by
Damien F. Mackey
A correspondent would
favour the great Chaldean king, Nebuchednezzar II,
as the “King Nebuchadnezzar
… ruling over the Assyrians from his capital city
of Nineveh” of the Book of Judith.
That correspondent has written:
….
As far as the Book
of Tobit is concerned I note that Shalmaneser V did not die after the siege
ended but it was he that led away the last of the Northern Tribes into
captivity.
Some of his
incidents occur during the reign of Sennacherib. That gem led me to my study of
The Book of Judith and its historicity linked to the early years of
Nebuchadnezzar.
Your thoughts on MB
[Merodach-Baladan] 1st being MB of Sargon and Sennacherib had also occurred to
me but I think I mention it just in passing. ….
What is the story
of the army of 182,000 (+) that was defeated? What are your references, please?
Mackey
replies:
….
Judith 7:2 (NSRA):
"So all their warriors marched off that day; their fighting forces
numbered one hundred seventy thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, not
counting the baggage and the foot soldiers handling it, a very great
multitude".
Even I, with my bad
mathematics, can determine that 170,000 + 12,000 = 182,000, just
3,000 short of Sennacherib's host of 185,000.
But then add
"the foot soldiers handling [the baggage]".
How often does an
Assyrian king have an army of 182,000 plus men defeated?
You reckon
Nebuchednezzar II fielded armies this big?
He certainly did
not suffer any defeats in northern Israel (near Dothan)?
He never suffered
annihilations, in fact. In my opinion, Nebuchednezzar would be the worst choice
amongst the various candidates for the king in Judith as served up by
scholars.
Dr. Stephanie
Dalley has shown how the ancients regularly confused Sennacherib and
Nebuchednezzar, Nineveh and Babylon, and has explained, in her book,
The Mystery of the Hanging Garden
of Babylon that the famous gardens were actually in Nineveh, not
Babylon. ….
To
which the correspondent replied:
….
Early on I lost
faith in ALTER EGOS and determined that in most instances the guy named was the
guy meant.
So when JUDITH says
it was Nebchadnezzar that sent Holofornes towards Judah then I trust the
scribe.
Also my trust in
prophetic numbers is zero.
The numbers I trust
are from JOSEPHUS. When he says that Ahmose drove out the Hyksos 393 years
before Setnakht drove out the invaders of Egypt then I know the dates will be
correct.
The fact that no
one can identify those invaders is an interesting fact.
I trust the totals
Josephus gains by listing the Biblical Kings. They add up correctly but the
length is wrong because of co regencies.
Africanus gives us
dynasty lengths by using the word, "altogether" When those numbers
are used the dynasties mesh. So I trust these numbers also.
The Book of Judith
dates Nebuchadnezzar's actions from two different starting dates.
One is when
Nabopolassar made him king of Assyria in 612 BC and the other point is from his
accession after Nab's death in 604 BC.
One can send one's
self silly trying to make sense of most numbers in the Bible where prophecies
are involved.
Josephus says that
the Hyksos ruled Egypt for 511 years and that Israel was in bondage for 430
years till the Temple was started, IIRC.
BOTH THOSE NUMBERS
MUST BE PADDED because Josephus just adds his internals with no recourse to
overlaps.
SO, I implore you
to be very careful of reliance on numbers unless those numbers have historic
credibility. ….
Mackey
replies:
All of
the versions of the Book of Judith have the king of Nineveh campaigning in
the east in his 12th year.
Although I am not
good at mathematics, am no accountant, I must take that as intending only the
one, not two, starting points.
This is a lead-up
to the main drama of the book, the great western campaign, whose motivation was
revenge upon the nations that had not assisted the king in his 12th year.
That second
campaign will take place only after a period of time has elapsed wherein the
king of Nineveh will manage finally to destroy the eastern king's city.
Sargon II (my
Sennacherib) is duly found to be campaigning in the east in his 12th year.
Now, in the life of
Nebuchednezzar II, we find him in his 12th year (c. 593 BC, conventional
dating) campaigning in the west - the exact opposite to the Book of Judith.
("Nebuchednezzar
II", Wikipedia)
"In
594/3 BC, the army was sent again to the west, possibly in reaction to the
elevation of Psammetichus
II to the throne of Egypt.[9]
King Zedekiah of Judah
attempted to organize opposition among the small states in the region but his
capital, Jerusalem, was taken in
587 BC (the events are described in the Bible's Books of Kings
and Book of Jeremiah).[10]”
This king never
suffered anything like a massive defeat at the hands of Israel at any time in
his reign, including within the range of the Book of Judith, after the king's
12th year.
How did he manage
to go on and take Phoenicia, and lay siege to Tyre for 13 years, and conquer
Egypt, if his army had by now been absolutely decimated?
I repeat, Nebuchednezzar II is about the least likely king of
all to have suffered a massive defeat of his army in northern Israel. ….
For
more, see also my article:
Book of Judith: confusion
of names
