Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Holofernes allows Judith for four days to attend to herself, to prayer, and to fasting, and to go out at night as often as she wishes; finally on the fourth evening Holofernes feasts with Judith, and becomes drunk with love for her.
Vulgate Text: Judith 12:1-20
1. Then he ordered her to enter where his treasures were stored, and commanded her to remain there, and appointed what should be given to her from his own table. 2. And Judith answered and said: Now I cannot eat of the things which you order to be given me, lest offense come upon me: but I will eat of what I have brought with me. 3. And Holofernes said to her: If those things which you have brought with you run out, what shall we do for you? 4. And Judith said: As your soul lives, my lord, your handmaid will not use up all these things until God accomplishes by my hand what I have planned. And his servants led her into the tent he had ordered. 5. And she asked, when she entered, that she be given the freedom to go out at night and before dawn for prayer and to entreat the Lord. 6. And he commanded his chamberlains that she might go out and come in as she pleased to worship her God, for three days: 7. and she went out at night into the valley of Bethulia, and bathed herself in the fountain of water. 8. And as she came up, she prayed to the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the liberation of His people. 9. And entering, she remained clean in the tent until she took her food in the evening. 10. And it came to pass on the fourth day that Holofernes made a supper for his servants, and said to Vagao his eunuch: Go, and persuade that Hebrew woman to consent of her own will to dwell with me. 11. For it is shameful among the Assyrians if a woman should mock a man by acting so as to pass from him untouched. 12. Then Vagao went in to Judith and said: Let the good maiden not be afraid to come in to my lord, to be honored before his face, to eat with him and drink wine in gladness. 13. And Judith answered: Who am I that I should contradict my lord? 14. Whatever is good and best before his eyes, I will do. But whatever pleases him, this will be the best thing for me all the days of my life. 15. And she arose and adorned herself with her garments, and entering, stood before his face. 16. And the heart of Holofernes was shaken: for he was burning with desire for her. 17. And Holofernes said to her: Drink now, and recline in gladness, for you have found favor before me. 18. And Judith said: I will drink, my lord, because my soul is magnified today above all my days. 19. And she took and ate and drank before him what her handmaid had prepared for her. 20. And Holofernes was merry because of her, and drank exceedingly much wine, more than he had ever drunk in his life.
Verse 2: Lest Offense Come Upon Me
2. LEST OFFENSE COME UPON ME. — In Greek 'scandal,' as if to say: Lest, by eating the foods of the Gentiles forbidden to Jews, I offend God; and thus incur punishment and scandal — that is, a stumbling-block and impediment — so that God may not accomplish through me what He has resolved to do for the common good.
Verse 5: She Asked to Go Out at Night for Prayer
5. AND SHE ASKED, WHEN SHE ENTERED, THAT SHE BE GIVEN THE FREEDOM AT NIGHT AND BEFORE DAWN (whenever she wished) TO GO OUT FOR PRAYER. — Judith asked this, first to prepare and arm herself by prayer and fasting for the heroic courage of undertaking so great a deed, which she had planned in her mind; second, to draw from God the resolution, the means, and the methods of carrying it out; and finally, so that after the deed was done, she might freely be given passage back to Bethulia, since the guards would think she was going out for prayer as was her custom.
Verse 7: She Bathed Herself
7. AND SHE BATHED HERSELF (washed her hands and feet) IN THE FOUNTAIN OF WATER. — It was the custom of the Jews before prayer to wash their hands, feet, and sometimes their whole body, so that they might approach God with a pure body and soul; for the purity of the body reminded them of purity of soul. The early Christians did the same, as I said on 1 Timothy 2:8, on the words 'lifting up pure hands,' and also so that if they had touched anything unclean and contracted a legal irregularity, they might purify themselves from it by washing. Moreover, this fountain near Bethulia still exists today and is visited by pilgrims, as Adrichomius testifies in his entry on Bethulia.
Verse 9: Until She Took Her Food in the Evening
9. UNTIL SHE TOOK HER FOOD IN THE EVENING. — Judith therefore fasted from morning until evening; in the evening she took food, and after it went out at night for prayer, spending the night in it. With these weapons she armed herself for her heroic work. Hear St. Ambrose, book On Widows: 'Why should I speak of sobriety? For temperance is a woman's virtue. When the men were drunk with wine and buried in sleep, the widow seized the sword, put forth her hand, cut off the warrior's head, and passed through the midst of the enemy lines unharmed. You see, therefore, how much drunkenness can harm women, when wines so weaken men that they are conquered by women? Be therefore, O widow, temperate — chaste first from wine, so that you may be chaste from the adulterer: he will never tempt you if wine does not tempt. For if Judith had drunk, she would have slept with the adulterer. But because she did not drink, one woman's sobriety easily both conquered and eluded the drunken armies.'
Verse 10: He Said to Vagao His Eunuch
10. HE SAID TO VAGAO HIS EUNUCH. — Vagao or Bagao is not so much a proper name, as Serarius thinks, as a common Persian word meaning 'eunuch.' Hence Pagninus in his Hebrew Names says Vagao means the same as 'interior' or 'intimate,' that is, a eunuch or chamberlain; for ghava in Chaldean means 'interior' or 'intestine'; or Vagao means the same as 'exalted' or 'elevated,' from the root gaa, that is, 'to elevate.' For eunuchs were the foremost in the court of kings — indeed their chamberlains and confidants of their secrets, and the procurers of their mistresses; for, pandering to their masters' lust, they brought beautiful women to them, as Vagao did here. That this is so, Pliny teaches in book 13, chapter 4, where he says that eunuchs among the Persians are called Bagou. And Ovid, in book 2 of the Amores, Elegy: 'Bagous, to whose care is committed the keeping of my mistress, While I discuss with you a few but fitting words, attend.' And in Esther chapter 2, verse 3, Hegai (or Vagao) was the eunuch of King Ahasuerus, superintendent of the harem. So too, according to Curtius, book 10, Alexander the Great's most wicked eunuch was Bagoas, who by false accusations caused Orsines, satrap of the Persians, to be put to death by Alexander. There was also a Bagoas who was Herod's eunuch. Moreover, Severus Sulpitius errs in assigning the history of Judith to the times of Artaxerxes Ochus, because he had a eunuch named Bagao.
Verse 11: Shameful Among the Assyrians
11. FOR IT IS SHAMEFUL AMONG THE ASSYRIANS IF A WOMAN SHOULD MOCK A MAN BY ACTING SO AS TO PASS FROM HIM UNTOUCHED. See here the most corrupt and impure morals of the Assyrians and Persians, among whom lust was so respectable that it spread through all women, so that among them it was considered shameful to leave any woman untouched. O the times! Hear Ammianus Marcellinus, book 23, on the Persians: 'Most of them, he says, were accustomed to be rather freely given to Venus, and scarcely content with a multitude of concubines, each would take many or few marriages free from the disgrace of pederasty according to his wealth. Hence among them, through various lusts, love is scattered and grows cold.' Strabo reports the same, book 15 at the end, and Cicero in his fifth oration against Verres. Hear even more foul crimes. Theodoret, Question 24 on Leviticus: 'The Persians,' he says, 'to this very day mingle not only with sisters, but also with mothers and daughters, under the law of marriage.' St. Jerome reports the same about the Medes, Indians, and Ethiopians in book 2 Against Jovinian. Hence Euripides in the Andromeda: 'Such,' he says, 'is the entire race of barbarians; Father with daughter, son with mother Mingle, sister with brother.' It is therefore no wonder that the Persians had many wives, and that Judith cast before Holofernes this bait of a beautiful marriage, by which she might catch him like a fish on her hook and kill him.
Verse 14: Whatever Pleases Him
14. BUT WHATEVER PLEASES HIM (understand: if it is lawful and not forbidden by my God), THIS WILL BE THE BEST FOR ME, — so that if he wants me as a wife, I will not refuse him as a husband, whom I know to be so great a prince that from his marriage chamber I would be elevated to a Duchess and Princess; she gives hope of marriage so that she may deceive one who loves her, and kill him as the enemy of her people (1).
18. I WILL DRINK, MY LORD, — from wine that is not yours but mine, which I brought with me from Bethulia for this very reason, lest I be polluted by the wine and food of the Gentiles.
Hence it follows: SHE ATE AND DRANK BEFORE HIM WHAT HER HANDMAID HAD PREPARED FOR HER. — Hence it appears that Judith reclined at a different table, which was near Holofernes' table, so that she ate and drank before him; for it was not fitting for her to recline with him at the table of so great a prince. Hence the Greek has: And her handmaid came and spread before Holofernes on the ground the skins which she had received from Bagoas, for her daily use, to eat, reclining upon them. So even today some peoples dine this way, and recently Muley Hassan, king of Tunis, dined sitting on the ground before Charles V. Judith therefore drank before Holofernes to remove from him all suspicion of murder and hatred, and to provoke him to drink more generously, and thus to slay him when he fell asleep from drink, and also to draw from the wine spirit and courage and strength for undertaking so difficult a deed. For she had been fasting, and from fasting was weak and languid.
AND HE DRANK EXCEEDINGLY MUCH WINE, MORE THAN HE HAD EVER DRUNK IN HIS LIFE. — In Greek, 'from the time he was born.' God's providence brought this about, so that, overcome by wine, he would not touch Judith, but she, remaining sober and chaste, might kill him. See here how closely joy borders on sorrow, and how banquets and drunkenness end in death and mourning, and 'grief seizes the extremes of joy.' Behold Holofernes, fattened with delicacies, immersed in wine, exulting in the harmony of musicians, drunk with love — soon he is beheaded by Judith, and thrust down to hell, where he may digest his debauchery in eternal thirst amid everlasting flames.
Hear St. Ambrose, book On Elijah and Fasting: 'The powerful drank wine to drunkenness, they who were eager to surrender themselves to Holofernes, the commander of the army of the king of the Assyrians; but the woman Judith did not drink, fasting all the days of her widowhood except the solemnities of feast days. Armed with these weapons she went forth, and circumvented the entire army of the Assyrians. With the vigor of sober counsel she removed the head of Holofernes, preserved her chastity, and carried off the victory. For she, girded with fasting, was keeping watch in the enemy camp: he lay buried in wine so that he could not feel the blow of the wound. And thus the fasting of one woman laid low the countless armies of the Assyrians.'
Beautifully says St. Basil, homily 14 On Drunkenness: 'Drunkenness,' he says, 'is a voluntary demon implanted in our souls through pleasure. Drunkenness is the mother of wickedness, the enemy of virtue; it renders the strong man cowardly, makes the temperate man lascivious, knows nothing of justice, and extinguishes prudence.