[LITERATURE.—Fritzsche, _Die Bücher Tobiä und Judith erklärt_, in “Exegetisches Handbuch zu den Apokryphen” (1853); Ball, in Wace, I, pp. 241-360; Schürer, II, iii. pp. 32-37, German ed., III, pp. 230-237; Löhr, in Kautzsch, I pp. 147-164; Gaster, in the “Proceedings of the Soc. of Biblical Archæology” for 1894, pp. 156-163; Scholz, _Kommentar über das Buch Judith und über Bel und Drache_ (1896); Wünsche, _Aus Israel’s Lehrhallen_, II, pp. 164-185 (1908); Cowley, in Charles, I, pp. 242-267.] I. CONTENTS AND CHARACTER OF THE BOOK The book purports to tell of events which took place in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, “who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh.” It tells of how this king in the twelfth year of his reign gathered together many nations to fight with him against the Medes; the collection of this host seems to have taken five years, for it was not until the seventeenth year of his reign that Nebuchadnezzar attacked and conquered Arphaxad, king of the Medes. Now among the peoples whom Nebuchadnezzar had summoned to join him in this war all those of the west had refused to respond, among them being those “that were in Carmel and Gilead, in the higher Galilee and the great plain of Esdraelon, all that were in Samaria and the cities thereof, and beyond Jordan unto Jerusalem” (i. 9); these and many others, therefore, Nebuchadnezzar determined to punish now that he had successfully dealt with the Medes. So he commands Holofernes, the chief captain of his host, to go with an army of 132,000, and take vengeance on these disobedient lands of the west. Then follows the account of Holofernes’ victorious progress until he reaches the plain of Esdraelon; he pitches his camp between Geba and Scythopolis, and rests there for a month in order to “gather together all the baggage of his host” (ii. 21-iii. 10). The Jews are now filled with anxiety, and speedily set about taking measures of defence; above all, they fortify the villages on the mountain-tops. Joakim, the high-priest, takes the lead and commands the people of Bethulia to seize the ascents of the hill-country overlooking the plain of Esdraelon, “because by them was the entrance into Judæa, and it was easy to stop them from approaching, inasmuch as the approach was narrow, with space for two men at the most” (iv. 1-8). The people then give themselves to fasting and prayers, calling upon God to help them in this hour of danger (iv. 9-15). Holofernes, on hearing of the preparations made to resist his advance, is greatly incensed. Then Achior, the leader of the Ammonites who had joined the Assyrian army, warns Holofernes, by pointing to the past history of the Jews, that their God invariably helped these people so long as they remained faithful to Him; so that “if there is no lawlessness in their nation,” Achior concludes, “let my lord now pass by, lest their Lord defend them, and their God be with them, and we shall