About This Text
Composed: c.250 – c.50 BCE
The Book of Judith is an apocryphal work that tells of a heroic woman who seduces and kills an enemy general, saving Israel from oppression. The book was not mentioned by any Jewish sources until the medieval period, when Judith’s character became a subject of discussion in legal works, talmudic commentaries, and liturgical poems. During this period, the story began to become associated with the holiday of Chanukah as new versions of the story emerged, some of them replacing the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar that featured in earlier versions with the Seleucid king Antiochus (the enemy of the Chanukah story). Judith has attracted more writers, artists, and composers than any other figure in the Apocrypha.