{"id":4503,"date":"2017-11-09T12:13:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T09:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/?p=4503"},"modified":"2017-11-09T12:13:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T09:13:27","slug":"texts-witnessed-only-in-the-septuagint-judith-baruch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/4503\/texts-witnessed-only-in-the-septuagint-judith-baruch\/","title":{"rendered":"Texts witnessed only in the Septuagint: Judith, Baruch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texts witnessed only in the Septuagint: Table of Contents<\/a><\/p>\n

[Edited by Ellopos<\/a> from Wikipedia articles.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Book of Baruch<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Occasionally referred to as 1 Baruch, the book is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s scribe, its purported author. It contains reflections on the theology and history of Israel, discussions of wisdom, and addresses to residents of Jerusalem and the Diaspora. Some scholars propose that it was written during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees.<\/p>\n

Although the earliest known manuscripts of Baruch are in Greek, there is linguistic evidence that the beginning of Baruch (1:1-3:8) was originally translated from a Semitic language.<\/p>\n

Although not in the Hebrew Bible, it is found in the Septuagint<\/a> and in the Vulgate Bible, Eritrean\/Ethiopian Orthodox Bible and also in Theodotion’s version. It is grouped with the prophetical books which also include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. In the Vulgate, the King James Bible Apocrypha, and many other versions, the Letter of Jeremiah is appended to the end of the Book of Baruch as a sixth chapter; in the Septuagint<\/a> and Orthodox Bibles chapter 6 is usually counted as a separate book, called the Letter or Epistle of Jeremiah.<\/p>\n

Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius of Salamis and Pope Innocent I listed the Book of Baruch as canonical.<\/p>\n

The Synod of Laodicea (in 364) declared Baruch canonical. The same happened with the Synod of Hippo (in 393), followed by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419). Later, Augustine of Hippo (C. 397 AD) would confirm in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 8) the canonicity of the book of Baruch.<\/p>\n

The Decretum Gelasianum which is a work written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553 contains a list of books of Scripture presented as having been declared canonical by the Council of Rome under Pope Damasus I, bishop of Rome 366-383. This list mentions the book of Baruch as a part of the Old Testament Canon.<\/p>\n

In the Catholic Church, Baruch 3:9\u201338 is used in the liturgy of Holy Saturday during Passiontide in the traditional lectionary of scriptural readings at Mass. A similar selection occurs during the revised liturgy for the Easter Vigil.<\/p>\n

Baruch 1:14 \u2013 2:5; 3:1\u20138 is a liturgical reading within the revised Roman Catholic Breviary for the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday Office of Readings. The subject is the prayer and confession of sin of a penitent people:<\/p>\n

Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our fathers, have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him. … And the Lord fulfilled the warning he had uttered against us…. Lord Almighty, … Hear… and have mercy on us, who have sinned against you… (Baruch 1:15\u201318; 2:1; 3:1\u20132)<\/p>\n

St. Augustine’s reflection, which is paired with this reading, on this occasion speaks of prayer: “[S]ince this [that we pray for] is that peace that surpasses all understanding, even when we ask for it in prayer we do not know how to pray for what is right…”; from there he explains what it means that the Holy Spirit pleads for the saints.<\/p>\n

Baruch 3:9\u201315, 24\u20134:4 is a liturgical reading for the Saturday of the same week. The theme is that the salvation of Israel is founded on wisdom: “Learn where prudence is, … that you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. Who has found the place of wisdom, who has entered into her treasuries? … She is the book of the precepts of God, … All who cling to her will live… Turn, O Jacob, and receive her: … Give not your glory to another, your privileges to an alien race.” Paired with this on the same day is a reading from St. Peter Chrysologus, d. AD 450, who quotes the Apostle: “let us also wear the likeness of the man of heaven”.<\/p>\n

It is listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. In the Daily Office Lectionary for Christmas Eve, Baruch 4:21\u201329 is read; on Christmas day, Baruch 4:30\u20135:9. (Both of these are considered Messianic Prophecy in the Anglican tradition)<\/p>\n

In the Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, a selection from Baruch (which is considered an extension of the Book of Jeremiah, and is announced in the services as “Jeremiah”) is read as one of the eight Paroemia (Old Testament readings) during the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

Book of <\/strong>Judith<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This is included in the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament Bible following the Septuagint<\/a>, but is excluded from Jewish texts and assigned by Protestants to the Apocrypha. The book contains numerous anachronisms, and has been considered a parable or perhaps the first historical novel. The name Judith is the feminine form of Judah.<\/p>\n

It is not clear whether the Book of Judith was originally written in Hebrew or in Greek. The oldest existing version is the Septuagint<\/a> Greek version and might either be a translation from Hebrew or composed in Greek.<\/p>\n

Details of vocabulary and phrasing point to a Greek text written in a language modeled on the Greek developed through translating the other books in the Septuagint<\/a>. The extant Hebrew language versions, whether identical to the Greek, or in the shorter Hebrew version, date to the Middle Ages. The Hebrew versions name important figures directly such as the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, thus placing the events in the Hellenistic period when the Maccabees battled the Seleucid monarchs.<\/p>\n

The Greek version uses deliberately cryptic and anachronistic references such as “Nebuchadnezzar”, a “King of Assyria”, who “reigns in Nineveh”, for the same king. The adoption of that name, though unhistorical, has been sometimes explained either as a copyist’s addition, or an arbitrary name assigned to the ruler of Babylon.<\/p>\n

Although it was likely written by a Jew during the Second Temple period, there is no evidence that the Book of Judith was ever considered authoritative or a candidate for canonicity by any Jewish group. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible does not contain it, nor was it found among the Dead Sea Scrolls or referred to in any early Rabbinic literature. Reasons for its exclusion may include the lateness of its composition, possible Greek origin, open support of the Hasmonean dynasty (to which the early rabbinate was opposed), and perhaps the brash and seductive character of Judith herself.<\/p>\n

However, after disappearing from circulation among Jews for over a millennium, references to the Book of Judith, and the figure of Judith herself, resurfaced in the religious literature of crypto-Jews who escaped capitulation by the Caliphate of C\u00f3rdoba. The renewed interest took the form of “tales of the heroine, liturgical poems, commentaries on the Talmud, and passages in Jewish legal codes.” Although the text itself does not mention Hanukkah, it became customary for a Hebrew midrashic variant of the Judith story to be read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah.<\/p>\n

That midrash, whose heroine is portrayed as gorging the enemy on cheese before cutting off his head, may have formed the basis of the Jewish tradition to eat dairy products during Hanukkah. In that respect, Medieval Jewry appears to have viewed Judith as the Hasmonean counterpart to Queen Esther, the heroine of the holiday of Purim. The textual reliability of the Book of Judith was also taken for granted, to the extent that Biblical commentator Nachmanides (Ramban) quoted several passages from a Peshitta (Syriac version) of Judith in support of his rendering of Deuteronomy 21:14.<\/p>\n

Although early Christians, such as Clement of Rome, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, read and used the Book of Judith, some of the oldest Christian canons, including the Bryennios List (1st\/2nd century), that of Melito of Sardis (2nd century) and Origen (3rd century), do not include it.<\/p>\n

Jerome, when he produced his Latin translation, counted it among the apocrypha,(although he changed his mind and later quoted it as scripture, and said he merely expressed the views of the Jews), as did Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem and Epiphanius of Salamis.<\/p>\n

However, the influential Church Fathers Augustine, Ambrose, and Hilary of Poitiers, considered Judith sacred scripture, and Pope Innocent I declared it part of the canon. In Jerome’s Prologue to Judith he claims that the Book of Judith was “found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures”. It was also accepted by the councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) and eventually dogmatically defined as canonical by the Roman Catholic Church in 1546 in the Council of Trent.<\/p>\n

The Orthodox Church also accepts Judith as inspired scripture, as was confirmed in the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672.<\/p>\n

The Episcopal Church calls for a reading of Judith 9:1,11-14 at Mass on the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen, July 22.<\/p>\n

Amongst all Christian Churches who recognize this Book as canonical, only the Coptic Church celebrates the title character’s memory in its Calendar of Saints on September 17.<\/p>\n

The canonicity of Judith is rejected by Protestants, who accept as the Old Testament only those books that are found in the Jewish canon. Martin Luther viewed the book as an allegory, but listed it as the first of the eight writings in his Apocrypha.<\/p>\n

The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n

The Book of Judith can be split into two parts or “acts” of approximately equal length. Chapters 1\u20137 describe the rise of the threat to Israel, led by the evil king Nebuchadnezzar and his sycophantic general Holofernes, and is concluded as Holofernes’ worldwide campaign has converged at the mountain pass where Judith’s village, Bethulia, is located. Chapters 8\u201316 then introduce Judith and depict her heroic actions to save her people. Part I, although at times tedious in its description of the military developments, develops important themes by alternating battles with reflections and rousing action with rest. In contrast, the second half is devoted mainly to Judith’s strength of character and the beheading scene.<\/p>\n

The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha identifies a clear chiastic pattern in both “acts”, in which the order of events is reversed at a central moment in the narrative (i.e., abcc’b’a’).<\/p>\n

In the Christian West from the patristic period on, Judith was invoked in a wide variety of texts as a multi-faceted allegorical figure. “Mulier sancta,” she personified the Church and many virtues \u2013 Humility, Justice, Fortitude, Chastity (the opposite of Holofernes\u2019 vices Pride, Tyranny, Decadence, Lust) \u2013 and she was, like the other heroic women of the Hebrew scriptural tradition, made into a typological prefiguration of the Virgin Mary. Her gender made her a natural example of the biblical paradox of “strength in weakness”; she is thus paired with David and her beheading of Holofernes paralleled with that of Goliath \u2013 both deeds saved the Covenant People from a militarily superior enemy.<\/p>\n

Judith, the heroine of the book. She is the daughter of Merari, a Simeonite, and widow of a certain Manasses. She uses her charm to become an intimate friend of Holofernes, but finally beheads him allowing Israel to counter-attack the Assyrians.
\nPainting by Trophime Bigot (c. 1579\u20131650, also known as Master of the Candlelight), depicting Judith and Holofernes. The Walters Art Museum.<\/p>\n

Holofernes, the villain of the book. He is a devout soldier of his king, whom he wants to see exalted in all lands. He is given the task of destroying the rebels who didn’t support the king of Nineveh in his resistance against Cheleud and the king of Media, until Israel also becomes a target of his military campaign. Judith’s charm occasions his death.<\/p>\n

Nebuchadnezzar, claimed here to be the king of Nineveh and Assyria. He is so proud that he wants to affirm his strength as a sort of divine power. Holofernes, his Turtan (commanding general), is ordered to take revenge on those who refused to ally themselves with him.<\/p>\n

Bagoas, a Persian name denoting an official of Holofernes. He is the first one who discovers Holofernes’ beheading.<\/p>\n

Achior, an Ammonite king at Nebuchadnezzar’s court; he warns the king of Assyria of the power of the God of Israel but is mocked. He is the first one to recognize Holofernes’ head brought by Judith in the city, and also the first one to praise Hashem.<\/p>\n

Oziah, governor of Bethulia; together with Cabri and Carmi, he rules over Judith’s city.
\nHistoricity of Judith<\/p>\n

It is generally accepted that the Book of Judith is not historical. The fictional nature “is evident from its blending of history and fiction, beginning in the very first verse, and is too prevalent thereafter to be considered as the result of mere historical mistakes.” Thus, the great villain is “Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians” (1:1), yet the historical Nebuchadnezzar II was the king of Babylonia. Other details, such as fictional place names, the immense size of armies and fortifications, and the dating of events, cannot be reconciled with the historical record. Judith’s village, Bethulia (literally “virginity”) is unknown and otherwise unattested to in any ancient writing.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there have been various attempts by both scholars and clergy to understand the characters and events in the Book as allegorical representations of actual personages and historical events. Much of this work has focused on linking Nebuchadnezzar with various conquerors of Judea from different time periods and, more recently, linking Judith herself with historical female leaders, including Queen Salome Alexandra, Judea’s only female monarch (76-67 BCE) and its last ruler to die while Judea remained an independent kingdom.<\/p>\n

The identity of Nebuchadnezzar was unknown to the Church Fathers, but some of them attempted an improbable identification with Artaxerxes III Ochus (425\u2013338 BC), not on the basis of the character of the two rulers, but because of the presence of a “Holofernes” and a “Bagoas” in Ochus’ army. This view also gained currency with scholarship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p>\n

In his comparison between the Book of Judith and Assyrian history, Catholic priest and scholar Fulcran Vigouroux (1837\u20131915) attempts an identification of Nabuchodonosor king of Assyria with Ashurbanipal (668\u2013627 BC) and his rival Arphaxad king of the Medes with Phraortes (665\u2013653 BC), the son of Deioces, founder of Ecbatana. As argued by Vigouroux, the two battles mentioned in the Septuagint<\/a> version of the Book of Judith are a reference to the clash of the two empires in 658\u2013657 and to Phraortes’ death in battle in 653, after which Ashurbanipal continued his military actions with a large campaign starting with the Battle of the Ulaya River (652 BC) on the 18th year of this Assyrian king. Contemporary sources make reference to the many allies of Chaldea (governed by Ashurbanipal’s rebel brother Shamash-shum-ukin), including the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, which were subjects of Assyria and are mentioned in the Book of Judith as victims of Ashurbanipal’s Western campaign.<\/p>\n

During that period, as in the Book of Judith, there was no king in Judah since the legitimate sovereign, Manasseh of Judah, was being held captive in Nineveh at this time. As a typical policy of the time, all leadership was thus transferred in the hands of the High Priest of Israel in charge, which was Joakim in this case (Judith 4:6). The profanation of the temple (Judith 4:3) might have been that under king Hezekiah (see 2 Chronicles, xxix, 18\u201319), who reigned between c. 715 and 686 BCE.<\/p>\n

Although Judith and Ashurbanipal’s campaigns show direct parallels, the main incident of Judith’s intervention has never been recorded in official history. Also, the reasons for the name changes are difficult to understand, unless the text was transmitted without character names before they were added by the Greek translator, who lived centuries later. Moreover, Ashurbanipal is never referenced by name in the Bible, except perhaps for the corrupt form “Asenappar” in 2 Chronicles and Ezra 4:10 or the anonymous title “The King of Assyria” in the 2 Kings, which means his name might have never been recorded by Jewish historians.
\nIdentification of Nebuchadnezzar with Tigranes the Great<\/p>\n

Modern scholars argue in favor of a 2nd \u2013 1st century context for the Book of Judith, understanding it as a sort of roman \u00e0 clef, i.e. a literary fiction whose characters stand for some real historical figure, generally contemporary to the author. In the case of the Book of Judith, Biblical scholar Gabriele Boccaccini, identified Nebuchadnezzar with Tigranes the Great (140\u201356 BCE), a powerful King of Armenia who, according to Josephus and Strabo, conquered all of the lands identified by the Biblical author in Judith.<\/p>\n

Under this theory, the story, although fictional, would be set in the time of Queen Salome Alexandra, the only Jewish regnant queen, who reigned over Judea from 76 to 67 BC. Like Judith, the Queen had to face the menace of a foreign king who had a tendency to destroy the temples of other religions. Both women were widows whose strategical and diplomatic skills helped in the defeat of the invader. Both stories seem to be set at a time when the temple had recently been rededicated, which is the case after Judas Maccabee killed Nicanor and defeated the Seleucids. The territory of Judean occupation includes the territory of Samaria, something which was possible in Maccabean times only after John Hyrcanus reconquered those territories. Thus, the presumed Sadducee author of Judith would desire to honor the great (Pharisee) Queen who tried to keep both Sadducees and Pharisees united against the common menace.
\nLater artistic renditions<\/p>\n

The character of Judith is larger than life, and she has won a place in Jewish and Christian lore, art, poetry and drama. Her name, which means “she will be praised” or “woman of Judea”, suggests that she represents the heroic spirit of the Jewish people, and that same spirit, as well as her chastity, have endeared her to Christianity. Because of her unwavering religious devotion, she is able to step outside of her widow’s role, and dress and act in a sexually provocative manner while clearly remaining true to her ideals in the reader’s mind, and her seduction and beheading of the wicked Holofernes while playing this role has been rich fodder for artists of various genres.<\/p>\n

The first extant commentary on The Book of Judith is by Hrabanus Maurus (9th century). Thenceforth her presence in medieval European literature is robust: in homilies, biblical paraphrases, histories and poetry. An Old English poetic version is found together with Beowulf (their epics appear both in the Nowell Codex). “The opening of the poem is lost,(scholars estimate that 100 lines were lost) but the remainder of the poem, as can be seen,the poet reshaped the biblical source and set the poem’s narrative to an Anglo-Saxon audience.” from At the same time she is the subject of a homily by the Anglo-Saxon abbot \u00c6lfric.<\/p>\n

The two conceptual poles represented by these works will inform much of Judith’s subsequent history. In the epic, she is the brave warrior, forceful and active; in the homily she is an exemplar of pious chastity for cloistered nuns. In both cases, her narrative gained relevance from the Viking invasions of the period. Within the next three centuries Judith would be treated by such major figures as Heinrich Frauenlob, Dante, and Geoffrey Chaucer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texts witnessed only in the Septuagint: Table of Contents [Edited by Ellopos from Wikipedia articles.] Book of Baruch Occasionally referred to as 1 Baruch, the book is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s scribe, its purported author. It contains reflections on the theology and history of Israel, discussions of wisdom, and addresses to residents of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[6702,8,11,5766,10],"tags":[332,94,100,101],"class_list":["post-4503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thechrist","category-church-of-greece","category-elpenor-greek-library","category-greek-religion","category-orthodox-christianity","tag-bible","tag-new-testament","tag-old-testament","tag-septuagint"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}