Judith A. Exner, nee Besenhofer; Born , At Peace ; beloved wife of the late Robert R.; cherished mother of Deborah (Daniel) Gill and Dana Exner; loving grandmother of ...
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Church of the East Old Testament of the Bible. It is excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha.
From the Hebrew name יְהוּדִית (Yehuḏiṯ) meaning "Jewish woman", feminine of יְהוּדִי (yehuḏi), ultimately referring to a person from the tribe of Judah. In the Old Testament Judith is one of the Hittite wives of Esau. This is also the name of the main character of the apocryphal Book of Judith.
Judith belonged to a people who did not follow the customs or faith of the Israelites. By marrying Esau, she became part of a choice that caused great bitterness to his parents.
Who Was Judith, First Wife of Esau? - Bible - Bíblia Sagrada Online
The oldest extant text of Judith is the preservation of 15:1–7 inscribed on a third-century A.D. potsherd. Whatever the reasons, the rabbis did not count Judith among their scriptures, and the Reformation adopted that position. The early Church, however, held this book in high honor.
The Book of Judith relates the story of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people. This was accomplished “by the hand of a female”—a constant motif (cf. 8:33; 9:9, 10; 12:4; 13:4, 14, 15; 15:10; 16:5) meant to recall the “hand” of God in the Exodus narrative (cf. Ex 15:6).
Read the second half of Robin Gallaher Branch’s study of Judith, in which she analyzes Judith’s extraordinary courage, Judith and her maid, her heritage and theology and her roles as prophetess and countrywoman.