to do that we may once again enter our city. 23And Jeremiah answered and said to them: Do whatever you heard from the letter, and the LORD will lead us into our city. 24And Jeremiah wrote a letter to Baruch, saying thus:
\nMy beloved son, do not be negligent in your prayers, beseeching God on our behalf, that he might direct our way until we come out of the jurisdiction of this lawless king. 25For you have been found righteous before God, and he did not let you come here, lest you see the affliction which has come upon the people at the hands of the Babylonians. 26For it is like a father with an only son, who is given over for punishment; and those who see his father and console him cover his face, lest he see how his son is being punished, and be even more ravaged by grief. 27For thus God took pity on you and did not let you enter Babylon lest you see the affliction of the people. 28For since we came here, grief has not left us, for 66 years today. 29For many times when I went out I found some of the people hung up by King Nebuchadnezzar, crying and saying: \u201cHave mercy on us, God-ZAR!\u201d 30When I heard this, I grieved and cried with two-fold mourning, not only because they were hung up, but because they were calling on a foreign God, saying \u201cHave mercy on us.\u201d 31a But I remembered days of festivity which we celebrated in Jerusalem before our captivity; 31and when I remembered, I groaned, and returned to my house wailing and weeping. 32Now, then, pray in the place where you are\u2014you and Abimelech\u2014for this people, that they may listen to my voice and to the decrees of my mouth, so that we may depart from here. 33For I tell you that the entire time that we have spent here they have kept us in subjection, saying: Recite for us a song from the songs of Zion\u2014the song of your God. 34And we reply to them: How shall we sing for you since we are in a foreign land? 35And after this, Jeremiah tied the letter to the eagle\u2019s neck, saying: Go in peace, and may the LORD watch over both of us. 36And the eagle took flight and came to Jerusalem and gave the letter to Baruch; and when he had untied it he read it and kissed it and wept when he heard about the distresses and afflictions of the people. 37But Jeremiah took the figs and distributed them to the sick among the people, and he kept teaching them to abstain from the pollutions of the Gentiles of Babylon.
\n8:1And the day came in which the LORD brought the people out of Babylon. 2And the LORD said to Jeremiah: Rise up\u2014you and the people\u2014and come to the Jordan and say to the people: Let anyone who desires the LORD forsake the works of Babylon. 3As for the men who took wives from them and the women who took husbands from them\u2014those who listen to you shall cross over, and you take them into Jerusalem; but those who do not listen to you, do not lead them there. 4And Jeremiah spoke these words to the people, and they arose and came to the Jordan to cross over. 5As he told them the words that the LORD had spoken to him, half of those who had taken spouses from them did not wish to listen to Jeremiah, but said to him: We will never forsake our wives, but we will bring them back with us into our city. 6So they crossed the Jordan and came to Jerusalem. 7And Jeremiah and Baruch and Abimelech stood up and said: No man joined with Babylonians shall enter this city!
\n8And they said to one another: Let us arise and return to Babylon to our place\u20149And they departed. But while they were coming to Babylon, the Babylonians came out to meet them, saying: You shall not enter our city, for you hated us and you left us secretly; therefore you cannot come in with us. 10For we have taken a solemn oath together in the name of our god to receive neither you nor your children, since you left us secretly. 11And when they heard this, they returned and came to a desert place some distance from Jerusalem and built a city for themselves and named it \u201cSAMARIA.\u201d 12And Jeremiah sent to them, saying: Repent, for the angel of righteousness is coming and will lead you to your exalted place.
\n9:1Now those who were with Jeremiah were rejoicing and offering sacrifices on behalf of the people for nine days. 2But on the tenth, Jeremiah alone offered sacrifice. 3And he prayed a prayer, saying: Holy, holy, holy, fragrant aroma of the living trees, true light that enlightens me until I ascend to you; 4For your mercy, I beg you\u2014for the sweet voice of the two seraphim, I beg\u2014for another fragrant aroma. 5And may Michael, archangel of righteousness, who opens the gates to the righteous, be my guardian until he causes the righteous to enter. 6I beg you, almighty LORD of all creation, unbegotten and incomprehensible, in whom all judgment was hidden before these things came into existence. 7When Jeremiah has said this, and while he was standing in the altar area with Baruch and Abimelech, he became as one whose soul has departed. 8And Baruch and Abimelech were weeping and crying out in a loud voice: Woe to us! For our father Jeremiah has left us\u2014the priest of God has departed! 9And all the people heard their weeping and they all ran to them and saw 10Jeremiah lying on the ground as if dead. And they tore their garments and put dust on their heads and wept bitterly. 11And after this they prepared to bury him. 12And behold, there came a voice saying: Do not bury the one who yet lives, for his soul is returning to his body! 13And when they heard the voice they did not bury him, but stayed around his tabernacle for three days saying, \u201cwhen will he arise?\u201d
\n14And after three days his soul came back into his body and he raised his voice in the midst of them all and said: Glorify God with one voice! All of you glorify God and the son of God who awakens us\u2014messiah Jesus\u2014the light of all the ages, the inextinguishable lamp, the life of faith. 15But after these times there shall be 477 years more and he comes to earth. 16And the tree of life planted in the midst of paradise will cause all the unfruitful trees to bear fruit, and they will grow and sprout forth. 17And the trees that had sprouted and became haughty and said: \u201cWe have supplied our power (?) to the air,\u201d he will cause them to wither, with the grandeur of their branches, and he will cause them to be judged\u2014that firmly rooted tree! 18And what is crimson will become white as wool\u2014the snow will be blackened\u2014the sweet waters will become salty, and the salty sweet, in the intense light of the joy of God. 19And he will bless the isles so that they become fruitful by the word of the mouth of his messiah. 20For he shall come, and he will go out and choose for himself twelve apostles to proclaim the news among the nations\u2014he whom I have seen adorned by his father and coming into the world on the Mount of Olives\u2014and he shall fill the hungry souls. 21When Jeremiah was saying this concerning the son of God\u2014that he is coming into the world\u2014the people became very angry and said: This is a repetition of the words spoken by Isaiah son of Amos, when he said: I saw God and the son of God. 22Come, then, and let us not kill him by the same sort of death with which we killed Isaiah, but let us stone him with stones. 23And Baruch and Abimelech were greatly grieved because they wanted to hear in full the mysteries that he had seen. 24But Jeremiah said to them: Be silent and weep not, for they cannot kill me until I describe for you everything I saw. 25And he said to them: Bring a stone here to me. 26And he set it up and said: Light of the ages, make this stone to become like me in appearance, until I have described to Baruch and Abimelech everything I saw. 27Then the stone, by God\u2019s command, took on the appearance of Jeremiah. 28And they were stoning the stone, supposing that it was Jeremiah! 29But Jeremiah delivered to Baruch and to Abimelech all the mysteries he had seen, and forthwith he stood in the midst of the people desiring to complete his ministry. 30Then the stone cried out, saying: O foolish children of Israel, why do you stone me, supposing that I am Jeremiah? Behold, Jeremiah is standing in your midst! 31And when they saw him, immediately they rushed upon him with many stones, and his ministry was fulfilled.32And when Baruch and Abimelech came, they buried him, and taking the stone they placed it on his tomb and inscribed it thus: This is the stone that was the ally of Jeremiah.<\/p>\n

3 Maccabees<\/p>\n

Sara Raup Johnson<\/p>\n

3 Maccabees tells the dramatic tale of how God rescued his faithful people from persecution in the days of Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt, over 50 years before the Maccabean revolt. On the surface it is a simple, melodramatic historical account\u2014or fantasy\u2014but on closer inspection, it raises many puzzling problems of interpretation. Ultimately, however, the contradictions it contains are less important than the message it preaches with perfect consistency to its Greek-speaking Jewish audience: that participation in the wider world is attractive (and not without value) but must be pursued within limits; that apostasy comes at a price; and that fidelity to God\u2019s Law matters above all things.
\nAt first glance, the text presents a straightforward historical narrative with many seemingly accurate and plausible details, but it quickly veers into the world of legend. The story is set toward the end of the 3rd century BCE, when the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt still controlled the province of Palestine. The story centers around two crises, where everything that occurs in the first crisis (in Jerusalem) is repeated on a larger scale in the second (in Egypt). First, the cruel and tyrannical Philopator visits Jerusalem and attempts to enter the Temple even after the priests warn him that the Law forbids it; in answer to the prayers of the people and the high priest, God strikes the king down with a paralysis and forces him to withdraw. Philopator then takes out his anger out on the Jews of Egypt, threatening to have the entire people trampled to death by elephants in the hippodrome at Alexandria. Once again, in answer to the prayers of the people and their priest Eleazar, God intervenes with a spectacular miracle. The people are saved; Philopator repents and is reformed, henceforth becoming a protector of the Jewish people.
\nAlthough the story is straightforward, the genre of the work is quite hard to classify. The care taken to create the appearance of historical authenticity sits uncomfortably with the author\u2019s cheerful reporting of the most outrageous exaggerations and the most improbable scenarios. Stylistically, it may be closest to 2 Maccabees, a historical book that mixes factual reporting and the techniques of Hellenistic historiography with a strong taste for the miraculous, the sensational, and the pathetic. In its basic nature, however, the book is closer to the biblical book of Esther, a pseudo-historical fable which was most likely inspired by the need to explain the origin of a festival. Despite the illusion of historical authenticity, the author is much more concerned with instructing the reader how to live as a Jew in the Diaspora than he is with dry facts about the past.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

3 Maccabees is written in Greek, and is preserved in only one of the three major manuscripts of the Septuagint (LXX). Since the text was missing (along with 4 Maccabees) from the LXX manuscript used in the creation of the Vulgate, it did not become part of the Catholic Bible or the Protestant Apocrypha, but it is regarded as canonical by the Eastern Orthodox churches. It is printed for convenience in some modern editions of the Apocrypha along with 1 and 2 Maccabees. Although initially written for a Greek-speaking Jewish audience, it was never included in the Jewish Bible, and there is no direct evidence of it being read by Jews after the 2nd century CE. It remains, however, a significant text for our understanding of Second Temple Judaism.
\nThe title, 3 Maccabees, is a misnomer; unlike 1, 2, and 4 Maccabees, it does not deal directly with the Maccabees or their revolt in any way. It may have gotten the name simply by being grouped with the other books of Maccabees. However, there are important thematic similarities with these other books. Like them, 3 Maccabees deals with a persecution in the Hellenistic period, and the narrative reflects knowledge of the Maccabean revolt at several points. The author may be imaginatively recasting a persecution similar to Antiochus IV\u2019s persecution of Jerusalem in an Egyptian setting, just as the author of Judith seems to be reimagining the assault of Nebuchadnezzar on the First Temple in a Second Temple setting.
\nAlthough best read as a moral fable rather than as a reliable historical account, the author has drawn on numerous authentic historical sources to construct a plausible-sounding fiction. His account of the battle of Raphia closely resembles the account given by the Hellenistic historian Polybius (2nd century BCE), and he is very knowledgeable about the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator. As an historian, the author shows close affinities with the so-called pathetic school of history, of which 2 Maccabees is today the best surviving example.
\nThe date of the text remains somewhat controversial. It must have been written between approximately 100 BCE (since it seems to refer to the Greek translation of Daniel) and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, but within those limits, there is disagreement over whether the text should be regarded as Hellenistic (predating the Roman conquest of Alexandria in 30 BCE) or Roman. The majority opinion, which views the composition as being relatively open in its attitude toward Gentiles, is inclined to date it to the Hellenistic period, but a strong minority view the text as more confrontational and thus are more inclined to locate it in the time of known crises under Augustus (31 BCE\u201314 CE) or Caligula (37\u201341 CE). Whether Hellenistic or Roman, there is no doubt that the author\u2019s chief interest lies with the Jews of Egypt, and the provenance\u2014the point of origin\u2014is assumed to be Egypt, most likely Alexandria.
\nThe author\u2019s name is unknown; given the assumed provenance of the text, he was most likely a Jew living in Alexandria. His first language was clearly Greek, and both his style and his knowledge of history and court protocol suggest a high level of education. If anything, the author tries too hard to impress; his style has variously been described as verbose, florid, pompous, and bombastic. The text does not seem to have changed over time; it is the product of a single author at a single time period, though, as noted above, there is some controversy about whether that time period is Hellenistic or Roman.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

Scholarly opinions about the dating of 3 Maccabees have tended to significantly influence the interpretation of the text in its historical context. In the Ptolemaic period, incidents of persecution or conflict between the Jews of Egypt and their neighbors were relatively rare; some Jews held powerful positions in the Ptolemaic administration. Under Roman rule, the Jews came to occupy a less-privileged status, and conflict with the ruling authorities and with their Gentile neighbors became the rule rather than the exception. One of the first pogroms in recorded Jewish history took place in Alexandria (38 CE) under the emperor Caligula.
\nThe scholars who disagree about the dating of 3 Maccabees have thus read it in two very different ways. Those who see the text as Roman stress the elements in the story that depict the Jews as a persecuted minority, tormented by the cruel king, hated by their enemies, bitterly hostile toward apostates in their own community. Those who view the text as Hellenistic stress the possibilities for peaceful compromise found in the story; when the Jews prove themselves faithful, their enemies are confounded, the king is reformed, and the Jews are restored to favor. Both interpretations are possible, and ultimately readers must decide for themselves whether the text works more effectively as a model for life in a time of compromise, or life in a time of crisis and conflict. In either case, heavy stress is laid on the importance of maintaining a life of integrity and fidelity to God\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

There are a number of other Jewish texts (mostly late Hellenistic) with strong similarities to 3 Maccabees, both stylistic and thematic, and 3 Maccabees is best understood in comparison with them. It is generally not possible to establish with any certainty that one author used another directly, but the texts seem to emerge from a common thought world. 3 Maccabees is most often read in conjunction with the Letter of Aristeas, 2 Maccabees, and Esther (both Hebrew Esther and the Greek additions); Dan. 1\u20136, Judith, and the Jewish novel Joseph and Aseneth also provide instructive parallels.
\n3 Maccabees shares with these texts a number of important themes that would have been particularly relevant to Jews living under foreign rule during the Second Temple period. First and foremost, obedience to God\u2019s Law is paramount; as in 2 Maccabees, no compromise that involves direct disobedience to the Law can be tolerated. Apostasy is punished first by shunning and ultimately by death. As in the biblical book of Daniel, the author focuses on the two areas most difficult for Jews living in a Gentile society to maintain\u2014absolute separation in matters of food, and the refusal to bow down to other gods. Obedience to the Law in these things causes some to hate the Jews, but others to admire them. Because of their separatism, the Jews are suspected of being disloyal to the king, but ultimately the author shows that only the faithful Jew is capable of being truly loyal to the state. As in Esther, it is the enemies and the apostates who are shown to be disloyal and treacherous.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READINGS<\/p>\n

Anderson, Hugh. \u201c3 Maccabees.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseuepigrapha, 2:509\u201329. Edited by James H. Charlesworth. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1985.
\nBarclay, John M. G. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE\u2013117 CE). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
\nCollins, John J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
\nCroy, N. Clayton. 3 Maccabees. Septuagint Commentary Series. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\nHadas, Moses. The Third and Fourth Books of Maccabees. New York: Harper, 1953.
\nJohnson, Sara Raup. Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
\nModrzejewski, Joseph Meleze. The Jews of Egypt: From Ramses II to Emperor Hadrian. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1995.
\nParente, Fausto. \u201cThe Third Book of Maccabees as Ideological Document and Historical Source.\u201d Henoch 10 (1988) 143\u2013182.
\nWills, Lawrence M. The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/p>\n

1.1When Philopator learned from those who returned that the regions which he had controlled had been seized by Antiochus, he gave orders to all his forces, both infantry and cavalry, took with him his sister Arsinoe, and marched out to the region near Raphia, where Antiochus\u2019s supporters were encamped. 2But a certain Theodotus, determined to carry out the plot he had devised, took with him the best of the Ptolemaic arms that had been previously issued to him, and crossed over by night to the tent of Ptolemy, intending single-handed to kill him and thereby end the war. 3But Dositheus, known as the son of Drimylus, a Jew by birth who later changed his religion and apostatized from the ancestral traditions, had led the king away and arranged that a certain insignificant man should sleep in the tent; and so it turned out that this man incurred the vengeance meant for the king. 4When a bitter fight resulted, and matters were turning out rather in favor of Antiochus, Arsinoe went to the troops with wailing and tears, her locks all disheveled, and exhorted them to defend themselves and their children and wives bravely, promising to give them each two minas of gold if they won the battle. 5And so it came about that the enemy was routed in the action, and many captives also were taken. 6Now that he had foiled the plot, Ptolemy decided to visit the neighboring cities and encourage them. 7By doing this, and by endowing their sacred enclosures with gifts, he strengthened the morale of his subjects. 8Since the Jews had sent some of their council and elders to greet him, to bring him gifts of welcome, and to congratulate him on what had happened, he was all the more eager to visit them as soon as possible. 9After he had arrived in Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice to the supreme God and made thank offerings and did what was fitting for the holy place. Then, upon entering the place and being impressed by its excellence and its beauty, 10he marveled at the good order of the temple, and conceived a desire to enter the holy of holies. 11When they said that this was not permitted, because not even members of their own nation were allowed to enter, nor even all of the priests, but only the high priest who was pre-eminent over all, and he only once a year, the king was by no means persuaded. 12Even after the law had been read to him, he did not cease to maintain that he ought to enter, saying, \u201cEven if those men are deprived of this honor, I ought not to be.\u201d 13And he inquired why, when he entered every other temple, no one there had stopped him. 14And someone heedlessly said that it was wrong to take this as a sign in itself. 15\u201cBut since this has happened,\u201d the king said, \u201cwhy should not I at least enter, whether they wish it or not?\u201d 16Then the priests in all their vestments prostrated themselves and entreated the supreme God to aid in the present situation and to avert the violence of this evil design, and they filled the temple with cries and tears; 17and those who remained behind in the city were agitated and hurried out, supposing that something mysterious was occurring. 18The virgins who had been enclosed in their chambers rushed out with their mothers, sprinkled their hair with dust, and filled the streets with groans and lamentations. 19Those women who had recently been arrayed for marriage abandoned the bridal chambers prepared for wedded union, and, neglecting proper modesty, in a disorderly rush flocked together in the city. 20Mothers and nurses abandoned even newborn children here and there, some in houses and some in the streets, and without a backward look they crowded together at the most high temple. 21Various were the supplications of those gathered there because of what the king was profanely plotting. 22In addition, the bolder of the citizens would not tolerate the completion of his plans or the fulfillment of his intended purpose. 23They shouted to their fellows to take arms and die courageously for the ancestral law, and created a considerable disturbance in the holy place; and being barely restrained by the old men and the elders, they resorted to the same posture of supplication as the others. 24Meanwhile the crowd, as before, was engaged in prayer, 25while the elders near the king tried in various ways to change his arrogant mind from the plan that he had conceived. 26But he, in his arrogance, took heed of nothing, and began now to approach, determined to bring the aforesaid plan to a conclusion. 27When those who were around him observed this, they turned, together with our people, to call upon him who has all power to defend them in the present trouble and not to overlook this unlawful and haughty deed. 28The continuous, vehement, and concerted cry of the crowds resulted in an immense uproar; 29for it seemed that not only the men but also the walls and the whole earth around echoed, because indeed all at that time preferred death to the profanation of the place.
\n2.1Then the high priest Simon, facing the sanctuary, bending his knees and extending his hands with calm dignity, prayed as follows: 2\u201cLORD, LORD, king of the heavens, and sovereign of all creation, holy among the holy ones, the only ruler, almighty, give attention to us who are suffering grievously from an impious and profane man, puffed up in his audacity and power. 3For you, the creator of all things and the governor of all, are a just Ruler, and you judge those who have done anything in insolence and arrogance. 4You destroyed those who in the past committed injustice, among whom were even giants who trusted in their strength and boldness, whom you destroyed by bringing upon them a boundless flood. 5You consumed with fire and sulphur the men of Sodom who acted arrogantly, who were notorious for their vices; and you made them an example to those who should come afterward. 6You made known your mighty power by inflicting many and varied punishments on the audacious Pharaoh who had enslaved your holy people Israel. 7And when he pursued them with chariots and a mass of troops, you overwhelmed him in the depths of the sea, but carried through safely those who had put their confidence in you, the Ruler over the whole creation. 8And when they had seen works of your hands, they praised you, the Almighty. 9You, O King, when you had created the boundless and immeasurable earth, chose this city and sanctified this place for your name, though you have no need of anything; and when you had glorified it by your magnificent manifestation, you made it a firm foundation for the glory of your great and honored name. 10And because you love the house of Israel, you promised that if we should have reverses, and tribulation should overtake us, you would listen to our petition when we come to this place and pray. 11And indeed you are faithful and true. 12And because oftentimes when our fathers were oppressed you helped them in their humiliation, and rescued them from great evils, 13see now, O holy King, that because of our many and great sins we are crushed with suffering, subjected to our enemies, and overtaken by helplessness. 14In our downfall this audacious and profane man undertakes to violate the holy place on earth dedicated to your glorious name. 15For your dwelling, the heaven of heavens, is unapproachable by man. 16But because you graciously bestowed your glory upon your people Israel, you sanctified this place. 17Do not punish us for the defilement committed by these men, or call us to account for this profanation, lest the transgressors boast in their wrath or exult in the arrogance of their tongue, saying, 18 \u2018We have trampled down the house of the sanctuary as offensive houses are trampled down.\u2019 19Wipe away our sins and disperse our errors, and reveal your mercy at this hour. 20Speedily let your mercies overtake us, and put praises in the mouth of those who are downcast and broken in spirit, and give us peace.\u201d 21Thereupon God, who oversees all things, the first Father of all, holy among the holy ones, having heard the lawful supplication, scourged him who had exalted himself in insolence and audacity. 22He shook him on this side and that as a reed is shaken by the wind, so that he lay helpless on the ground and, besides being paralyzed in his limbs, was unable even to speak, since he was smitten by a righteous judgment. 23Then both friends and bodyguards, seeing the severe punishment that had overtaken him, and fearing lest he should lose his life, quickly dragged him out, panic-stricken in their exceedingly great fear. 24After a while he recovered, and though he had been punished, he by no means repented, but went away uttering bitter threats. 25When he arrived in Egypt, he increased in his deeds of malice, abetted by the previously mentioned drinking companions and comrades, who were strangers to everything just. 26He was not content with his uncounted licentious deeds, but he also continued with such audacity that he framed evil reports in the various localities; and many of his friends, intently observing the king\u2019s purpose, themselves also followed his will. 27He proposed to inflict public disgrace upon the Jewish community, and he set up a stone on the tower in the courtyard with this inscription: 28\u201cNone of those who do not sacrifice shall enter their sanctuaries, and all Jews shall be subjected to a registration involving poll tax and to the status of slaves. Those who object to this are to be taken by force and put to death; 29those who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies by fire with the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former limited status.\u201d 30In order that he might not appear to be an enemy to all, he inscribed below: \u201cBut if any of them prefer to join those who have been initiated into the mysteries, they shall have equal citizenship with the Alexandrians.\u201d 31Now some, however, with an obvious abhorrence of the price to be exacted for maintaining the religion of their city, readily gave themselves up, since they expected to enhance their reputation by their future association with the king. 32But the majority acted firmly with a courageous spirit and did not depart from their religion; and by paying money in exchange for life they confidently attempted to save themselves from the registration. 33They remained resolutely hopeful of obtaining help, and they abhorred those who separated themselves from them, considering them to be enemies of the Jewish nation, and depriving them of common fellowship and mutual help.
\n3.1When the impious king comprehended this situation, he became so infuriated that not only was he enraged against those Jews who lived in Alexandria, but was still more bitterly hostile toward those in the countryside; and he ordered that all should promptly be gathered into one place, and put to death by the most cruel means. 2While these matters were being arranged, a hostile rumor was circulated against the Jewish nation by men who conspired to do them ill, a pretext being given by a report that they hindered others from the observance of their customs. 3The Jews, however, continued to maintain good will and unswerving loyalty toward the dynasty; 4but because they worshiped God and conducted themselves by his law, they kept their separateness with respect to foods. For this reason they appeared hateful to some; 5but since they adorned their style of life with the good deeds of upright people, they were established in good repute among all men. 6Nevertheless those of other races paid no heed to their good service to their nation, which was common talk among all; 7instead they gossiped about the differences in worship and foods, alleging that these people were loyal neither to the king nor to his authorities, but were hostile and greatly opposed to his government. So they attached no ordinary reproach to them. 8The Greeks in the city, though wronged in no way, when they saw an unexpected tumult around these people and the crowds that suddenly were forming, were not strong enough to help them, for they lived under tyranny. They did try to console them, being grieved at the situation, and expected that matters would change; 9for such a great community ought not be left to its fate when it had committed no offense. 10And already some of their neighbors and friends and business associates had taken some of them aside privately and were pledging to protect them and to exert more earnest efforts for their assistance. 11Then the king, boastful of his present good fortune, and not considering the might of the supreme God, but assuming that he would persevere constantly in his same purpose, wrote this letter against them: 12\u201cKing Ptolemy Philopator to his generals and soldiers in Egypt and all its districts, greetings and good health. 13I myself and our government are faring well. 14When our expedition took place in Asia, as you yourselves know, it was brought to conclusion, according to plan, by the gods\u2019 deliberate alliance with us in battle, 15and we considered that we should not rule the nations inhabiting Coele-Syria and Phoenicia by the power of the spear but should cherish them with clemency and great benevolence, gladly treating them well. 16And when we had granted very great revenues to the temples in the cities, we came on to Jerusalem also, and went up to honor the temple of those wicked people, who never cease from their folly. 17They accepted our presence by word, but insincerely by deed, because when we proposed to enter their inner temple and honor it with magnificent and most beautiful offerings, 18they were carried away by their traditional conceit, and excluded us from entering; but they were spared the exercise of our power because of the benevolence which we have toward all. 19By maintaining their manifest ill-will toward us, they become the only people among all nations who hold their heads high in defiance of kings and their own benefactors, and are unwilling to regard any action as sincere. 20But we, when we arrived in Egypt victorious, accommodated ourselves to their folly and did as was proper, since we treat all nations with benevolence. 21Among other things, we made known to all our amnesty toward their compatriots here, both because of their alliance with us and the myriad affairs liberally entrusted to them from the beginning; and we ventured to make a change, by deciding both to deem them worthy of Alexandrian citizenship and to make them participants in our regular religious rites. 22But in their innate malice they took this in a contrary spirit, and disdained what is good. Since they incline constantly to evil, 23they not only spurn the priceless citizenship, but also both by speech and by silence they abominate those few among them who are sincerely disposed toward us; in every situation, in accordance with their infamous way of life, they secretly suspect that we may soon alter our policy. 24Therefore, fully convinced by these indications that they are ill-disposed toward us in every way, we have taken precautions lest, if a sudden disorder should later arise against us, we should have these impious people behind our backs as traitors and barbarous enemies. 25Therefore we have given orders that, as soon as this letter shall arrive, you are to send to us those who live among you, together with their wives and children, with insulting and harsh treatment, and bound securely with iron fetters, to suffer the sure and shameful death that befits enemies. 26For when these all have been punished, we are sure that for the remaining time the government will be established for ourselves in good order and in the best state. 27But whoever shelters any of the Jews, old people or children or even infants, will be tortured to death with the most hateful torments, together with his family. 28Any one willing to give information will receive the property of the one who incurs the punishment, and also two thousand drachmas from the royal treasury, and will be awarded his freedom. 29Every place detected sheltering a Jew is to be made unapproachable and burned with fire, and shall become useless for all time to any mortal creature.\u201d 30The letter was written in the above form.
\n4.1In every place, then, where this decree arrived, a feast at public expense was arranged for the Gentiles with shouts and gladness, for the inveterate enmity which had long ago been in their minds was now made evident and outspoken. 2But among the Jews there was incessant mourning, lamentation, and tearful cries; everywhere their hearts were burning, and they groaned because of the unexpected destruction that had suddenly been decreed for them. 3What district or city, or what habitable place at all, or what streets were not filled with mourning and wailing for them? 4For with such a harsh and ruthless spirit were they being sent off, all together, by the generals in the several cities, that at the sight of their unusual punishments, even some of their enemies, perceiving the common object of pity before their eyes, reflected upon the uncertainty of life and shed tears at the most miserable expulsion of these people. 5For a multitude of gray-headed old men, sluggish and bent with age, was being led away, forced to march at a swift pace by the violence with which they were driven in such a shameful manner. 6And young women who had just entered the bridal chamber to share married life exchanged joy for wailing, their myrrh-perfumed hair sprinkled with ashes, and were carried away unveiled, all together raising a lament instead of a wedding song, as they were torn by the harsh treatment of the heathen. 7In bonds and in public view they were violently dragged along as far as the place of embarkation. 8Their husbands, in the prime of youth, their necks encircled with ropes instead of garlands, spent the remaining days of their marriage festival in lamentations instead of good cheer and youthful revelry, seeing death immediately before them. 9They were brought on board like wild animals, driven under the constraint of iron bonds; some were fastened by the neck to the benches of the boats, others had their feet secured by unbreakable fetters, 10and in addition they were confined under a solid deck, so that with their eyes in total darkness, they should undergo treatment befitting traitors during the whole voyage. 11When these men had been brought to the place called Schedia, and the voyage was concluded as the king had decreed, he commanded that they should be enclosed in the hippodrome which had been built with a monstrous perimeter wall in front of the city, and which was well suited to make them an obvious spectacle to all coming back into the city and to those from the city going out into the country, so that they could neither communicate with the king\u2019s forces nor in any way claim to be inside the circuit of the city. 12And when this had happened, the king, hearing that the Jews\u2019 compatriots from the city frequently went out in secret to lament bitterly the ignoble misfortune of their brothers, 13ordered in his rage that these men be dealt with in precisely the same fashion as the others, not omitting any detail of their punishment. 14The entire race was to be registered individually, not for the hard labor that has been briefly mentioned before, but to be tortured with the outrages that he had ordered, and at the end to be destroyed in the space of a single day. 15The registration of these people was therefore conducted with bitter haste and zealous intentness from the rising of the sun till its setting, and though uncompleted it stopped after forty days. 16The king was greatly and continually filled with joy, organizing feasts in honor of all his idols, with a mind alienated from truth and with a profane mouth, praising speechless things that are not able even to communicate or to come to one\u2019s help, and uttering improper words against the supreme God. 17But after the previously mentioned interval of time the scribes declared to the king that they were no longer able to take the census of the Jews because of their innumerable multitude, 18although most of them were still in the country, some still residing in their homes, and some at the place; the task was impossible for all the generals in Egypt. 19After he had threatened them severely, charging that they had been bribed to contrive a means of escape, he was clearly convinced about the matter 20when they said and proved that both the paper and the pens they used for writing had already given out. 21But this was an act of the invincible providence of him who was aiding the Jews from heaven.
\n5.1Then the king, completely inflexible, was filled with overpowering anger and wrath; so he summoned Hermon, keeper of the elephants, 2and ordered him on the following day to drug all the elephants\u2014five hundred in number\u2014with large handfuls of frankincense and plenty of unmixed wine, and to drive them in, maddened by the lavish abundance of liquor, so that the Jews might meet their doom. 3When he had given these orders he returned to his feasting, together with those of his friends and of the army who were especially hostile toward the Jews. 4And Hermon, keeper of the elephants, proceeded faithfully to carry out the orders. 5The servants in charge of the Jews went out in the evening and bound the hands of the wretched people and arranged for their continued custody through the night, convinced that the whole nation would experience its final destruction. 6For to the Gentiles it appeared that the Jews were left without any aid, 7because in their bonds they were forcibly confined on every side. But with tears and a voice hard to silence they all called upon the Almighty LORD and Ruler of all power, their merciful God and Father, praying 8that he avert with vengeance the evil plot against them and in a glorious manifestation rescue them from the fate now prepared for them. 9So their entreaty ascended fervently to heaven. 10Hermon, however, when he had drugged the pitiless elephants until they had been filled with a great abundance of wine and satiated with frankincense, presented himself at the courtyard early in the morning to report to the king about these preparations. 11But the LORD sent upon the king a portion of sleep, that beneficence which from the beginning, night and day, is bestowed by him who grants it to whomever he wishes. 12And by the action of the LORD he was overcome by so pleasant and deep a sleep that he quite failed in his lawless purpose and was completely frustrated in his inflexible plan. 13Then the Jews, since they had escaped the appointed hour, praised their holy God and again begged him who is easily reconciled to show the might of his all-powerful hand to the arrogant Gentiles. 14But now, since it was nearly the middle of the tenth hour, the person who was in charge of the invitations, seeing that the guests were assembled, approached the king and nudged him. 15And when he had with difficulty roused him, he pointed out that the hour of the banquet was already slipping by, and he gave him an account of the situation. 16The king, after considering this, returned to his drinking, and ordered those present for the banquet to recline opposite him. 17When this was done he urged them to give themselves over to revelry and to make the present portion of the banquet joyful by celebrating all the more. 18After the party had been going on for some time, the king summoned Hermon and with sharp threats demanded to know why the Jews had been allowed to remain alive through the present day. 19But when he, with the corroboration of his friends, pointed out that while it was still night he had carried out completely the order given him, 20the king, possessed by a savagery worse than that of Phalaris, said that the Jews were benefited by today\u2019s sleep, \u201cbut,\u201d he added, \u201ctomorrow without delay prepare the elephants in the same way for the destruction of the lawless Jews!\u201d 21When the king had spoken, all those present readily and joyfully with one accord gave their approval, and each departed to his own home. 22But they did not so much employ the duration of the night in sleep as in devising all sorts of insults for those they thought to be doomed. 23Then, as soon as the cock had crowed in the early morning, Hermon, having equipped the beasts, began to move them along in the great colonnade. 24The crowds of the city had been assembled for this most pitiful spectacle and they were eagerly waiting for daybreak. 25But the Jews, at their last gasp, since the time had run out, stretched their hands toward heaven and with most tearful supplication and mournful dirges implored the supreme God to help them again at once. 26The rays of the sun were not yet shed abroad, and while the king was receiving his friends, Hermon arrived and invited him to come out, indicating that what the king desired was ready for action. 27But he, upon receiving the report and being struck by the unusual invitation to come out\u2014since he had been completely overcome by incomprehension\u2014inquired what the matter was for which this had been so zealously completed for him. 28This was the act of God who rules over all things, for he had implanted in the king\u2019s mind a forgetfulness of the things he had previously devised. 29Then Hermon and all the king\u2019s friends pointed out that the beasts and the armed forces were ready, \u201cO king, according to your eager purpose.\u201d 30But at these words he was filled with an overpowering wrath, because by the providence of God his whole mind had been deranged in regard to these matters; and with a threatening look he said, 31\u201cWere your parents or children present, I would have prepared them to be a rich feast for the savage beasts instead of the Jews, who give me no ground for complaint and have exhibited to an extraordinary degree a full and firm loyalty to my ancestors. 32In fact you would have been deprived of life instead of these, were it not for an affection arising from our nurture in common and your usefulness.\u201d 33So Hermon suffered an unexpected and dangerous threat, and his eyes wavered and his face fell. 34The king\u2019s friends one by one sullenly slipped away and dismissed the assembled people, each to his own occupation. 35Then the Jews, upon hearing what the king had said, praised the manifest LORD God, King of kings, since this also was his aid which they had received. 36The king, however, reconvened the party in the same manner and urged the guests to return to their celebrating. 37After summoning Hermon he said in a threatening tone, \u201cHow many times, you poor wretch, must I give you orders about these things? 38Equip the elephants now once more for the destruction of the Jews tomorrow! \u201c39But the officials who were at table with him, wondering at his instability of mind, remonstrated as follows: 40\u201cO king, how long will you try us, as though we are idiots, ordering now for a third time that they be destroyed, and again revoking your decree in the matter? 41As a result the city is in a tumult because of its expectation; it is crowded with masses of people, and also in constant danger of being plundered. \u201c42Upon this the king, a Phalaris in everything and filled with madness, took no account of the changes of mind which had come about within him for the protection of the Jews, and he firmly swore an irrevocable oath that he would send them to death without delay, mangled by the knees and feet of the beasts, 43and would also march against Judea and rapidly level it to the ground with fire and spear, and by burning to the ground the temple inaccessible to him would quickly render it forever empty of those who offered sacrifices there. 44Then the friends and officers departed with great joy, and they confidently posted the armed forces at the places in the city most favorable for keeping guard. 45Now when the beasts had been brought virtually to a state of madness, so to speak, by the very fragrant draughts of wine mixed with frankincense and had been equipped with frightful devices, the elephant keeper 46entered at about dawn into the courtyard\u2014the city now being filled with countless masses of people crowding their way into the hippodrome\u2014and urged the king on to the matter at hand. 47So he, when he had filled his impious mind with a deep rage, rushed out in full force along with the beasts, wishing to witness, with invulnerable heart and with his own eyes, the grievous and pitiful destruction of the aforementioned people. 48And when the Jews saw the dust raised by the elephants going out at the gate and by the following armed forces, as well as by the trampling of the crowd, and heard the loud and tumultuous noise, 49they thought that this was their last moment of life, the end of their most miserable suspense, and giving way to lamentation and groans they kissed each other, embracing relatives and falling into one another\u2019s arms\u2014parents and children, mothers and daughters, and others with babies at their breasts who were drawing their last milk. 50Not only this, but when they considered the help which they had received before from heaven they prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground, removing the babies from their breasts, 51and cried out in a very loud voice, imploring the Ruler over every power to manifest himself and be merciful to them, as they stood now at the gates of death.
\n6.1Then a certain Eleazar, famous among the priests of the country, who had attained a ripe old age and throughout his life had been adorned with every virtue, directed the elders around him to cease calling upon the holy God and prayed as follows: 2\u201cKing of great power, Almighty God Most High, governing all creation with mercy, 3look upon the descendants of Abraham, O Father, upon the children of the sainted Jacob, a people of your consecrated portion who are perishing as foreigners in a foreign land. 4Pharaoh with his abundance of chariots, the former ruler of this Egypt, exalted with lawless insolence and boastful tongue, you destroyed together with his arrogant army by drowning them in the sea, manifesting the light of your mercy upon the nation of Israel. 5Sennacherib exulting in his countless forces, oppressive king of the Assyrians, who had already gained control of the whole world by the spear and was lifted up against your holy city, speaking grievous words with boasting and insolence, you, O LORD, broke in pieces, showing your power to many nations. 6The three companions in Babylon who had voluntarily surrendered their lives to the flames so as not to serve vain things, you rescued unharmed, even to a hair, moistening the fiery furnace with dew and turning the flame against all their enemies. 7Daniel, who through envious slanders was cast down into the ground to lions as food for wild beasts, you brought up to the light unharmed. 8And Jonah, wasting away in the belly of a huge, sea-born monster, you, Father, watched over and restored unharmed to all his family. 9And now, you who hate insolence, all-merciful and protector of all, reveal yourself quickly to those of the nation of Israel\u2014who are being outrageously treated by the abominable and lawless Gentiles. 10Even if our lives have become entangled in impieties in our exile, rescue us from the hand of the enemy, and destroy us, LORD, by whatever fate you choose. 11Let not the vain-minded praise their vanities at the destruction of your beloved people, saying, \u2018Not even their god has rescued them.\u2019 12But you, O Eternal One, who have all might and all power, watch over us now and have mercy upon us who by the senseless insolence of the lawless are being deprived of life in the manner of traitors. 13And let the Gentiles cower today in fear of your invincible might, O honored One, who have power to save the nation of Jacob. 14The whole throng of infants and their parents entreat you with tears. 15Let it be shown to all the Gentiles that you are with us, O LORD, and have not turned your face from us; but just as you have said, \u2018Not even when they were in the land of their enemies did I neglect them,\u2019 so accomplish it, O LORD.\u201d 16Just as Eleazar was ending his prayer, the king arrived at the hippodrome with the beasts and all the arrogance of his forces. 17And when the Jews observed this they raised great cries to heaven so that even the nearby valleys resounded with them and brought an uncontrollable terror upon the army. 18Then the most glorious, almighty, and true God revealed his holy face and opened the heavenly gates, from which two glorious angels of fearful aspect descended, visible to all but the Jews. 19They opposed the forces of the enemy and filled them with confusion and terror, binding them with immovable shackles. 20Even the king began to shudder bodily, and he forgot his sullen insolence. 21The beasts turned back upon the armed forces following them and began trampling and destroying them. 22Then the king\u2019s anger was turned to pity and tears because of the things that he had devised beforehand. 23For when he heard the shouting and saw them all fallen headlong to destruction, he wept and angrily threatened his friends, saying, 24\u201cYou are committing treason and surpassing tyrants in cruelty; and even me, your benefactor, you are now attempting to deprive of dominion and life by secretly devising acts of no advantage to the kingdom. 25Who is it that has taken each man from his home and senselessly gathered here those who faithfully have held the fortresses of our country? 26Who is it that has so lawlessly encompassed with outrageous treatment those who from the beginning differed from all nations in their goodwill toward us and often have accepted willingly the worst of human dangers? 27Loose and untie their unjust bonds! Send them back to their homes in peace, begging pardon for your former actions! 28Release the sons of the almighty and living God of heaven, who from the time of our ancestors until now has granted an unimpeded and notable stability to our government.\u201d 29These then were the things he said; and the Jews, immediately released, praised their holy God and Savior, since they now had escaped death. 30Then the king, when he had returned to the city, summoned the official in charge of the revenues and ordered him to provide to the Jews both wines and everything else needed for a festival of seven days, deciding that they should celebrate their rescue with all joyfulness in that same place in which they had expected to meet their destruction. 31Accordingly those disgracefully treated and near to death, or rather, who stood at its gates, arranged for a banquet of deliverance instead of a bitter and lamentable death, and full of joy they apportioned to celebrants the place which had been prepared for their destruction and burial. 32They ceased their chanting of dirges and took up the song of their fathers, praising God, their Savior and worker of wonders. Putting an end to all mourning and wailing, they formed choruses as a sign of peaceful joy. 33Likewise also the king, after convening a great banquet to celebrate these events, gave thanks to heaven unceasingly and lavishly for the unexpected rescue which he had experienced. 34And those who had previously believed that the Jews would be destroyed and become food for birds, and had joyfully registered them, groaned as they themselves were overcome by disgrace, and their fire-breathing boldness was ignominiously quenched. 35But the Jews, when they had arranged the aforementioned choral group, as we have said before, passed the time in feasting to the accompaniment of joyous thanksgiving and psalms. 36And when they had ordained a public rite for these things in their whole community and for their descendants, they instituted the observance of the aforesaid days as a festival, not for drinking and gluttony, but because of the deliverance that had come to them through God. 37Then they petitioned the king, asking for dismissal to their homes. 38So their registration was carried out from the twenty-fifth of Pachon to the fourth of Epeiph, for forty days; and their destruction was set for the fifth to the seventh of Epeiph, the three days 39on which the LORD of all most gloriously revealed his mercy and rescued them all together and unharmed. 40Then they feasted, provided with everything by the king, until the fourteenth day, on which also they made the petition for their dismissal. 41The king granted their request at once and wrote the following letter for them to the generals in the cities, magnanimously expressing his concern:
\n7.1\u201cKing Ptolemy Philopator to the generals in Egypt and all in authority in his government, greetings and good health. 2We ourselves and our children are faring well, the great God guiding our affairs according to our desire. 3Certain of our friends, frequently urging us with malicious intent, persuaded us to gather together the Jews of the kingdom in a body and to punish them with barbarous penalties as traitors; 4for they declared that our government would never be firmly established until this was accomplished, because of the ill-will which these people had toward all nations. 5They also led them out with harsh treatment as slaves, or rather as traitors, and, girding themselves with a cruelty more savage than that of Scythian custom, they tried without any inquiry or examination to put them to death. 6But we very severely threatened them for these acts, and in accordance with the clemency which we have toward all men we barely spared their lives. Since we have come to realize that the God of heaven surely defends the Jews, always taking their part as a father does for his children, 7and since we have taken into account the friendly and firm goodwill which they had toward us and our ancestors, we justly have acquitted them of every charge of whatever kind. 8We also have ordered each and every one to return to his own home, with no one in any place doing them harm at all or reproaching them for the irrational things that have happened. 9For you should know that if we devise any evil against them or cause them any grief at all, we always shall have not man but the Ruler over every power, the Most High God, in everything and inescapably as an antagonist to avenge such acts. Farewell.\u201d 10Upon receiving this letter the Jews did not immediately hurry to make their departure, but they requested of the king that at their own hands those of the Jewish nation who had willfully transgressed against the holy God and the law of God should receive the punishment they deserved. 11For they declared that those who for the belly\u2019s sake had transgressed the divine commandments would never be favorably disposed toward the king\u2019s government. 12The king then, admitting and approving the truth of what they said, granted them a general license so that freely and without royal authority or supervision they might destroy those everywhere in his kingdom who had transgressed the law of God. 13When they had applauded him in fitting manner, their priests and the whole multitude shouted the Hallelujah and joyfully departed. 14And so on their way they punished and put to a public and shameful death any whom they met of their fellow countrymen who had become defiled. 15In that day they put to death more than three hundred men; and they kept the day as a joyful festival, since they had destroyed the profaners. 16But those who had held fast to God even to death and had received the full enjoyment of deliverance began their departure from the city, crowned with all sorts of very fragrant flowers, joyfully and loudly giving thanks to the one God of their fathers, the eternal Savior of Israel, in words of praise and all kinds of melodious songs. 17When they had arrived at Ptolemais, called \u201crose-bearing\u201d because of a characteristic of the place, the fleet waited for them, in accord with the common desire, for seven days. 18There they celebrated their deliverance, for the king had generously provided all things to them for their journey, to each as far as his own house. 19And when they had landed in peace with appropriate thanksgiving, there too in like manner they decided to observe these days as a joyous festival during the time of their stay. 20Then, after inscribing them as holy on a pillar and dedicating a place of prayer at the site of the festival, they departed unharmed, free, and overjoyed, since at the king\u2019s command they had been brought safely by land and sea and river each to his own place. 21They also possessed greater prestige among their enemies, being held in honor and awe; and they were not subject at all to confiscation of their belongings by any one. 22Besides they all recovered all of their property, in accordance with the registration, so that those who held any restored it to them with extreme fear. So the supreme God perfectly performed great deeds for their deliverance. 23Blessed be the Deliverer of Israel through all times! Amen.<\/p>\n

Historical Writings Set in Post-Biblical Times<\/p>\n

The selections here are mixed in their aim and genre, as well as the manner in which they have come down to us, but all have been mined by historians for information about the Second Temple period. Except for 1 Maccabees, all were originally written in Greek. They put a distinctive spin on the part of Jewish history with which they are concerned. Some (e.g., Josephus\u2019s writings) have an apologetic component as well, directed at both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, and portray through that history a particular view of Jews and Judaism that brings the faith into line with the best of Greco-Roman values.<\/p>\n

The Letter of Aristeas<\/p>\n

Erich S. Gruen<\/p>\n

The Letter of Aristeas (Let. Aris.) is no real letter. It purports to be a communication from a certain Aristeas to his brother Philocrates. The work professes to describe the events that led to the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, an episode of the highest consequence for Hellenistic Judaism\u2014and indeed for Christianity. The outcome of that endeavor, the Septuagint (LXX), became for Christians their \u201cOld Testament.\u201d Although his mouthpiece is Aristeas, presented as a pagan courtier and intellectual, the author himself is obviously a Jew with a decidedly Jewish agenda.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Both writer and addressee ostensibly served in the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, ruler of Egypt in the first half of the 3rd century BCE, but neither may ever have existed. The unknown author simply employs Aristeas as a pseudonym. What kind of a work was this? Reference to the communication comes only at the beginning and at the end. And even there, Aristeas describes it as a di\u0113g\u0113sis, an unspecific and widely applicable term, signifying a literary prose narrative (par. 1, 8, 322). No ancient writer ever calls it a letter. Di\u0113g\u0113sis can encompass any number of genres and fits snugly into none; it could count as a piece of historical fiction, a monograph, or even a novella. The treatise as a whole is one of a kind, but different features have close affinities with a range of Hellenistic writings.
\nThe Letter bears little relation to historical events. Scholars have expended considerable energy in attempting to ascertain where the core elements of truth may lie in the text and what parts of it have a claim on historicity. But even those most inclined to find some reality behind the traditions of the translation acknowledge that the narrator has encased it with colorful inventions and embellishments. Few would endorse, for example, the legend of 72 translators completing their work in precisely 72 days, the high priest\u2019s lecture on Jewish practices to the envoys of Ptolemy, or the long and tedious interrogation of Jewish elders at a Greek symposium in Alexandria. But Aristeas does not aim for historical accuracy. Nor, on the other hand, does he set out to deceive readers with the pretense of a verifiable narrative. The author offers verisimilitude rather than history, employing known figures and plausible circumstances to present the portrait of mutual benefits enjoyed by Jewish learning and Hellenic patronage.
\nThe date of composition remains a matter of some dispute. That it did not occur at the time portrayed, the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus in the 3rd century BCE, is clear enough from some historical blunders and other slips (such as a reference to the regular practices of Ptolemaic \u201ckings,\u201d which would be an odd statement in the reign of Ptolemy II). Most scholars opt for a date around 200 BCE or a half century or so later. But no one can doubt that this narrative is the construct of a Jewish author, one clearly at home in Ptolemaic Alexandria, familiar with the protocols of the court, even with the formulas of diplomatic correspondence, yet also deeply committed to the principles of Judaism and the faith of the fathers. Hence, the text, whatever its historicity or lack thereof, is itself a document of historical importance. Its value lies not in extracting nuggets of fact from a largely fictional fa\u00e7ade, but rather in using the work as a window upon Jewish mentality in the circumstances of a Diaspora community.<\/p>\n

Contents and Structure<\/p>\n

The story of the translation provides a frame for the narrative, but only a frame. The author introduces at the outset the decision to produce a Greek rendition of the Hebrew Bible\u2014or rather of the Pentateuch. The initial impetus comes allegedly from Demetrius of Phalerum, chief librarian in Alexandria, who persuades King Ptolemy to authorize the addition of the \u201claws of the Jews\u201d to the shelves of the great Library. This requires translation, for the available Hebrew texts are carelessly and improperly drawn up. Ptolemy duly composes a letter to the high priest in Jerusalem, to be delivered in person by Aristeas and another courtier, seeking translators. The high priest Eleazar happily complies with the request (handsome gifts from Ptolemy help to facilitate matters) and selects 72 Jewish scholars, 6 from each tribe, experts in both languages, to do the job. And at the close of the treatise, Aristeas returns to the labors of the Jewish sages in Alexandria, who complete their task in precisely 72 days. Demetrius assembles the Jews of Alexandria and reads out to them the finished translation, which they receive with great applause. The priests and leaders of the Jewish community pronounce it a definitive version, not a line of it to be altered. Ptolemy joins them in admiration, pays reverence to the new Bible, and lavishes gifts upon the Jewish scholars.
\nTranslation of the Torah thus brackets the book. But much more transpires inside the brackets. In fact, the segments dealing with the process and results of the translation constitute only about one-sixth of the whole. The author plainly has more in mind than the tale of rendering the holy books into Greek. His narrative has significant implications for the place of Jewish intellectuals in the society of Ptolemaic Alexandria and, more broadly, in the culture of Hellenism. The story that it tells has traditionally served as the prime document of a harmonious and mutually beneficial interchange between Greek and Jew.
\nThe Letter offers a showcase for the familiarity of Jewish intellectuals with diverse features and forms of Greek literature. For example, the lengthy segment on Aristeas\u2019s visit to Jerusalem\u2014with its detailed description of the features of the landscape, the setting of the citadel, the terrain of the city, the geography of its surroundings, the appointments of the Temple, and the garb of the priests, much of it remote from reality\u2014evokes the geographical treatises and the utopian literature common in the Hellenistic era (par. 83\u2013120). Eleazar\u2019s explanation of peculiar Jewish customs in turn provides parallels to the ethnographic digressions that were equally common in literature of that period. The Letter frequently cites and quotes documents, whether royal decrees, memoranda, administrative reports, or letters, a practice regularly found in Greek historiography.
\nThe extended symposium that takes place in paragraphs 187\u2013294 is, of course, a thoroughly Hellenic institution, and most of the Jewish sages respond to the king\u2019s questions with answers drawn from Greek philosophy or political theory. The high priest, in recounting the significance of Jewish dietary prescriptions, explains them in good Greek style either as having a rational basis or as requiring allegorical interpretation (par. 128\u2013171). The author describes him, in fact, in terms befitting a Greek aristocrat, a man of kalokagathia (par. 3). The text includes learned allusions to Greek intellectuals like Menedemus, Hecataeus of Abdera, Theopompus, and Theodectes. Perhaps most striking is the process of translation itself as presented in the narrative. The project arises when the librarian finds Hebrew copies to be deficient and inadequate (par. 29\u201330). And the Jewish scholars, when they set about their task in comfortable quarters supplied by Ptolemy, do so by dividing labors, comparing drafts, and arriving at an agreed-upon text (par. 301\u2013312, 317\u2013321). This surely replicates, at least in principle, the type of subsidized scholarship promoted by the court and carried out by the Museum in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The author is plainly steeped in Greek literature. Adopting the pose of Aristeas comes naturally and easily for one conversant with the canons of Homeric scholarship. He begins with a notice that extant copies of the Hebrew Bible have been carelessly transcribed and ends with a definitive Greek text subject to no further revision (par. 9\u201330, 311), the new Scriptures for Diaspora Judaism. That implies a sanction of the LXX that supersedes the Hebrew original. The linkage of Jewish belief to Hellenic culture occurs most strikingly in what may be the Letter\u2019s most famous statement. Aristeas declares to Ptolemy that the Jews revere God, overseer and creator of all, who is worshiped by all including the Greeks, except that the Greeks give him a different name, Zeus (par. 16).
\nOn the face of it, the Letter might seem to be the ultimate document of cultural convergence. But that does not tell the whole tale. The author, while fully familiar with Hellenic literary genres and the Alexandrian scholarly scene, adapts that knowledge to advertise the advantages of Jewish tradition. The distinctiveness of the Jews is never in question. The god to whom all bear witness, even though the Greeks may call him Zeus, is the Jewish God. Eleazar the high priest happily sends Jewish scholars to Alexandria to render the Bible into Greek, but he reminds Aristeas of the superiority of Jewish monotheism, ridiculing those who worship idols of wood and stone fashioned by themselves, and he insists that Mosaic law has insulated the Hebrews from outside influences, erecting firm barriers to prevent the infiltration of tainted institutions (par. 134\u2013142).
\nThe seven-day symposium, in which the Jewish scholars are interrogated, may have been a fundamentally Hellenic practice, but the scholars answer every query put by the king with swift and pithy answers, adding a reference to God in each response They earn the admiration not only of Ptolemy and his courtiers, but of all the Greek philosophers in attendance, who acknowledged their inferiority to the sagacity of the guests (par. 200\u2013201, 235, 296). Demetrius of Phalerum declares the wisdom of the Pentateuch to be both holy and highly philosophical, citing other Greek intellectuals for confirmation (par. 312\u2013316). The king\u2019s deference to the Hebrew scrolls and the Jerusalemite sages underscores the superiority of Jewish tradition and learning. Further, it is the LORD of the Jews who guides the king\u2019s actions and keeps his kingdom secure so as to achieve his ends (par. 15\u201320, 37). And the high priest observes that the Jews offer sacrifices to God to insure the peace and renown of the Ptolemaic kingdom\u2014a neat reversal of the patron-client relationship (par. 45). In short, the Letter of Aristeas, that quintessential text of Jewish Hellenism, testifies most eloquently to the appropriation of Hellenistic culture to express the preeminence of Jewish values.
\nThe legend of the creation of the LXX has a long history. The Letter constitutes only its initial formulation. Philo has his own version, largely based on the Letter, but adding a few variants (particularly an emphasis on divine assistance, as manifested by each of the Jewish scholars independently arriving at the very same words for the translation) and omitting almost everything that does not deal with the translating process itself (Moses 2.25\u201344). Josephus offers a much fuller and closer paraphrase of the Letter. But he too omits some portions that do not relate directly to the appointment and work of the translators (like the descriptions of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the specifics of the symposium), and makes other minor alterations (Ant. 12.11\u2013118). Later versions proliferated. The LXX carried substantial significance for Diaspora Jewry, who relied upon the text; and the story of its creation fascinated the early Rabbis, who freely embellished the tale, stressing especially the miraculous nature of the translation (see B. Meg. 9a\u2013b).
\nLater Rabbinic writings made much less of it. As Greek became increasingly marginal in the world of the Palestinian and Babylonian Rabbis, the story lost its attraction, and the LXX itself took on a more negative character in their eyes. The church fathers, on the other hand, kept it very much alive. The legend of divine sanction for the Greek version also served Christians well in resisting the Rabbinic insistence on Hebrew as the only legitimate language of the Bible. The story of the LXX\u2019s composition thus appears with numerous variations in patristic sources, which laid the foundation for still further expansion within both medieval Christianity and Islam\u2014and beyond. The Letter of Aristeas (in one form or another) has enjoyed a remarkable durability.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

The Letter has no straightforward or systematic organization. It falls generally into five parts. The first section (par. 1\u201330) introduces the motives for the translation, the setting of Ptolemy\u2019s court, the decision to summon sages from Jerusalem, the friendly exchange of letters between the king and the Jewish high priest, and the selection of the biblical scholars who would go to Alexandria. This opening emphasizes the harmonious relations between the Greek and Jewish cultures.
\nThe next section, a digression that falls into two parts, describes in extensive and vivid detail first the elaborate gifts that Ptolemy sends to Jerusalem (par. 51\u201382), and then the splendor of the Temple and its ministers, the layout of the city, and the virtues of the countryside (par. 83\u2013120). The first segment constitutes a deliberate imitation of the ekphrasis digression (i.e. a literary description of material objects or visual images), common in Greek literature from the time of Homer, and the second a clear echo of Utopian writings<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

they were like hands of life, . And after these things, Joseph grasped her right hand and kissed it, and Aseneth kissed his head and sat at his right. 6And her father and mother and all of her kindred came from the field of their inheritance. And they saw Aseneth like a vision of light, … <\/p>\n

\u201eOutside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture: Translation \u2013 18\u201c <\/span>weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2133,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}