Judith 8

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

1Now at that time Judith heard thereof, which was the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozel, the son of Elcia, the son of Ananias, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Samael, the son of Salasadal, the son of Israel.

Now at that time Judith heard thereof, who was the daughter of Merari, the son of Ox, the son of Joseph — Joseph, the Increase faculty, the dream-consciousness that interprets, provides, and forgives — the son of Ozel, the son of Elcia, the son of Ananias, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Acitho, the son of Eliu, the son of Eliab, the son of Nathanael, the son of Samael, the son of Salasadal, the son of Israel — Israel, the spiritual man who has striven with God and prevailed. The genealogy is the order of states: a long line of consciousness unfolding until it arrives, in the hour of the siege, at a widow's tent. Judith herself keeps her name unglossed, as the name discipline requires.

2And Manasses was her husband, of her tribe and kindred, who died in the barley harvest.

And Manasses was her husband, of her tribe and kindred, who died in the barley harvest — the husband of her own order, taken in the season of gathering.

3For as he stood overseeing them that bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in the city of Bethulia: and they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothaim and Balamo.

For as he stood overseeing them that bound sheaves in the field, the heat came upon his head, and he fell on his bed, and died in the city of Bethulia; and they buried him with his fathers in the field between Dothaim and Balamo — death in the midst of the harvest oversight: the field keeping both the sheaves and the grave.

4So Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months.

So Judith was a widow in her house three years and four months — the widowhood measured exactly, as the siege will be: grief keeping its own calendar.

5And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins and ware her widow’s apparel.

And she made her a tent upon the top of her house, and put on sackcloth upon her loins and wore her widow's apparel — the tent pitched at the house's height: the widow dwelling, by choice, at the top of her own state, in the posture of mourning.

6And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the sabbaths, and the sabbaths, and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons and the feasts and solemn days of the house of Israel.

And she fasted all the days of her widowhood, save the eves of the sabbaths, and the sabbaths — the Sabbath, rest in God, the state in which consciousness ceases from its own works — and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons and the feasts and solemn days of the house of Israel: discipline kept for years, exempting only the days the order itself exempts.

7She was also of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold: and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them.

She was also of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold; and her husband Manasses had left her gold, and silver, and menservants and maidservants, and cattle, and lands; and she remained upon them — beauty and substance both left in her hands, and neither spent on display: the estate kept, the countenance kept, the fast kept.

8And there was none that gave her an ill word; for she feared God greatly.

And there was none that gave her an ill word; for she feared God greatly — the city's verdict on the widow unanimous: the hidden discipline of the rooftop known, somehow, to all.

9Now when she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, that they fainted for lack of water; for Judith had heard all the words that Ozias had spoken unto them, and that he had sworn to deliver the city unto the Assyrians after five days;

Now when she heard the evil words of the people against the governor, that they fainted for lack of water; for Judith had heard all the words that Ozias had spoken unto them, and that he had sworn to deliver the city unto the Assyrians after five days — the rooftop hearing the assembly: distance no obstacle to the faculty that has kept itself awake.

10Then she sent her waitingwoman, that had the government of all things that she had, to call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of the city.

Then she sent her waitingwoman, who had the government of all things that she had, to call Ozias and Chabris and Charmis, the ancients of the city — the widow summoning the governors: the tent on the roof becoming, in one message, the true council chamber of the city.

11And they came unto her, and she said unto them, Hear me now, O ye governors of the inhabitants of Bethulia: for your words that ye have spoken before the people this day are not right, touching this oath which ye made and pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you.

And they came unto her, and she said unto them: Hear me now, O you governors of the inhabitants of Bethulia; for your words that you have spoken before the people this day are not right, touching this oath which you made and pronounced between God and you, and have promised to deliver the city to our enemies, unless within these days the Lord turn to help you — the rebuke precise and legal: the oath itself arraigned, its deadline named as its offence.

12And now who are ye that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men?

And now who are you that have tempted God this day, and stand instead of God among the children of men? — the governors accused of the empire's own sin in miniature: standing in God's place, setting His terms.

13And now try the Lord Almighty, but ye shall never know any thing.

And now try the Lord Almighty, but you shall never know anything — the deadline exposed as a test the testers cannot read: to try God is to learn nothing.

14For ye cannot find the depth of the heart of man, neither can ye perceive the things that he thinketh: then how can ye search out God, that hath made all these things, and know his mind, or comprehend his purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger.

For you cannot find the depth of the heart of man, neither can you perceive the things that he thinks; then how can you search out God, who has made all these things, and know His mind, or comprehend His purpose? Nay, my brethren, provoke not the Lord our God to anger — the argument from the smaller depth to the greater: men who cannot sound a human heart have set a term to the Divine Mind.

15For if he will not help us within these five days, he hath power to defend us when he will, even every day, or to destroy us before our enemies.

For if He will not help us within these five days, He has power to defend us when He will, even every day, or to destroy us before our enemies — sovereignty restored to its owner: every day His, the fifth no more than the first.

16Do not bind the counsels of the Lord our God: for God is not as man, that he may be threatened; neither is he as the son of man, that he should be wavering.

Do not bind the counsels of the Lord our God; for God is not as man, that He may be threatened; neither is He as the son of man, that He should be wavering — the counsels of the Source declared unbindable by oath, threat, or timetable.

17Therefore let us wait for salvation of him, and call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it please him.

Therefore let us wait for salvation of Him, and call upon Him to help us, and He will hear our voice, if it please Him — waiting and calling joined: the state's part is the cry, the timing is His.

18For there arose none in our age, neither is there any now in these days neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor city among us, which worship gods made with hands, as hath been aforetime.

For there arose none in our age, neither is there any now in these days, neither tribe, nor family, nor people, nor city among us, who worship gods made with hands, as has been aforetime — the city's innocence pleaded on the very ground Achior named: no idolatry, no formed image of lesser goods worshipped among them.

19For the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and had a great fall before our enemies.

For the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and had a great fall before our enemies — history confessed: the fathers' falls traced to the fathers' images.

20But we know none other god, therefore we trust that he will not dispise us, nor any of our nation.

But we know none other god, therefore we trust that He will not despise us, nor any of our nation — trust grounded not in the city's merit but in its single allegiance.

21For if we be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and he will require the profanation thereof at our mouth.

For if we be taken so, all Judea shall lie waste, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and He will require the profanation thereof at our mouth — the stakes widened from Bethulia to the center: the city's fall would be the sanctuary's profanation, charged to the mouths that surrendered it.

22And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the country, and the desolation of our inheritance, will he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach to all them that possess us.

And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the country, and the desolation of our inheritance, will He turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wheresoever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach to all them that possess us — surrender's true price itemised: captivity with the reproach laid, justly, on the surrenderers.

23For our servitude shall not be directed to favour: but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonour.

For our servitude shall not be directed to favour; but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonour — no favour at the end of compliance: the empire's promises weighed and found to be dishonour.

24Now therefore, O brethren, let us shew an example to our brethren, because their hearts depend upon us, and the sanctuary, and the house, and the altar, rest upon us.

Now therefore, O brethren, let us show an example to our brethren, because their hearts depend upon us, and the sanctuary, and the house, and the altar — the built point of consecration — rest upon us: leadership redefined as example, and the whole weight of the center confessed to rest on a besieged hill town.

25Moreover let us give thanks to the Lord our God, which trieth us, even as he did our fathers.

Moreover let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who tries us, even as He did our fathers — thanksgiving commanded inside the trial, before the trial is understood.

26Remember what things he did to Abraham, and how he tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother.

Remember what things He did to Abraham — Faith itself, the father-mind that believes the promise — and how He tried Isaac — the joy-child of promise — and what happened to Jacob — the striving intellect — in Mesopotamia of Syria, when he kept the sheep of Laban — the fair-seeming relative-state that bargains with the soul — his mother's brother.

27For he hath not tried us in the fire, as he did them, for the examination of their hearts, neither hath he taken vengeance on us: but the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto him, to admonish them.

For He has not tried us in the fire, as He did them, for the examination of their hearts, neither has He taken vengeance on us; but the Lord does scourge them that come near unto Him, to admonish them — the siege reinterpreted from the rooftop: not abandonment but admonition, the scourging a sign of nearness.

28Then said Ozias to her, All that thou hast spoken hast thou spoken with a good heart, and there is none that may gainsay thy words.

Then said Ozias to her: All that you have spoken have you spoken with a good heart, and there is none that may gainsay your words — the governor conceding the argument whole: the hearing faculty hearing, at last, in its governor.

29For this is not the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known thy understanding, because the disposition of thine heart is good.

For this is not the first day wherein your wisdom is manifested; but from the beginning of your days all the people have known your understanding, because the disposition of your heart is good — wisdom traced to its root: not cleverness, but a heart disposed aright from the beginning.

30But the people were very thirsty, and compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break.

But the people were very thirsty, and compelled us to do unto them as we have spoken, and to bring an oath upon ourselves, which we will not break — the defence of the deadline reduced to its truth: thirst compelled it, and honour will not unswear it.

31Therefore now pray thou for us, because thou art a godly woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more.

Therefore now pray for us, because you are a godly woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall faint no more — the governors asking for prayer, and quietly prescribing its answer: rain for the cisterns, as if heaven's help must arrive in their chosen form.

32Then said Judith unto them, Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations to the children of our nation.

Then said Judith unto them: Hear me, and I will do a thing, which shall go throughout all generations to the children of our nation — the answer announced without its content: a thing, unnamed, whose report will outlive every cistern in the city.

33Ye shall stand this night in the gate, and I will go forth with my waitingwoman: and within the days that ye have promised to deliver the city to our enemies the Lord will visit Israel by mine hand.

You shall stand this night in the gate, and I will go forth with my waitingwoman; and within the days that you have promised to deliver the city to our enemies the Lord will visit Israel by my hand — the deadline taken up and turned: the same five days, but the visitation promised inside them, by a widow's hand.

34But enquire not ye of mine act: for I will not declare it unto you, till the things be finished that I do.

But enquire not of my act; for I will not declare it unto you, till the things be finished that I do — the plan sealed: the governors asked to trust what they may not examine, as they had asked God to perform what they had prescribed.

35Then said Ozias and the princes unto her, Go in peace, and the Lord God be before thee, to take vengeance on our enemies.

Then said Ozias and the princes unto her: Go in peace, and the Lord God be before you, to take vengeance on our enemies — the blessing given at the gate of the tent: peace for the going, and the LORD before the face that goes.

36So they returned from the tent, and went to their wards.

So they returned from the tent, and went to their wards — the governors descending from the rooftop to their posts, and the city, without knowing it, under new command.

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