They came to her house, and she said to them: “Listen to me, elders of Bethulia, for the words you spoke today in front of the people are not right. You erred by taking an oath before God and yourselves, saying that you would surrender the town to our enemies if, within a certain number […]
So she sent the maidservant who looked after her affairs to call Chabris and Charmis, two elders of the town, to come and see her.
She heard the threatening words the people directed at their leaders because they were discouraged and lacking water. Judith also heard everything Uzziah had promised in response, specifically that he had sworn to surrender their city to the Assyrians within five days.
She was incredibly beautiful and very pleasing to look at. Manasseh, her husband, had left her gold, silver, servants, cattle, and fields, and she kept ownership of all these possessions.
She dressed in sackcloth, wore widow’s garments, and fasted every day of her widowhood except on the eves of the Sabbath, the Sabbath day, the eves of the new moons, the days of the new moons, and during all the festivals of Israel.
he suffered sunstroke, took to his bed, and died in Bethulia, his hometown. He was buried with his ancestors in the field between Dothan and Balamon.
Her husband was Manasseh, of the same tribe and family. He had died during the harvesting of the barley,as he was supervising the reapers who were binding the sheaves on the plain;
