Judith
Chapter 3
They sent messengers to Holofernes offering him terms of peace:
“See, we consider ourselves servants of Nebuchadnezzar, the great king. Do with us as you will.
All our farms, entire territory, wheat fields, oxen, and sheepfolds lie before you—use them as you please.
See, our towns and all their inhabitants are yours; deal with them as you wish.”
These men went to Holofernes and repeated these words.
Then Holofernes moved down to the seacoast with his army. He stationed garrisons in the hill cities and took men from them, choosing auxiliaries.
The people of these cities welcomed him, along with all the surrounding countryside, with garlands, singing, and dancing to tambourine music.
Nevertheless, he still ravaged their land, cut down their sacred groves, and destroyed their gods so that all people of every language and nation would worship Nebuchadnezzar alone and declare him as god.
Then he arrived opposite Esdraelon, near Dothan, facing the great chain of Judean hills.
He camped between Geba and Scythopolis and stayed there for a month to reorganize his army’s supplies.
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.
General Holofernes.
Nebuchadnezzar’s orders, akin to divine commands, are promptly obeyed by his general. In just a few lines, a campaign that would take months to complete is quickly summarized, and the advancing army’s overwhelming size is clear. In 3:1-4, we see three expressions of the most extreme and foolish submission: the subjugation of the people, the surrender of their livelihoods, and the giving up of cities and territories. However, political and economic submission alone isn’t enough for the empire; religious submission is also demanded, which Holofernes enforces: destroy every sanctuary, every sacred tree, every deity so Nebuchadnezzar can be worshiped—”all nations may worship Nebuchadnezzar alone and all tribes may call him god, each in his language” (3:8).