The Book of Judith

Complete Edition

The Book of Judith is the story of a beautiful Jewish widow who saves her city by going alone into the camp of Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar's army, seducing him over three days, and then cutting off his head with his own sword while he sleeps in a drunken stupor. She carries the head back to her city in a food bag. The army, discovering their general's decapitation, panics and flees.

Codex Digital EditionComing soonEdition currently in preparation

Edition097

FormatDigital PDF

Editorial statusIn review

TraditionLost Scripture

Before you read

Context without the mythology.

Codex ISO separates the surviving evidence from later interpretation, so you can encounter the text without being told what to believe about it first.

01 / Historical context

2nd century BC. A widow seduces and beheads an Assyrian general to save her people. Too powerful a model of feminine authority. In Catholic Bibles; removed at the Reformation. Insp

02 / Why it matters

A widow with a sword. The Reformation removed her from the Bible.

From / associated with the text

“"The Lord hath struck him by the hand of a woman. As the Lord liveth, who hath kept me in my way that I went, my face hath deceived him unto his destruction, and yet hath he not committed sin with me."”

THE CODEX STANDARD

Source before story.

We identify the edition, translation and surviving evidence; distinguish documentation from tradition; and state uncertainty rather than turning it into a sales claim.

Our editorial standard ↗

Continue the archive

The Book of Judith

Context without the mythology.

Source before story.

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