Judith 11

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Then said Holofernes unto her, Woman, be of good comfort, fear not in thine heart: for I never hurt any that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor, the king of all the earth.

Then said Holofernes unto her: Woman, be of good comfort, fear not in your heart; for I never hurt any that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor, the king of all the earth — the captain's mercy defined exactly: safety for the willing servant, which is to say, safety as the price of surrender.

2Now therefore, if thy people that dwelleth in the mountains had not set light by me, I would not have lifted up my spear against them: but they have done these things to themselves.

Now therefore, if your people that dwell in the mountains had not set light by me, I would not have lifted up my spear against them; but they have done these things to themselves — the besieger acquitting himself: resistance rewritten as self-injury, the oldest sentence of the sense-empire.

3But now tell me wherefore thou art fled from them, and art come unto us: for thou art come for safeguard; be of good comfort, thou shalt live this night, and hereafter:

But now tell me wherefore you are fled from them, and are come unto us; for you are come for safeguard; be of good comfort, you shall live this night, and hereafter — safeguard offered before the story is heard: the conclusion purchased in advance.

4For none shall hurt thee, but entreat thee well, as they do the servants of king Nabuchodonosor my lord.

For none shall hurt you, but entreat you well, as they do the servants of king Nabuchodonosor my lord — protection promised in the vocabulary of servitude: to be entreated well is to be kept.

5Then Judith said unto him, Receive the words of thy servant, and suffer thine handmaid to speak in thy presence, and I will declare no lie to my lord this night.

Then Judith said unto him: Receive the words of your servant, and suffer your handmaid to speak in your presence, and I will declare no lie to my lord this night — the speech opening in the forms of submission, and the famous sentence laid inside them: no lie this night. The deceit of the lips, prayed for in chapter nine, keeping its own strange truthfulness throughout.

6And if thou wilt follow the words of thine handmaid, God will bring the thing perfectly to pass by thee; and my lord shall not fail of his purposes.

And if you will follow the words of your handmaid, God will bring the thing perfectly to pass by you; and my lord shall not fail of his purposes — the promise true in a sense the hearer cannot hear: the thing will be brought perfectly to pass.

7As Nabuchodonosor king of all the earth liveth, and as his power liveth, who hath sent thee for the upholding of every living thing: for not only men shall serve him by thee, but also the beasts of the field, and the cattle, and the fowls of the air, shall live by thy power under Nabuchodonosor and all his house.

As Nabuchodonosor king of all the earth lives, and as his power lives, who has sent you for the upholding of every living thing: for not only men shall serve him by you, but also the beasts of the field — the untamed instincts of the outer nature — and the cattle — the tamed affections — and the fowls of the air — the soaring thoughts — shall live by your power under Nabuchodonosor and all his house: flattery built to the empire's own blueprint, every order of faculty enrolled under the throne it came to cast down.

8For we have heard of thy wisdom and thy policies, and it is reported in all the earth, that thou only art excellent in all the kingdom, and mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war.

For we have heard of your wisdom and your policies, and it is reported in all the earth, that you only are excellent in all the kingdom, and mighty in knowledge, and wonderful in feats of war — the report of all the earth, manufactured on the spot: the captain hearing his own desired fame returned to him as news.

9Now as concerning the matter, which Achior did speak in thy council, we have heard his words; for the men of Bethulia saved him, and he declared unto them all that he had spoken unto thee.

Now as concerning the matter, which Achior did speak in your council, we have heard his words; for the men of Bethulia saved him, and he declared unto them all that he had spoken unto you — the speech grounding itself in fact: Achior's history, accurately reported, lending its credit to everything that follows.

10Therefore, O lord and governor, respect not his word; but lay it up in thine heart, for it is true: for our nation shall not be punished, neither can sword prevail against them, except they sin against their God.

Therefore, O lord and governor, respect not his word; but lay it up in your heart, for it is true: for our nation shall not be punished, neither can sword prevail against them, except they sin against their God — Achior's whole theology repeated back to the man who exiled him for it, now from a beautiful mouth: the truth the council would not hear, admitted because of who speaks it.

11And now, that my lord be not defeated and frustrate of his purpose, even death is now fallen upon them, and their sin hath overtaken them, wherewith they will provoke their God to anger whensoever they shall do that which is not fit to be done:

And now, that my lord be not defeated and frustrate of his purpose, even death is now fallen upon them, and their sin has overtaken them, wherewith they will provoke their God to anger whensoever they shall do that which is not fit to be done — the condition Achior named, announced as fulfilled: the speech turning the empire's one losing condition into its invitation.

12For their victuals fail them, and all their water is scant, and they have determined to lay hands upon their cattle, and purposed to consume all those things, that God hath forbidden them to eat by his laws:

For their victuals fail them, and all their water is scant, and they have determined to lay hands upon their cattle, and purposed to consume all those things, that God has forbidden them to eat by His laws — the famine of the siege, truly reported, and the desperate intention invented upon it: starvation made to testify to sacrilege.

13And are resolved to spend the firstfruits of the corn, and the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests that serve in Jerusalem before the face of our God; the which things it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch with their hands.

And are resolved to spend the firstfruits of the corn, and the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests — the mediating faculties — that serve in Jerusalem before the face of our God; the which things it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch with their hands — the invented sin deepened to the sanctuary itself: tenths and firstfruits, the tithe acknowledged to the King-Priest within, pictured as already seized by starving hands.

14For they have sent some to Jerusalem, because they also that dwell there have done the like, to bring them a licence from the senate.

For they have sent some to Jerusalem, because they also that dwell there have done the like, to bring them a licence from the senate — the fiction completed with an embassy: even the center licensing the sin, that the captain may wait for the day with confidence.

15Now when they shall bring them word, they will forthwith do it, and they shall be given to thee to be destroyed the same day.

Now when they shall bring them word, they will forthwith do it, and they shall be given to you to be destroyed the same day — the trap's timetable laid out: a day appointed, on which the empire need only arrive.

16Wherefore I thine handmaid, knowing all this, am fled from their presence; and God hath sent me to work things with thee, whereat all the earth shall be astonished, and whosoever shall hear it.

Wherefore I your handmaid, knowing all this, am fled from their presence; and God has sent me to work things with you, whereat all the earth shall be astonished, and whosoever shall hear it — the flight explained, and the astonishment promised: the sentence truest of all, in the direction opposite to its hearing.

17For thy servant is religious, and serveth the God of heaven day and night: now therefore, my lord, I will remain with thee, and thy servant will go out by night into the valley, and I will pray unto God, and he will tell me when they have committed their sins:

For your servant is religious, and serves the God of heaven day and night: now therefore, my lord, I will remain with you, and your servant will go out by night into the valley, and I will pray unto God, and He will tell me when they have committed their sins — the nightly prayer, the real centre of her life, offered as the mechanism of the betrayal: she will indeed go out by night, and pray, and return with knowledge. The form is exact; only the allegiance is hers.

18And I will come and shew it unto thee: then thou shalt go forth with all thine army, and there shall be none of them that shall resist thee.

And I will come and show it unto you: then you shall go forth with all your army, and there shall be none of them that shall resist you — the victory described in the empire's favourite grammar: none resisting.

19And I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem; and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd, and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at thee: for these things were told me according to my foreknowledge, and they were declared unto me, and I am sent to tell thee.

And I will lead you through the midst of Judea, until you come before Jerusalem; and I will set your throne — the seat of ruling authority — in the midst thereof; and you shall drive them as sheep — the gentle, guidable thoughts — that have no shepherd — no guiding care-faculty — and a dog shall not so much as open his mouth at you: for these things were told me according to my foreknowledge, and they were declared unto me, and I am sent to tell you — the flattery reaching its summit: a throne in the center itself, a shepherdless flock, a silenced earth. Every image of it destined to be fulfilled — upon the speaker's own people, against the hearer's house.

20Then her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants; and they marvelled at her wisdom, and said,

Then her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants; and they marvelled at her wisdom, and said — the tent concurring: the same verdict the city gave her understanding, now given in the camp to her speech.

21There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, both for beauty of face, and wisdom of words.

There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, both for beauty of face, and wisdom of words — the superlative of the whole earth bestowed by the men it will ruin: beauty and wisdom, the two instruments, praised together.

22Likewise Holofernes said unto her. God hath done well to send thee before the people, that strength might be in our hands and destruction upon them that lightly regard my lord.

Likewise Holofernes said unto her: God has done well to send you before the people, that strength might be in our hands and destruction upon them that lightly regard my lord — the captain blessing God for the sending: the empire's theology, for one sentence, exactly right about the sender and exactly wrong about the errand.

23And now thou art both beautiful in thy countenance, and witty in thy words: surely if thou do as thou hast spoken thy God shall be my God, and thou shalt dwell in the house of king Nabuchodonosor, and shalt be renowned through the whole earth.

And now you are both beautiful in your countenance, and witty in your words: surely if you do as you have spoken your God shall be my God, and you shall dwell in the house of king Nabuchodonosor, and shalt be renowned through the whole earth — conversion offered as a compliment: your God shall be my God, spoken by the man who came to destroy all gods but his king. The reward named is a house and a renown — everything the widow left on her rooftop.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.