The Book of Judith

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: Allioli - Arndt Bibel ⭑

- Kapitel 2 -

Nabuchodonosor sends Holofernes to waste the countries of the west.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, on the twenty-second day of the first month, the word went forth from the house of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, that he would defend himself.

And he called all the native leaders, and all the commanders, and his officers of war, and he met with them in his secret council.(a)

And he said to them that his thoughts were to subjugate all the earth to his authority.(b)

And when this saying pleased them all, king Nebuchadnezzar called Holofernes, the leader of his military.

And he said to him: “Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against those in particular who showed contempt for my authority.

Your eye must not spare any kingdom, and all the fortified cities you will subjugate to me.”

Then Holofernes called the commanders and the magistrates of the army of the Assyrians. And he numbered men for the expedition, just as the king had instructed him: one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and twelve thousand archers on horseback.

And he caused his entire expeditionary force to go ahead with an innumerable multitude of camels, with whatever was needed in abundance for the armies, and with herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, which could not be numbered.

He appointed grain to be prepared from all of Syria, as he passed through it.

In fact, he took up gold and silver from the house of the king in great abundance.

And he set out, he and all the army, with the four-horse chariots, and horsemen, and archers. And they covered the face of the earth like locusts.

And when he had crossed over the borders of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of Cilicia. And he ascended to all their castles, and he prevailed over all the fortifications.(c)

Moreover, he broke open the renowned city of Melothus, and he pillaged all the sons of Tarshish, and the sons of Ishmael, who were opposite the face of the desert and to the south of the land of Cellon.

And he crossed over the Euphrates and came into Mesopotamia. And he crushed all the lofty cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, even until one passes through to the sea.

And he occupied its furthest regions, from Cilicia all the way to the coastlines of Japheth, which are towards the south.

And he carried away all the sons of Midian, and he plundered them in all their wealthy regions. And all who resisted him, he slew with the edge of the sword.(d)

And after these things, he descended to the plains of Damascus, in the days of the harvest, and he set fire to all the crops, and he caused all the trees and the vineyards to be cut down.

And the fear of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Fußnoten

(a)2:2 The term ‘majores natu’ refers to those leaders who were not of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, but who were allowed to have authority among their own people as long as they subjected themselves to him as king. The term refers to the native-born leaders.(Conte)

(b)2:3 The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist’s reign, when he will try to subjugate the whole world to his authority. His defeat of the kind of the Medes is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist’s defeat of the Christian king of the South, just prior to taking over the whole world. Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of the other regions, and they subsequent willing submission to him represents the Antichrist’s defeat of two more kings after the king of the South and then the willing submission of the other world leaders to him thereafter.(Conte)

(c)2:12 The word ‘ange’ in Latin refers to a ‘choke point,’ which, in military terms, is a place that is dangerous to pass through because it is narrow and easily defended. So, ‘Ange’ is not so much a name as a description.(Conte)

(d)2:16 The edge of the sword, or, more literally, the mouth of the sword.(Conte)

Nebukadnezar/Nabuchodonosor schickt Holofernes, um die Länder des Westens zu verwüsten

Im dreizehnten Jahre des Königs Nabuchodonosor, am zweiundzwanzigsten Tage des ersten Monats, ward im Hause Nabuchodonosors, des Königs von Assyrien, der Beschluß gefasst, dass er sich rächen wolle.

Und er berief alle Ältesten und alle Anführer und seine Krieger und hielt mit ihnen seinen geheimen Rat

und sagte, dass seine Absicht dahin gehe, jedes Land seiner Herrschaft zu unterwerfen.

Da nun dieser Ausspruch allen gefiel, rief der König Nabuchodonosor Holofernes, den Führer seines Heeres,

und sprach zu ihm: Ziehe aus gegen alle Reiche des Abendlandes und vorzüglich wider die, welche meinen Befehl verachtet haben.

Dein Auge schone seines Reiches und jede feste Stadt unterwirf mir.

Da berief Holofernes die Führer und Obersten der Heeeresmacht der Assyrier und musterte die Mannschaften zum Feldzuge, wie ihm der König geboten hatte, hundertundzwanzigtausend Krieger zu Fuß und zwölftausend Bogenschützen zu Pferd.

Seinem ganzen Heerzuge ließ er eine unzählbare Menge von Kamelen vorausgehen mit reichem Vorrat für das Heer, ebenso Herden von Rindern und Schafen, die nicht zu zählen waren.

Auch ließ er aus ganz Syrien Getreide für seinen Durchzug bereit halten.

Gold und Silber aber nahm er aus dem Hause des Königs in großer Menge mit.

So zog er aus mit dem ganzen Heere, mit Wagen und Reitern und Bogenschützen, welche gleich Heuschrecken den Erdboden bedeckten.

Nachdem er die Grenzen von Assyrien überschritten hatte, kam er an das große Gebirge Ange, das auf der linken Seite von Cilicien ist, und nahm alle ihre Schlösser ein und eroberte alle Festungen.

Auch die berühmte Stadt Melothi erstürmte er und plünderte alle Söhne von Tharsis und die Söhne Ismaels, welche gegen die Wüste zu und südlich von dem Lande Cellon waren.

Dann zog er über den Euphrat und kam nach Mesopotamien und zerstörte alle hohen Städte, welche daselbst waren, vom Flusse Mambre an bis man an das Meer kommt,

und besetzte dessen Grenzen von Cilicien bis an die Grenze von Japheth, die gegen Süden liegt.

Und er führte alle Söhne Madians gefangen hinweg und raubte alle ihre Reichtümer und tötete alle, die ihm Widerstand leisteten, mit der Schärfe des Schwertes.

Hierauf zog er in den Tagen der Ernte hinab in die Fluren von Damaskus und brannte alle Saaten nieder und ließ alle Bäume und Weinberge umhauen.

Und Furcht vor ihm befiel alle Bewohner der Erde.