Taken from:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/956079/whats_missing_from_your_bible_the_book.html?cat=34
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/956079/whats_missing_from_your_bible_the_book.html?cat=34
August 22, 2008
by
Michael Segers
by
Michael Segers
Some Modern Versions of the Bible Include Judith, Some Do Not.
Most modern printings of the King James Version (or Authorized Version) of the Bible omit fourteen books that were included as the Apocrypha when the King James Version (also known as the Authorized Version) first appeared in 1611. Roman Catholics include eleven of those books in their
versions of the Bible, and other Christian groups give the Apocrypha various levels of regard, as you can read in my article on the Book of Tobit (link at end of article).
Another book of the Apocrypha, missing from most modern Protestant versions of the Bible, is the book of Judith, which tells the story of a young widow, who saves her town, Bethulia. She attracts the attention of Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrians, who are besieging her town. Judith gains his trust, but when he drinks too much and passes out, she cuts off his head. The Assyrians flee, and the siege of Bethulia is over.
The Book of Judith, like other books of the Apocrypha, is no longer found in the original Hebrew versions, only in Greek translations. Scholars say that there are phrases in the Greek that sound as if they were originally written in Hebrew, even though the Hebrew version no longer exists.
Judith is an intriguing person. Delilah, a gentile woman, led to the death of the Jewish hero Samson (Judges 16). Judith, on the other hand, is a Jewish woman (her name means Jewess) who kills the gentile hero Holofernes. Both women reveal a recurring Old Testament prejudice against women, who rely on outright deceit to accomplish their goals, even noble ones. Rachel, for example, in chapter 31 of Genesis, steals her father's household idols, then, sits on them and says that she cannot stand up (when her father is searching for them) because she is menstruating.
Most modern printings of the King James Version (or Authorized Version) of the Bible omit fourteen books that were included as the Apocrypha when the King James Version (also known as the Authorized Version) first appeared in 1611. Roman Catholics include eleven of those books in their
versions of the Bible, and other Christian groups give the Apocrypha various levels of regard, as you can read in my article on the Book of Tobit (link at end of article).
Another book of the Apocrypha, missing from most modern Protestant versions of the Bible, is the book of Judith, which tells the story of a young widow, who saves her town, Bethulia. She attracts the attention of Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrians, who are besieging her town. Judith gains his trust, but when he drinks too much and passes out, she cuts off his head. The Assyrians flee, and the siege of Bethulia is over.
The Book of Judith, like other books of the Apocrypha, is no longer found in the original Hebrew versions, only in Greek translations. Scholars say that there are phrases in the Greek that sound as if they were originally written in Hebrew, even though the Hebrew version no longer exists.
Judith is an intriguing person. Delilah, a gentile woman, led to the death of the Jewish hero Samson (Judges 16). Judith, on the other hand, is a Jewish woman (her name means Jewess) who kills the gentile hero Holofernes. Both women reveal a recurring Old Testament prejudice against women, who rely on outright deceit to accomplish their goals, even noble ones. Rachel, for example, in chapter 31 of Genesis, steals her father's household idols, then, sits on them and says that she cannot stand up (when her father is searching for them) because she is menstruating.
