Judith’s Hymn of Thanksgiving

The book of Judith is a historical novella set in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BCE) but actually composed in the second or first century BCE. The heroine, Judith, who entices and slays the Assyrian general Holofernes and leads her people to victory, is clearly patterned on the biblical Yael, who entices and slays the Canaanite general Sisera (Judges 4:17–22). After the Israelite victory, Judith, like Miriam, leads the women in song and dance. The concluding hymn is patterned on the Song at the Sea (Exodus 15) and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), using language and imagery from both.

Women are characterized here as congregating together separately from men, adorning themselves, and celebrating with exuberant dance in an echo of Exodus 15. As in the biblical story of Yael and Sisera, a foreign warrior is bested by a woman. Given the expected gender roles in the Hellenistic world, this makes defeat even more humiliating for the enemy, who is felled not by “young men,” “Titans,” or “giants” but by the beautiful Judith, who uses “feminine wiles” to achieve her goal by seducing her foe. The foreigners are amazed at her “boldness” and “daring”—traits generally associated with men rather than women according to prevailing cultural norms. But Judith also is depicted as identifying with and exalting “the oppressed among her people.”