Judith
Chapter 1
Nebuchadnezzar’s Plans
It was in the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, who ruled over Babylon, that Arphaxad was ruling over the Medes in Ecbatana.
Arphaxad constructed stone ramparts around Ecbatana, with each stone measuring one and a half meters wide and three meters long. The ramparts were thirty-five meters tall and twenty-five meters wide.
He built at the gates, with city towers fifty meters high, resting on foundations twenty meters wide.
The gates were thirty-five meters tall and twenty meters wide, wide enough for his brave warriors and foot soldiers to march through in battle formation.
In those days, King Nebuchadnezzar waged war against King Arphaxad in the Great Plain, the area near the territory of the Ragau.
All the people who lived in the mountains, along the banks of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Hydaspes rivers, on the plains of Arioch, king of the Elamites, and many other groups joined the ranks of the Chaldeans to fight against the sons of Cheleoud.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, sent his messengers to all those living in Persia and the West, to the inhabitants of Cilicia, Damascus, Lebanon, and Antilebanon, to those along the seacoast,
to the people of Carmel, Gilead, Upper Galilee, and the Great Plain of Esdraelon,
to those in Samaria and its towns, and beyond the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, Bethany, Chelous, Kadesh, the river of Egypt, Tahpanhes, Rameses, and all the land of Goshen,
as far as the region beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the land of Ethiopia.
But the inhabitants of all these regions ignored the order of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, and refused to join him in waging war. They no longer feared him because they saw him as just another man. They sent his messengers back empty-handed and ashamed.
Nebuchadnezzar was deeply angered at these regions and swore by his throne and kingdom to punish all the districts of Cilicia, Damascus, and Syria, and to destroy everyone in the lands of Moab, Ammon, the entire Judea, and all in Egypt up to the coasts between the two seas.
In the seventeenth year, Nebuchadnezzar fought against King Arphaxad and defeated him in battle. He pushed back Arphaxad’s army with all his cavalry and chariots.
Nebuchadnezzar conquered all the cities. Finally, he reached Ecbatana, where he demolished its towers, pillaged the streets, and diminished its splendor to ruins.
He pursued Arphaxad into the Ragau mountains, shot him with arrows, and completely defeated him.
Then he returned to Nineveh with a large crowd of followers and many soldiers. He and his entire army stayed there, entertaining themselves and feasting for one hundred and twenty days.
Commentaries
The Great Threat.
The first part of the book focuses on the growing danger faced by the Jewish people. The emperor is not content simply ruling; he also seeks to be revered as a god, with all that comes with that. Therefore, this literary work, although fictional, invites resistance against anything that, above God, tries to impose itself as the only way to live in the world.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Plans.
From the first verse, the author urges his readers not to view the narrative as objective history. The two actual names are historically unrelated; they are fictional. Nebuchadnezzar did not rule in Nineveh. Notice the symbolic phrase, “turning the beauty of the city into humiliation” (14). Cities, especially capitals, were often described as maidens; conquering them is like raping them, thus dishonoring them. Another beautiful woman appears in the book whom the enemy wishes to possess and dishonor, but to no avail (13.16).