With a foreword by Sidnie White Crawford and Harold W. Attridge. Includes bibliographical references (pages 439-464) and indexes.
Contents:
Names. The Sweep of Nations -- Holofernes -- The "Nations Roundabout" -- Worship of Nebuchadnezzar and Danielic Motifs -- Samaria -- Achior the Ammonite -- Bethulia -- Asceticism -- Judith's Slave, Habra/Abra -- The Book of Judith and Greek Philosophy -- Quoting the Song of the Sea -- Judith's Hand and Agency -- Reversal and Humility -- Undressing and Redressing -- Judith's Special Foods -- "Your God Shall Be My God" -- Bathing and Related Issues -- Bagoas the Eunuch -- Literary Effects in the Acteme -- A Satire of Sacrifice in the Acteme -- Achior's Conversion -- Judith 14:18 as Peripety and Theme of the Book -- Revenge, Vengeance, Vindication, and Plunder -- Judith's Status at the End -- About the Author -- Endpapers -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Reference Codes : 3. Abbreviations -- 2. Short Titles -- Introduction : 1. The Name Judith, the Title of the Book, and Its Place in the Canon -- 2. The Historical Context of Judith: Historicity, Date, Author, Location of Composition, Language -- 3. Literary Structure -- 4. Possible Sources of the Story -- 5. The Feminist Interpretation of Judith in the Last Century -- 6. Theology of the Book of Judith: Views Since 1900 -- 7. Genre and Literary Qualities of Judith; Humor, Irony, and Lying -- 8. History of the Reception of Judith -- 9. The Text of Judith and the Present Translation -- Commentary : Part I. 1:1-7:26 -- Part II. 8:1-16:25 -- Appendix: Jerome's Vulgate and Septuagint Compared -- Synopsis of LXX and Vulgate Judith -- Back Matter : Bibliography : 1. Ancient Versions and Languages -- 2. Commentaries on Judith -- 3. Books, Monographs, and Articles -- Indexes : 1. Passages -- 2. Subjects -- 3. Names.
Summary:
Judith tells the story of a beautiful Jewish woman who enters the tent of an invading general, gets him drunk, and then slices off his head, thus saving her village and Jerusalem. This short novella was somewhat surprisingly included in the early Christian versions of the Old Testament and has played an important role in the Western tradition ever since. This commentary provides a detailed analysis of the text's composition and its meaning in its original historical context, and thoroughly surveys the history of Judith scholarship. Lawrence M. Wills not only considers Judith's relation to earlier biblical texts, how the author played upon previous biblical motifs and interpreted important biblical passages, but also addresses the rise of Judith and other Jewish novellas in the context of ancient Near Eastern and Greek literature, as well as their relation to cross-cultural folk motifs. Because of the popularity of Judith in art and culture, this volume also addresses the book's history of interpretation in paintings, sculpture, music, drama, and literature. A number of images of artistic depictions of Judith are included and discussed in detail. -- Dove
Series:
Hermeneia--a critical and historical commentary on the Bible
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.