Editing Book of Judith (section)

{{short description|Deuterocanonical (apocryphal) book of Christian scripture}}
{{Redirect|Judith}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Marko Marulić]]'s book ''[[Judita]]''}}
[[Image:Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Cristofano Allori.jpg|thumb|320px|''[[Judith with the Head of Holofernes (Cristofano Allori)|Judith with the Head of Holophernes]]'', by [[Cristofano Allori]], 1613 ([[Royal Collection]], London)]]
{{Tanakh OT |deutero}}
[[File:Vouet - Judith.JPG|thumb|220px|''Judith with the Head of Holophernes'', by [[Simon Vouet]], ([[Alte Pinakothek]], Munich)]]
[[File:Judith Beheading Holofernes-Caravaggio (c.1598-9).jpg|thumb|220px|[[Caravaggio]]'s [[Judith Beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio)|''Judith Beheading Holofernes'']]]]
[[File:Michelangelo, Judith and Holofernes 02.jpg|thumb|220px|''Judith and Holophernes'', by [[Michelangelo]], ([[Sistine Chapel]], Vatican City)]]

The '''Book of Judith''' is a [[deuterocanonical]] book included in the [[Septuagint]] and the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] but [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|excluded from the Hebrew canon]] and assigned by [[Protestant]]s to the [[Biblical apocrypha|apocrypha]]. It tells of a [[Judaism|Jewish]] widow, Judith, who uses her beauty and charm to kill an [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]]n general who has besieged her city, [[Bethulia]]. With this act, she saves nearby [[Jerusalem]] from total destruction. The name Judith ({{Hebrew Name|יְהוּדִית|Yəhūdīt|Yŭhūḏīṯ|}}), meaning "praised" or "Jewess",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |title=The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1783746767}}</ref> is the feminine form of [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]].

The surviving manuscripts of Greek translations appear to contain several historical [[anachronism]]s, which is why some Protestant scholars now consider the book ahistorical. Instead, the book is classified  as a [[parable]], [[Theological fiction|theological novel]], or even the first [[Historical fiction#Historical novel|historical novel]].<ref>See, for example, the [[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Book of Judith|1913 ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article]], which though committed to the historicity of the book, admits and lists "very serious difficulties."</ref> The [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] formerly maintained the book's [[historicity]], assigning its events to the reign of [[Manasseh of Judah|King Manasseh of Judah]] and that the names were changed in later centuries for an unknown reason.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://philologic.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:1:18:0.bie |title=THE ARGVMENT OF THE BOOKE OF IVDITH - 1610 Douay Rheims Bible}}</ref> The ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' identifies [[Shechem]] (modern day [[Nablus]]) as "Bethulia", and argues that the name was changed because of the feud between the Jews and [[Samaritans]]. If this is the case, it would explain why other names seem anachronistic as well.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9073-judith-book-of |title=Jewish Encyclopedia - Book of Judith}}</ref>