Judith
“Jewess, or praised one”
Summary
A name borne by two women in Scripture: a Hittite wife of Esau, and the heroine of the apocryphal book bearing her name.
☩Wife of Esau
Judith was the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and one of the first two wives of Esau (Genesis 26:34). She is elsewhere called Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the Horite (Genesis 36:2-14). The name is the feminine form of Judah and means 'Jewess' or 'praised one.' She and Esau's other Hittite wife Bashemath were 'a grief of mind' to Isaac and Rebekah.
☩Heroine of the Apocrypha
The second Judith is the heroine of the apocryphal book bearing her name, who appears as an ideal type of piety, beauty, courage, and chastity. According to the Greek text, she was the rich widow of Manasses of Bethulia. The narrative describes how she delivered Jerusalem and her countrymen from the assault of Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar, by her bold entry into his camp and subsequent beheading of him, resulting in the rout of the Assyrian army. Clement of Rome assigned to Judith the epithet 'blessed' (makarīa) given to Jael, and Jerome saw in her exploit the image of the Church's victory over evil.
Related Verses1 mention
Genesis· 1 verse
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Judith," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Judith," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Judith," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 4.George Morrish, "Judith," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).