At last Judith is mentioned. This is her book, so I’m awaiting something very special. She is a widow, but aside from losing her husband there is nothing bad to say about her. She summons Uzziah and the other town leaders to her house and lectures them.
But it’s a good lecture - she is speaking out of the wisdom that her grief has taught her. It is wrong to put the Lord to the test. even in sorrow and suffering, he is still supreme. Judith’s faith was not rocked by losing her husband, and it isn’t even dented by the siege and the water shortage. She castigate the leaders by presuming to test God by saying you’ve got 5 days to save us, or we’ll surrender.
Judith sees Bethuliah as the vanguard of Judah. If they fall, Holofernes will sweep on to Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. God will hold them responsible if that is allowed to happen. So they must resist. The responsibility of overcoming this threat rests with them.
Uzziah and friends are impressed with her words. But they could defend themselves by simply pointing to the size of the army against them. There’s no chance. He’s got so many soldiers that if he didn’t mind losing a few, he could order them to keep walking towards Bethuliah until they had trampled the town underfoot.
But Judith has a plan.
Holofernes assembles his might and orders the entire army to attack Bethulia. He cannot possibly lose. Even so he is cautious, and follows prudent military advice to besiege the town, rather than trying a frontal assault. It is fairly easy to seize control of the springs that are Bethulia’s water supply. Sieges can last months, but without water, people inside will start dying in days.
As it was, they lasted 34 days before the water ran out, and in distress the people started calling on the Lord. The gather round Uzziah the town leader and insist that he surrender. He persuades them to hang on for 5 more days, to see if God will rescue them, otherwise he will surrender.
It’s always darkest just before dawn - at least it always is in stories, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Holofernes understands the theological point that Achior made in the last chapter. Understands it, and rejects it. Why are you whining about some god these ex-slaves worship? Nebuchadnezzar is our god! He commands, and we obey. Has anybody else beaten him?
So Achior, the foreigner who understands the faith of the Israelites, is rejected and punished. But his punishment turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Holofernes orders him to be handed over to the Israelites. Don’t worry, he says mockingly, my men will soon beat this rabble before they do anything nasty to you.
Holofernes sends a detachment to Bethulia, to hand Achior over to them. But the people of Bethulia put up a spirited defence, and the soldiers can’t get close. They leave Achior tied up, and retreat. The Israelites come and take him in, listen to what has happened and pray to God for help. Achior is treated kindly, as befits a man who understands the power of God.
Holofernes is enraged that one people have refused to surrender to him. But he takes counsel. A man called Achior, the leader of Ammonites, stands up and gives a potted history of Israel. He seems to know a lot about them. He describes them as “the descendants of some Babylonians” who refused to worship their gods and instead followed the God of heaven. Under this god they prospered, overcame the Egyptians, invaded Canaan and took it for their own. There they lived in great prosperity until they disobeyed their god, at which point they began to lose battles and eventually were defeated and flung out. But, they’re back.
Achior’s advice is simple - find out how faithful these people are. If they are being good, you’ll never beat them. If they are disobeying God, then attack them, you’ll easily win.
Holofernes’ other advisors think he’s talking rubbish. They point out the size and power of Holofernes’ army. How can you lose, general? Don’t listen to this madman!
What will the general decide?
So what will happen to God’s people? Abject surrender isn’t an option for them - they couldn’t risk the destruction of the Temple. So they prepare for war, desperately defending the mountain passes into their land, and fortifying the towns and villages. Thankfully the harvest is in, so the oncoming army can’t burn their crops. They might be in for a siege.
And they remember God. Unlike the Biblical accounts of Israel and Judah under threat, the people are faithful in prayer and reliance on God. This is a sign that we’re reading a stylised story - more of a legend than fact - the other nations’ surrender is extreme and abject, Judah’s fortitude is noble and bold.
The people are united in begging God to protect them, there would hardly be enough sackcloth in the whole city to cover everyone is their earnest prayer and fasting.
And God heard their distress.
What are the beleaguered peoples going to do? They have little choice. If they do nothing, they will be mown down by his terrifyingly efficient fighting machine. So they sue for peace. A list of nations just to the north of Judah send a message of unconditional surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. Judah is not among them.
These peoples welcome Holofernes with every sign of ingratiating joy. The general is not moved. He systematically destroys their places of worship - an important part of breaking people’s spirit - and proclaims that everyone must worship Nebuchadnezzar as a god. Finally, the army halts at the very edge of Samarian territory, and there is a month’s delay while they are resupplied.
The tension has been building for three chapters. What will happen next?
We hear Nebuchadnezzar’s instructions to his general, Holofernes. It makes grim reading. He is coming to exact punishment on those countries he regards as having betrayed him. he wants their unconditional surrender, but promises he will kill their soldiers and plunder them anyway, whether they surrender or not.
We’re told in detail of the size of army that Holofernes assembled, and we watch its inexorable progress towards Judah. Every nation, fortified town and territory falls before him, fear and panic spread among the people who are next in line, and disaster seems to be about to fall.
