Chapter XIV · Location 14 of 16
Chapter 14 · Open to readFrom Judith · Douay–Rheims / Challoner (1749–1752)
What sequence and claims does Judith Chapter 14 record?
Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary
Judith proposes displaying the head and rushing out at dawn, with pursuit to follow if the enemy flees. Achior leaves Gentile religion, believes God and is circumcised before the dawn action. The armed shouts prompt an effort to wake Holofernes; Vagao discovers the body and the leaders react in terror.
Chapter breakdown
Upon returning to Bethulia with the severed head of Holofernes, Judith commanded the people to mount the head upon the city walls. She directed that as soon as the sun arose, every armed man should rush out toward the enemy, not going down beneath, but as making an assault. She explained that this sudden threat would force the Assyrian watchmen to run to awaken their prince, and that when the army commanders hurried into Holofernes' tent and discovered his decapitated body wallowing in blood, overwhelming fear would seize them. Once the invaders turned to flee, Israel could pursue them securely, and she said the Lord would destroy the enemy under their feet. Witnessing the manifestation of divine power wrought on Israel's behalf, Achior renounced Gentile worship, placed his faith in God, underwent circumcision, and was incorporated alongside his descendants into the community of Israel, with all the succession of his kindred until the narrator’s present day.
At daybreak, the men of Bethulia hung Holofernes' head on the ramparts, seized their weapons, and advanced with loud shouting. Alerted by the commotion, the Assyrian sentries hurried to their general's pavilion. Those inside the pavilion gathered before the entrance of his sleeping chamber, deliberately creating clamor through commotion rather than calling him aloud, since no one dared knock or enter his chamber. When the captains, tribunes, and army commanders gathered outside, they ordered the chamberlains to wake him, ridiculing the Israelites as mice creeping from their holes to provoke battle.
Vagao entered the inner chamber and clapped his hands before the curtain, presuming Holofernes was still asleep with Judith. Receiving no response after listening intently, he drew back the curtain and found the commander's headless corpse lying upon the ground in his blood. Weeping aloud, Vagao tore his garments and rushed into Judith's tent. Finding it empty, he ran out to the assembled host and proclaimed that a single Hebrew woman had brought confusion upon the house of King Nabuchodonosor, leaving their supreme general decapitated on the earth. Upon hearing his report, the Assyrian leaders tore their clothing, an intolerable panic seized the camp, and widespread cries of terror erupted throughout their ranks.
The story inside
Opening conditions: Judith proposes displaying the head and rushing out at dawn, with pursuit to follow if the enemy flees. Development: Achior leaves Gentile religion, believes God and is circumcised before the dawn action. Chapter ending: The armed shouts prompt an effort to wake Holofernes; Vagao discovers the body and the leaders react in terror.
Lessons worth keeping
- 1Judith proposes displaying the head and rushing out at dawn, with pursuit to follow if the enemy flees.
- 2Achior leaves Gentile religion, believes God and is circumcised before the dawn action.
- 3The armed shouts prompt an effort to wake Holofernes; Vagao discovers the body and the leaders react in terror.
Test your recall
Which events are narrated, and which statements belong to the named speakers?
Source edition and notes
Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.
Lines 52786–52790
14:1. And Judith said to all the people: Hear me, my brethren, hang ye up this head upon our walls. 14:2. And as soon as the sun shall rise, let every man take his arms, and rush ye out, not as going down beneath, but as making an assault.
Lines 52828–52836
14:13. Then Vagao going into his chamber, stood before the curtain, and made a clapping with his hands: for he thought that he was sleeping with Judith. 14:14. But when with hearkening, he perceived no motion of one lying, he came near to the curtain, and lifting it up, and seeing the body of Holofernes, lying upon the ground, without the head, weltering in his blood, he cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and rent his garments.
