Above: Blanche Sweet as Judith in Judith of Bethulia (1914)
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JUDITH
PART V
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Judith 8:1-9:14
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The Book of Judith exists in two parts: Chapters 1-7 and Chapters 8-16. We finally meet the titular character in Chapter 8.
Judith was a pious widow and an ascetic. Her status as a widow enabled her to execute her plan to liberate her people. Judith, as a widow, was not under the control of any man in a patriarchal society. She also spared no words in criticizing many of her frightened compatriots for their faithlessness. She accused them of testing God and putting God on a human timetable. And, as I wrote in the previous post, Judith rejected the popular interpretation that the present predicament constituted divine punishment for their sins and the sins of their ancestors. No, Judith insisted, the predicament was a test of their faith.
Judith’s prayer repeats the theme that God defends the downtrodden. God’s power is greater than might based on force. Sometimes God works through unexpected people, such as a widow. Judith’s prayer also includes a reference to the rape of Dinah and the subsequent revenge on the tribe of Simeon (Genesis 34).
Judith’s plan to avenge and deliver her people depended on deceit. Who would expect that strategy from a pious widow?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 10, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE TWELFTH DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND HIS SON, MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF HOWELL ELVET LEWIS, WELSH CONGREGATIONALIST CLERGYMAN AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN ROBERTS, WELSH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYR, 1610
THE FEAST OF PAUL EBER, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ROBERT MURRAY, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
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