Judith

About this text

The story of a brave Jewish woman who infiltrates an enemy camp and kills the general Holofernes to save her people. A dramatic narrative of courage and faith.

Significance

Celebrated as an example of courageous faith. Major subject in Western art (Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi).

How to Read This Historical Text

Judith is included here as a historical and educational resource, not as Scripture and not as a replacement for the biblical canon. Readers may find it useful for understanding the ideas, debates, devotional language, and literary settings that surrounded Jewish and Christian communities in different periods.

Read this text with context in mind. Notice its era, category, and relationship to canonical passages, then compare its themes with the Bible itself. Some library works preserve valuable historical background, while others represent viewpoints that many Christian traditions rejected. Inclusion in this library does not mean endorsement of every claim or doctrine in the text.

For more about how The Bible Companion handles public-domain writings, Bible translations, attribution, and devotional material, see the Sources & Editorial Policy.

Key excerpts

"The Lord Almighty has foiled them by the hand of a woman."

"For your power depends not upon numbers, nor your might upon the strong. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed."

Scripture cross-references

• Judges 4:21 — Jael killing Sisera — Judith follows the same pattern of a woman saving Israel
• 1 Corinthians 1:27 — God chose the weak to shame the strong

Continue exploring

This text is one of 10 in the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books category, and one of 62 across the entire library.