Judith chapter 2
[This chapter is in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles] Nebuchadnezzar will destroy all other nations. General Holofernes leads the vast army.
The Book of Judith is recognized as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches
NEBUCHADNEZZAR WILL DESTROY ALL OTHER NATIONS
VERSE 1. In the eighteenth year, the twenty-second day of the first month, there was talk in the house of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, that he should be avenged on all the land, even as he spoke.
he should be avenged on all the land. That is, take “revenge on the whole world” (NAB translation).
Counselors are urging Nebuchadnezzar to wage war on the wold world. And Nebuchadnezzar is arrogant enough to do such a thing.
VERSE 2. He called together all his servants and all his great men, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and concluded the afflicting of all the land out of his own mouth.
VERSE 3. They decreed to destroy all flesh which didn’t follow the word of his mouth.
which didn’t follow the word of his mouth. Nebuchadnezzar is planning to destroy all the nations he complained about back in Judith 1:12.
His rage encompasses a lot of nations:
- Cilicia
- Damascus
- Syria
- Moab
- Ammon
- Judea
- Egypt
VERSE 4. It came to pass, when he had ended his counsel, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army, which was next after himself, and said to him,
VERSE 5. “Thus says the great king, the lord of all the earth: Behold, you shall go out from my presence, and take with you men who trust in their strength, to one hundred twenty thousand footmen and twelve thousand horses with their riders.
one hundred twenty thousand footmen. King Nebuchadnezzar gives General Holofernes 120,000 infantry.
That is a vast military force!
twelve thousand horses with their riders. King Nebuchadnezzar gives General Holofernes 12,000 cavalry.
That too is a vast military force!
VERSE 6. And you shall go out against all the west country, because they disobeyed the commandment of my mouth.
VERSE 7. You shall declare to them that they should prepare earth and water, because I will go out in my wrath against them, and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of my army, and I will give them as plunder to them.
VERSE 8. Their slain will fill their valleys and brooks, and the river will be filled with their dead until it overflows.
VERSE 9. I will lead them captives to the utmost parts of all the earth.
VERSE 10. But you shall go forth, and take all their coasts for me first. If they will yield themselves to you, then you must reserve them for me until the day of their reproof.
VERSE 11. As for those who are disobedient, your eye shall not spare; but you shall give them up to be slain and to be plundered in all your land.
VERSE 12. For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, I have spoken, and I will do this with my hand.
I will do this with my hand. Nebuchadnezzar says he will do it by his own hand.
Nebuchadnezzar does not look to the LORD God.
Nebuchadnezzar does not “hope” to do this plan by God’s power.
No, Nebuchadnezzar is inflated with his own self-importance.
VERSE 13. Moreover, you shall not transgress anything of the commandments of your lord, but you shall surely accomplish them, as I have commanded you. You shall not defer to do them.”
GENERAL HOLOFERNES LEADS THE VAST ARMY
VERSE 14. So Holofernes went out from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors, the captains, and officers of the army of Asshur.
VERSE 15. He counted chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, to one hundred twenty thousand, with twelve thousand archers on horseback.
VERSE 16. He arranged them as a great multitude is ordered for the war.
VERSE 17. He took camels and asses and mules for their baggage, an exceedingly great multitude, and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision,
VERSE 18. and great store of rations for every man, and exceedingly much gold and silver out of the king’s house.
VERSE 19. He went out, he and all his army, on their journey, to go before king Nebuchadnezzar, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, horsemen, and chosen footmen.
VERSE 20. A great company of various nations went out with them like locusts, and like the sand of the earth. For they could not be counted by reason of their multitude.
VERSE 21. And they departed out of Nineveh three days’ journey toward the plain of Bectileth, and encamped from Bectileth near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia.
VERSE 22. And he took all his army, his footmen, horsemen, and chariots, and went away from there into the hill country,
VERSE 23. and destroyed Put and Lud, and plundered all the children of Rasses and the children of Ishmael, which were along the wilderness to the south of the land of the Chellians.
VERSE 24. And he went over Euphrates, and went through Mesopotamia, and broke down all the high cities that were upon the river Arbonai, until you come to the sea.
VERSE 25. And he took possession of the borders of Cilicia, and killed all that resisted him, and came to the borders of Japheth, which were toward the south, opposite Arabia.
VERSE 26. He surrounded all the children of Midian, and set their tents on fire, and plundered their sheepfolds.
VERSE 27. He went down into the plain of Damascus in the days of wheat harvest, and set all their fields on fire, and utterly destroyed their flocks and herds, and plundered their cities, laid their plains waste, and struck all their young men with the edge of the sword.
VERSE 28. And the fear and the dread of him fell upon those who lived on the sea coast, upon those who were in Sidon and Tyre, those who lived in Sur and Ocina, and all who lived in Jemnaan. Those who lived in Azotus and Ascalon feared him exceedingly.
JUDITH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Judith fasts continually, Chronology
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