Preparing for Military Action: Judith’s Purificatory Washing in Judith 12:7

In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Judith, the eponymous heroine departs from the Assyrian camp in order to bathe and pray over three successive nights. Judith’s bath has been interpreted as a ritual bath which achieves purification. Scholars have offered various reasons for Judith’s purificatory...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Scales, Joseph (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2021
In: Vetus Testamentum
Year: 2021, Volume: 71, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 687-703
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Judit, Biblical person / War / Leadership / Prayer / Bath / Purity / Bible. Judit 12
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
HD Early Judaism
HH Archaeology
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Summary:In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Judith, the eponymous heroine departs from the Assyrian camp in order to bathe and pray over three successive nights. Judith’s bath has been interpreted as a ritual bath which achieves purification. Scholars have offered various reasons for Judith’s purificatory wash, but none fully account for all the details of this episode. This paper discusses the proposed solutions and offers a new suggestion to account for Judith’s bath; Judith bathes to prepare herself for the assassination of Holofernes.
ISSN:1568-5330
Contains:Enthalten in: Vetus Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685330-00001143