Schiirer now (Herzog*, 1896) attaches importance to an early view, not mentioned in his HJP. ' The presupposed historical background answers more to the time of Artaxerxes Ochus. In one of his expeditions against Phoenicia and Egypt, about B.C. 350, he took also some Jewish prisoners, and among his most conspicuous generals in that campaign were the satrap (king) Holofemes of Cappadocia and the eunuch Bagoas.' Sulpicius Severus (Chron. ii. 14-16) first argued that Jth was an actual history of that time. Gutschmid (Jhb. f. Klas. Phil. 1863, p. 714) says, 'Severus seems to me to have proved as much as this, that the author of the Bk. of Jth actually meant to put her history in the time of Ochus (so Noldelce ; Keil ; W. K. Smith, OTJC* 439 ; Wellhausen, Isr. u. Jiid. Gesrh. 186). True, Holofemes was the title of other Cappadocian kings (Ball), but no other is known to liave had anything to do with the Jews (Keil). True also that Bagoas is Persi.an for ' eunuch.' Yet force remains in the a.<sociation of the two names in Jth and in this historical a-^sault upon Judiea under the king of the great Eastern empire. It is possible, then, that the WTiter lived in the 1st cent. B.C. and wrote of an event three icnturies earlier. It would be possible then to think of a century or more of peace after the de- liverance (16^ (cf. '■')), and to speak of the return from exile as recent (4* S"- '•). There was no king (5'), and the Joiakim of Neh 12"'-* might possibly be sup[)oscd to have been high priest. See also a IVrsimi custom in 2', and compare 16'".
5. lIl.'iTOiiiCALCllAltACTKl!.— The early chanters of the l)ook contain historical and geograiiliical impo.ssibilities, and the later chapters much self- evident romance. With the geography of I'ales- tine, however, the writer shows great familiarity.* The historicity of Bethulia does not prove the actuality of Judith and her de«l, though it is a serious obstacle to the allegorical intcri>ri'tation of the lH>ok and also to the 8up|K)sition that the story originally concerned the AlaccaUieon age.t
• SchlRttrr thinks Jth fflvM » Inie pictnrr not onlj of thf lfrn^mi>lii(-Al, but hito of tile politl^ml, ff*^?)*], uid rrlii^oim mn- (UtiotiH of the l»iil«t<Kl Jtwlah hill towns of Sortiieni ti*m*rli tKforr the time of the M«cail>ei*a.
I rf the IMit pUyeil hy Mrthsiirm in 1 ^Isc
824
JUEL
JULIUS
Nevertheless ' it is possible that in some Palestinian town a poimlar festival wn-s celebrated in memory of the heroic deed of a woman, and that after the true occasion was forgotten and had given place to a manifoldly embellished legend, a history was composed in honour of Judith, probably before the destruction of the temple ' (Zunz, Gattesdienxtli'-hc Vortriigc, p. 124). One is reminded of the little city besieged by a great king and delivered by a poor ■wise man (Ec 9"- "), perhaps also an incident of the Persian period.
Josephns is silent both as to the invasion of Ochus and as to .Ith, and his silence speaks against the antiq^uity of the book and its firm place in the Greek Bible of the 1st century. The NT has no reference.* The earliest reference is in Clem. Rom. i. 55, where Judith is put before Esther as an example of womanly heroism. The book was there- fore classical, probably scriptural, about A.D. 90 among Christians. Tliat Jewish tradition should come to connect the story with the Maccaboean period is natural.
6. Literahy Character. — The book is a work of literary skill, ' as a work of art quite perfect ' (Ewald). ' The representation contains nothing diUuse, bombastic, forced, but is short, simple, natural, and betrays originality. . . . Appropriate, in part admirable, are the particular descriptions. . . . Extraordinarily successful is the song of praise at the close of the book. ... I put it un- hesitatingly by the side of the best poetical pro- ducts of tlio Hebrew spirit' (Fritzsche, 127 f., 209).
7. Reliotous and Ethical Teachings.— The religious ideas of the book are of the Pharisaic type, particularistic and legal. Patriotism centres in zeal for the temple {i-- ^- "•" S^'- " 9»- 1^ ; cf. 5'» 9' 11'* 16'*'™). Israel can sutt'er no harm unless it sin against God (S"-^' lli"-"*). The fatal sin might be the most excusable of ritual transgressions (U"'"-), though Judith's confidence rests chiefly on the freedom of her race from idolatry (8'*'™). In the acco\mt of Judith's own piety the food laws (10' ll'--"> 12'-»-'»), fasts (8"), washings (12'-''), and prayer (9. 11" 12* 13''- ") are emphasized. Her per- sistent widowhood is praised (16-^ : cf. 8*- '). Social virtues are wanting, except the freeing of her slave (16^).t The Pharisaic union of determinism and freedom is to be observed. Salvation comes from God, and all is in accordance with His will (8""" Qs-u 16''""). Yet it is not through angel or miracle, but through the wisdom and boldness of Judith that deliverance is wrought (cf. 832-*' lO^* 159- ">). But she gets her strength by prayer (9. 12' IS''-'), and the glory of God is greater because of the weakness of the means through which so great a triumph was achieved (9" 16°- '• "■ '''). The absence of angels and miracles (cf. Tobit) and of future life and Messianic hope is to be noted. A prose- lyte is welcomed (14'°).