Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Holofernes surrounds Bethulia with a siege, cuts the aqueduct, seizes the springs, and thus compels the besieged by thirst to demand surrender; but Ozias persuades them to await help for five days.
Vulgate Text: Judith 7:1-25
1. Now Holofernes on the next day commanded his armies to go up against Bethulia. 2. There were foot soldiers of warriors one hundred and twenty thousand, and horsemen twenty-two thousand, besides the preparations of those men whom captivity had taken, and who had been brought from the provinces and cities of all the young men. 3. All prepared themselves together for battle against the children of Israel, and came along the ridge of the mountain to the summit which overlooks Dothan, from the place called Belma as far as Chelmon which is opposite Esdraelon. 4. But the children of Israel, when they saw their multitude, prostrated themselves upon the ground, casting ashes upon their heads, praying with one accord that the God of Israel would show His mercy upon His people. 5. And taking up their weapons of war, they stationed themselves at the places that lead to the narrow path between the mountains, and they were guarding them all day and night. 6. Now Holofernes, as he went around, found that the spring that flowed directed their aqueduct from the south side outside the city; and he commanded their aqueduct to be cut. 7. Yet there were springs not far from the walls, from which they seemed to draw water furtively, more for refreshment than for drinking. 8. But the children of Ammon and Moab came to Holofernes, saying: The children of Israel trust not in lance or arrow; but the mountains defend them, and the hills set upon precipices fortify them. 9. Therefore, that you may overcome them without engaging in battle, set guards at the springs, so that they cannot draw water from them, and you will kill them without a sword, or at least exhausted they will surrender their city, which they think cannot be conquered because it is set on the mountains. 10. And these words pleased Holofernes and his officers, and he stationed centurions around each spring. 11. And when this guard had been maintained for twenty days, the cisterns and water supplies of all the inhabitants of Bethulia failed, so that there was not enough within the city to satisfy them even for one day, because water was given to the people daily by measure. 12. Then all the men and women, young and old, gathered to Ozias, all together with one voice, 13. and said: Let God judge between us and you, for you have done us harm by not wishing to speak peacefully with the Assyrians, and because of this God has sold us into their hands. 14. And therefore there is no one to help, when we are prostrated before their eyes in thirst and great ruin. 15. And now gather all who are in the city, that we may willingly surrender ourselves to the people of Holofernes. 16. For it is better that as captives we bless the Lord while living, than that we die and be a reproach to all flesh, when we have seen our wives and children die before our eyes. 17. We call heaven and earth to witness today, and the God of our fathers, who punishes us according to our sins, that you now surrender the city into the hand of the army of Holofernes, and let our end be brief by the edge of the sword, which is made longer by the dryness of thirst. 18. And when they had said these things, there was great weeping and wailing in the assembly by all, and for many hours with one voice they cried to God, saying: 19. We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have committed iniquity. 20. You, because You are merciful, have mercy on us, or avenge our iniquities with Your scourge, and do not hand over those who confess You to a people that does not know You, 21. that they may not say among the nations: Where is their God? 22. And when, exhausted by these cries and wearied by these tears, they had fallen silent, 23. Ozias arose, bathed in tears, and said: Be of good courage, brothers, and let us await mercy from the Lord for these five days. 24. For perhaps He will cut short His indignation, and will give glory to His name. 25. But if after five days have passed, help has not come, we will do as you have said.
Verse 2: One Hundred Twenty Thousand Foot Soldiers
2. One hundred and twenty thousand (the Greek has: '170,000 infantry'), TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND HORSEMEN. — Therefore auxiliary forces had joined, and ten thousand new horsemen; for in chapter II, verse 7, only ten thousand horsemen were reckoned. Nebuchadnezzar was sending these reinforcements, and he himself planned to follow with the full strength of his army, as the Greek text has, chapter II.
Verse 3: From the Place Called Belma
3. FROM THE PLACE CALLED BELMA AS FAR AS CHELMON. — Belma is a city at the foot of the mountain on which Bethulia is situated, which is called Abellina by Brocardus. Nearby next to Dothan is the city 'Chelmon,' or as the Greek has, Cyamon: in both of these Holofernes pitched camp, as the Greek text says, and drew up his battle line for fighting and assaulting the city.
Verse 6: The Spring That Directed the Aqueduct
6. THAT THE SPRING THAT FLOWED DIRECTED THE AQUEDUCT, etc. — that is, it conveyed water into the city through the aqueduct, and therefore Holofernes, cutting the aqueduct, diverted the water from the city. Serarius suspects that instead of 'directed' we should read 'irrigated'; but 'directed' fits this passage well enough. For a spring through a channel directs and transmits water into the city.
Verse 8: The Children of Ammon and Moab
8. THE CHILDREN OF AMMON AND MOAB CAME TO HOLOFERNES. — The Greek has: The princes of the Edomites and Moabites. For the Edomites, when attacking the Jews, pretended to be Ammonites, as I said in chapter V, verse 5. These therefore persuaded Holofernes to seize the springs, and thus destroy the Jews with thirst.
Mystically: 'Then the devil cuts the aqueduct when he causes the study of letters to be interrupted. The springs not far from the walls were the doctrines of the Philosophers, which provide some spark of knowledge and honesty, from which they seemed to draw water for refreshment rather than for drinking'; so Rabanus; likewise St. Augustine on Psalm LXXIII, and St. Gregory on chapter IV of the Song of Songs. Again the devil cuts the aqueduct when he turns us away from prayer: for through prayer, as through a channel, all the grace of God flows into us; hence when this is cut off, the devil overcomes and captures us.
Verse 11: The Cisterns and Water Supplies Failed
11. THE CISTERNS AND WATER SUPPLIES FAILED. — The Greek adds: And their children were dismayed, and the young people fainted from thirst, and fell in the streets of the city and in the passages of the gates, and there was no more strength in them.
12. Then they gathered to Ozias, — exhausted by thirst, demanding with loud voices that he surrender Bethulia to Holofernes. For nothing more dreadful befalls the besieged than thirst; for thirst torments far more acutely than hunger: hence commanders, when besieging some city, usually divert the water, so that the citizens are destroyed by thirst and thus compelled to surrender, according to the saying: 'The tongue of the nursing child clings to its palate in thirst,' Lamentations chapter IV. Well known is the story of Lysimachus king of the Macedonians, who, when suffering from lack of water and thirst in Thrace, surrendered himself with his camp to the enemy, but after drinking water, exclaimed: 'O gods! For the sake of how small a pleasure I have made myself a slave instead of a king!' Let the lustful say the same, who for a moment of pleasure make themselves slaves of the infernal Holofernes, that is, the devil, who will destroy them with thirst in hell, so that they cry out with the rich man: 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame,' Luke XVI.
Verse 18: Great Weeping and Wailing in the Assembly
18. THERE WAS GREAT WEEPING AND WAILING IN THE ASSEMBLY. — In Greek ἐν προσευχῇ, that is, in the synagogue, where there was a place of prayer.