time Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian forces, came at the head of a mighty army[1] to overthrow the kingdom of Juda, as he had overthrown many other kingdoms.
Having taken all the cities and strongholds of the country, and treated their inhabitants with savage cruelty, he came to lay siege to Bethulia (Fig. 53)[2]. He cut off the aqueducts which supplied the city with water, and thereby reduced the citizens to such an extremity that the elders resolved to give up the city[3] in five days, unless they were relieved before that time. Meanwhile they prayed fervently to God, humbled themselves before Him, and strewed ashes on their heads.
- ↑ A mighty army. Of 120,000 men on foot, and 22,000 horsemen.
- ↑ To Bethulia. This was a mountain fortress on the northern side of Mount Gelboc, in which the brook Kishon takes its rise, and to the south of Naim.
- ↑ Give up the city. The army of Holofernes was quite twenty times as strong as that of Bethulia, and, humanly speaking, there was no salvation to be looked for, especially after he had turned off the water-supply. The Assyrian general did not attempt to storm Bethulia. for he reckoned confidently that the people of the town, dying of thirst, would very soon surrender; and he quietly awaited the result of the want of water.
