Translation:Judith

by unknown author

For other English-language translations of this work, see Judith (Bible).

Foreword

Surviving Versions

The book of Judith is considered deuterocanonical Old Testament scripture by Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and considered apocryphal by Protestant Christians and Jews. Judith is possibly the most incredibly corrupted Biblical text in history. For almost 2,000 years, the book has been lost in the Hebrew language that it was originally written in (as scholars like Carey A. Moore most commonly believe due to the syntax of the Septuagint version), and today is only extant in translations. These translations exist in only three ancient languages: the Septuagint in Koine Greek, the Peshitta in Classical Syriac, the Vetus Latina manuscripts in Old Latin, and the Vulgate in Late Latin (which Jerome claimed was translated from an Aramaic manuscript). The Greek itself exists in three separate recensions: Recension 1 (which, according to Christian Friedrich Fritzsche, is “the common text”) is found in Codices Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, unicals and the majority of the cursives. Recension 2 is found in Codex 58, which also apparently inspired the Syriac and Old Latin. Recension 3 is considered Lucianic and is found in Codices 19 and 108. The oldest surviving text of the book is Judith 15:1–7 inscribed in Greek on a third-century AD potsherd. Medieval translations and retellings in Hebrew, Aramaic and Yiddish also exist, but their usefulness is limited and they are often highly dependent on the Greek or Latin versions. Another late Syriac version from Trivandrum, India, apparently translated from a Greek manuscript, was also found, and it is interesting, although also limited in its usefulness. All of these recensions differ drastically in different ways, suggesting incompetent translation choices and perhaps deliberate errors in preservation of the source texts used by the translators.

Textual Criticism

Unlike Tobit or Sirach, the text does not survive in the Dead Sea Scrolls, possibly because of its primary focus on a heroic woman (Esther also was omitted from the Dead Sea Scrolls), or perhaps its positive portrayal of Samaritans. The Jewish Encyclopedia speculated that it was the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans which is why several of the people and place names in the book appear to have been deliberately altered and nonsensical in an attempt to disguise its time period and setting. The names of prominent rulers, like the high priest of Israel, "Eliachim/Joachim", the Assyrian king, "Nebuchadnezzar", or the Median king "Arphaxad", are unknown to history. Various attempts have been made to identify the king of this book with different conquerors throughout history, like Cambyses II of Persia or Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire, who provoked the Maccabean Revolt. Ashurbanipal, the last powerful king of Assyria who was known for his brutality and near-constant revolts throughout his reign, was the most widely accepted identification of the king among Scholastic theologians like Antoine Augustin Calmet or Fulcran Vigouroux. Many of the place names can be understood as scribal or translation mistakes (as Odlio Wolff often demonstrated), but others, like "Bethulia", or "Betomasthem", are clearly fictitious (and argued by Charles Cutler Torrey to represent Shechem and Samaria, respectively). The names of the two most prominent Samaritan cities being altered dramatically does bolster the idea that the book was deliberately corrupted. By comparing the individual manuscripts of the different translations, one can hope to both more correctly translate the book and attempt to recreate the Hebrew original.

Chapter 1

Assyria and Media Clash

¹ It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians from Nineveh, the great city. It was in the days of Arphaxad, who ruled over the Medes from Ecbatana.

² And Arphaxad had built walls around Ecbatana, using cut stones that were 4 feet thick and 9 feet long. And the completed wall was 105 feet high and 75 feet thick.

³ At the gates of the city, he made towers 150 feet high, standing on a foundation 90 feet thick.

⁴ He made its gates 90 feet high and 60 feet wide so all his mighty soldiers could march out of them on foot.

⁵ And in those days, king Nebuchadnezzar made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is the plain in the district of Rages.

Assyria's Request for Reinforcements is Denied

⁶ And Arphaxad was supported by all who lived in the hill country, and all who lived by the Euphrates and the Tigris and Ulai, along with all who lived on the plain of Arioch, king of the Elamites. And many peoples were gathered together in great numbers to the ranks of the sons of valor.

⁷ And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians, sent messengers to all the inhabitants of Mannaea and Persia, and all the vassal kingdoms of the West. He sent messengers to those who lived in Cilicia, Damascus, the area between Mount Lebanon and Senir, and to all those inhabiting along the face of the seacoasts.

⁸ And the inhabitants of the regions of Mount Carmel, Gilead, Galilee, and the great Jezreel Valley.

⁹ To all the people of Samaria and its outlying towns, the other side of the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, all those who live in Bashan, Haluza, Kedesh, all those who live near the river of Egypt, and at Tahpanhes, Pi‑Ramesses, and the rest of the land of Goshen.

¹⁰ Up to Tanis and Memphis, and to all who live in Egypt as far as the frontiers of Kush.

¹¹ And all the inhabitants of the whole land heard the word of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and did not come to aid him in the war, because they were united. And so they sent his messengers back in disgrace, empty‑handed and with humiliated faces.

The Assyrians Swear Revenge

¹² And so Nebuchadnezzar was very angry against this whole region, and he swore according to his throne and his entire kingdom that he would retaliate with the swords of his army against all the regions of Cilicia, Damascus and Bashan, and to put to the sword all the inhabitants of Moab, Ammon, Judea and Egypt, until his armies reached the shores of the two seas.

¹³ And in the seventeenth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar summoned his entire army in battle against Arphaxad, king of the Medes. Nebuchadnezzar prevailed in the battle, and was victorious. Nebuchadnezzar defeated his whole army, including all his cavalry and all his chariots.

¹⁴ He conquered the towns of Media, and when he reached Ecbatana, he defeated its high towers and captured and deported the strong men of the city. He also took away all its rich treasures, as well as all its splendor and glory and all its land, uprooting it and bringing shame over it.

¹⁵ And he captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Rages, and struck him down with his spears, utterly destroying him on that day.

¹⁶ And he ordered all his military and all who joined forces with him, an immense horde of warriors from across his empire, to return to Nineveh. And there he celebrated their victory by feasting with his entire army for 120 days.

Chapter 8

Judith

¹ Now, in those days, Judith heard about what was happening. Judith was the daughter of Merari, who was the son of Uz, who was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Uzziel, who was the son of Elkanah, who was the son of Hanan, who was the son of Gideon, who was the son of Rapha, who was the son of Ahitub, who was the son of Elihu, who was the son of Hilkiah, who was the son of Eliab, who was the son of Nathaniel, who was the son of Shelumiel, who was the son of Zurishaddai, who was a descendant of Simeon, the son of Israel.