The Book of Judith

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

Nabuchodonosor sends Holofernes to waste the countries of the west.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, on the twenty-second day of the first month, the word went forth from the house of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, that he would defend himself.

And he called all the native leaders, and all the commanders, and his officers of war, and he met with them in his secret council.(a)

And he said to them that his thoughts were to subjugate all the earth to his authority.(b)

And when this saying pleased them all, king Nebuchadnezzar called Holofernes, the leader of his military.

And he said to him: “Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against those in particular who showed contempt for my authority.

Your eye must not spare any kingdom, and all the fortified cities you will subjugate to me.”

Then Holofernes called the commanders and the magistrates of the army of the Assyrians. And he numbered men for the expedition, just as the king had instructed him: one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and twelve thousand archers on horseback.

And he caused his entire expeditionary force to go ahead with an innumerable multitude of camels, with whatever was needed in abundance for the armies, and with herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, which could not be numbered.

He appointed grain to be prepared from all of Syria, as he passed through it.

In fact, he took up gold and silver from the house of the king in great abundance.

And he set out, he and all the army, with the four-horse chariots, and horsemen, and archers. And they covered the face of the earth like locusts.

And when he had crossed over the borders of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of Cilicia. And he ascended to all their castles, and he prevailed over all the fortifications.(c)

Moreover, he broke open the renowned city of Melothus, and he pillaged all the sons of Tarshish, and the sons of Ishmael, who were opposite the face of the desert and to the south of the land of Cellon.

And he crossed over the Euphrates and came into Mesopotamia. And he crushed all the lofty cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, even until one passes through to the sea.

And he occupied its furthest regions, from Cilicia all the way to the coastlines of Japheth, which are towards the south.

And he carried away all the sons of Midian, and he plundered them in all their wealthy regions. And all who resisted him, he slew with the edge of the sword.(d)

And after these things, he descended to the plains of Damascus, in the days of the harvest, and he set fire to all the crops, and he caused all the trees and the vineyards to be cut down.

And the fear of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Footnotes

(a)2:2 The term ‘majores natu’ refers to those leaders who were not of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, but who were allowed to have authority among their own people as long as they subjected themselves to him as king. The term refers to the native-born leaders.(Conte)

(b)2:3 The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist’s reign, when he will try to subjugate the whole world to his authority. His defeat of the kind of the Medes is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist’s defeat of the Christian king of the South, just prior to taking over the whole world. Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of the other regions, and they subsequent willing submission to him represents the Antichrist’s defeat of two more kings after the king of the South and then the willing submission of the other world leaders to him thereafter.(Conte)

(c)2:12 The word ‘ange’ in Latin refers to a ‘choke point,’ which, in military terms, is a place that is dangerous to pass through because it is narrow and easily defended. So, ‘Ange’ is not so much a name as a description.(Conte)

(d)2:16 The edge of the sword, or, more literally, the mouth of the sword.(Conte)