Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. However, it remains a popular and widely read work among the apocrypha of the Old Testament.
An Apocryphal book, and furthermore, a historical novel; in sixteen chapters. The book receives its title from the name of its principal character, Judith ( = "Jewess"; in the Greek transliteration, Ἰουδείθ), a name found also in Gen. xxvi. 34 (comp. the corresponding masculine proper name in Jer. xxxvi. 14, 21, 23).
While the author was likely Jewish, there is no evidence aside from its inclusion in the Septuagint that the Book of Judith was ever considered authoritative or a candidate for canonicity by any Jewish group. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible does not contain it; it is not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls or any early Rabbinic literature. Although the text does not mention Hanukkah, it became customary for a Hebrew midrashic variant of the Judith story to be read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah as the story of Hanukkah takes place during the time of the Hasmonean dynasty.
#apocrypha #judaism
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. However, it remains a popular and widely read work among the apocrypha of the Old Testament.
An Apocryphal book, and furthermore, a historical novel; in sixteen chapters. The book receives its title from the name of its principal character, Judith ( = "Jewess"; in the Greek transliteration, Ἰουδείθ), a name found also in Gen. xxvi. 34 (comp. the corresponding masculine proper name in Jer. xxxvi. 14, 21, 23).
While the author was likely Jewish, there is no evidence aside from its inclusion in the Septuagint that the Book of Judith was ever considered authoritative or a candidate for canonicity by any Jewish group. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible does not contain it; it is not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls or any early Rabbinic literature. Although the text does not mention Hanukkah, it became customary for a Hebrew midrashic variant of the Judith story to be read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah as the story of Hanukkah takes place during the time of the Hasmonean dynasty.
#apocrypha #judaism
