King James Version · Under Assyria
Judith 8
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1Now at that time heard thereof, which was the daughter of , the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozel, the son of Elcia, the son of , the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the son of , the son of Samael, the son of Salasadal, the son of Israel. 2And was her husband, of her tribe and kindred, who in the barley harvest. 3For as he stood overseeing them that bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and in the city of : and they with his fathers in the field between Dothaim and Balamo. 4So was a in her house three years and four months. 5And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on upon her loins and ware her ’s apparel. 6And she all the days of her widowhood, the eves of the , and the , and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons and the feasts and solemn days of the . 7She was also of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold: and her husband had left her gold, and silver, and menservants and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them. 8And there was none that gave her an ill word; as she feared greatly. 9Now when she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, that they fainted for lack of water; for had heard all the words that had spoken unto them, and that he had to the city unto the after five days; 10Then she sent her waitingwoman, that had the government of all things that she had, to call and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of the city. 11And they came unto her, and she said unto them, Hear me now, O ye governors of the inhabitants of : for your words that ye have spoken before the people this day are not right, touching this which ye made and pronounced between and you, and have promised to the city to our , unless within these days turn to help you. 12And now who are ye that have this day, and stand instead of among the children of men? 13And now try Almighty, but ye shall never know any thing. 14For ye cannot find the depth of of man, neither can ye perceive the things that he thinketh: then how can ye search out , that hath made all these things, and know his , or comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not our to . 15For if he will not help us within these five days, he hath to defend us when he will, even every day, or to destroy us before our . 16Do not bind the counsels of our : for is not as man, that he may be threatened; neither is he as , that he should be wavering. 17Therefore let us wait for of him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him. 18For there arose none in our age, neither is there any now in these days neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor city among us, which gods made with hands, as hath been aforetime. 19For the which cause our fathers were given to , and for a spoil, and had a great fall before our . 20But we know none other , therefore we that he will not despise us, nor any of our nation. 21For if we be taken so, all shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and he will require the profanation thereof at our . 22And the slaughter of our brethren, and of the country, and the desolation of our , will he turn upon our heads among the , wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a to all them that possess us. 23For our servitude shall not be directed to : but our shall turn it to dishonour. 24Now therefore, O brethren, let us shew an example to our brethren, because their depend upon us, and , and the house, and the , rest upon us. 25Moreover let us give thanks to our , which trieth us, even as he did our fathers. 26Remember what things he did to , and how he tried , and what happened to in of , when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother. 27For he hath not tried us in the , as he did them, for the examination of their , neither hath he taken on us: but doth scourge them that come near unto him, to admonish them. 28Then said to her, All that thou hast spoken hast thou spoken with a good , and there is none that may gainsay thy words. 29For this is not the first day wherein thy is manifested; but of thy days all the people have known thy understanding, because the disposition of thine is good. 30But the people were very thirsty, and compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken, and to bring an upon ourselves, which we will not break. 31Therefore now thou for us, because thou art a godly woman, and will send us to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more. 32Then said unto them, Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations to the children of our nation. 33Ye shall stand this night in the , and I will go forth with my waitingwoman: and within the days that ye have promised to the city to our will visit Israel by mine hand. 34But enquire not ye of mine act: for I will not declare it unto you, till the things be finished that I do. 35Then said and the princes unto her, Go in peace, and be before thee, to take on our . 36So they returned from the tent, and went to their wards.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Assyria, 745 BC to 612 BC ›
Assyria at full stretch, deporting whole populations as policy. The northern kingdom is destroyed in 722 BC and Judah survives as a tribute-paying vassal.
- Assyria
- The first empire to run mass deportation as ordinary administration: move the leadership somewhere else, settle strangers in their place, and the province stops being a nation. It worked. Samaria fell in 722 BC and the northern tribes did not come back. Assyria also advertised its cruelty deliberately, carving flayings and impalements on palace walls where envoys would see them, because terror is cheaper than garrisons.
- Judah
- Survives by paying. Hezekiah rebels, Sennacherib takes forty-six Judean towns and besieges Jerusalem in 701 BC, and the city holds. The Assyrian account boasts of shutting Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage and pointedly does not claim to have taken the city, which is one of the more interesting silences in ancient records.
- Egypt
- The splintered reed of a staff that Assyria's field commander mocks Judah for leaning on. It promises help and cannot deliver, and Isaiah spends decades saying so. Assyria eventually invades and sacks Thebes.
- Further afield
- Greece is in its archaic period, founding colonies from Spain to the Black Sea. Rome is under kings. Assyria's own libraries are collecting the literature of Mesopotamia, which is how Gilgamesh survived to be read again in the nineteenth century.