Susannah

Daniel 13:1-64. 

The account of Susannah has an unusual textual history. Although we now only have it in Greek versions of Daniel, the original may have been in Hebrew, but if so it was cut from the final version of the Hebrew text, fixed perhaps in the years after the emergence of Christianity. The Septuagint (LXX) canon, ie the Greek language canon – the one New Testament writers typically draw on – determined the Catholic Old Testament canon, one rejected by the Protestants, in favour of the Hebrew canon which in the case of Daniel stops at ch 12. Daniel 13 is highly unusual in that the text that was reproduced in most manuscripts and so the popular one came from a third century figure, Theodotion, and it is longer and more vivid than the LXX text, but tells the same story. Most Bibles translate the longer version. 

Although it is set in the events of the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC, there are very good reasons for placing the writing of the Book of Daniel during the vicious persecution of Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes IV between the years 167-164 BC. It is thus a late text. It portrays characters who are true to their Jewish faith and trust in God, despite false accusations and real threats of death, and whom God vindicates. It expresses a conviction about God’s transcendence and foreknowledge and so God’s control of history, notwithstanding human freedom. In this way it encourages God’s people to keep faith, despite what is going on around them, and even to be willing to die than abandon God and his ethical and religious demands. It exhorts and inspires them to look to God for deliverance. We see all these themes in the story of Susannah, a story also designed to tell us about the youth of Daniel and of his wisdom and righteousness.

Susannah is a beautiful but very virtuous and pious Jew, married, with a family, and of high standing in society. Two Jewish elders lust after her. When they know that she is alone bathing in a garden, and thus has no witness to defend her, they demand that she sleep with them, making it clear to her that if she refuses they will have her condemned for adultery, since they will accuse her falsely of sleeping with a young man who escaped but whose sexual relations with Susannah they witnessed and interrupted. Susannah decides to accept death (the penalty for adultery) rather than sin in the eyes of the Lord by having sex with them. But she appeals to God in prayer, giving a loud shout (vv 23-24). Since they are elders in good public standing, she is duly condemned, not attempting a defence, but confidently turning to God (v 35). After her condemnation she prays more explicitly, protesting her innocence to God and putting her faith in God who knows all things before they happen, accepting death, but protesting her innocence and making clear that false evidence has been given (vv 41-43). Then the young Daniel intervenes, having first dissociated himself from the judgement of guilt. He interviews each elder, traps them and exposes their testimony as false. Susannah is set free and the elders are executed, and the people gave thanks that the life of the innocent Susannah had been spared.

The text was much commented on, not least in the early Christian centuries. In this context of persecution and in the original Jewish one of persecution, the character of Susannah shows the reader how one is to present oneself when attempts are made to force one to deny one's faith and also its moral requirements, and how to deal with false accusation and when faced with death. Not even care and concern for one’s family – Susannah was a wife and mother – permits one to deny God in any way. Susannah models trust in God and the conviction that God will vindicate his faithful, whether in this life or eternity (another theme in the book of Daniel). She thus models how to be a witness and, if the situation requires it, how to be its fullest expression, a martyr. She was thus a figure to help God’s people face persecution and be faithful in it.

Susannah, whose name means ‘lily’, is a model of sexual purity, in the married form. Since such married sexual fidelity was seen in the Old Testament as an expression of God’s covenant with his people, and their breaking it portrayed as sexual infidelity, it has been suggested that the story of Susannah was also seen as an allegory of the importance of wider religious fidelity to God, with the added warning that temptation can come from people or religions that appear upright at first (the corrupt elders). In the early Church Susannah was seen as a model of the persecuted Church. She is a very apt model for the virgin martyrs in particular, of whom there were many.

But she was also seen as a type of Jesus himself. Both were arrested in a garden. Both were falsely accused. Both were put on trial (twice). Neither of them really gave evidence in their own defence. Rather they both trusted in God, and each is recorded as praying to God for vindication. Up to 30 similarities have been noted, including verbal ones. The parallels are closest in Matthew’s Gospel and it has been suggested that Matthew actually used the story of Susannah to structure his passion account. Whether this is true or not, Susannah may well be the first woman to be explicitly recognised as a type of Christ.

This Christocentric note may well be an appropriate point on which to end a series on Old Testament women. All of the Old Testament looks forward to its fulfilment in Jesus. The grace given to all the people we have looked at came from him. In his blood their errors can be forgiven. It is the life of Jesus, supported by that of Mary, that casts full light on their significance, interpreting them most fully and truly, and in whose life that their virtues, faith, hope, love and prayers come to fullest meaning and focus.

Women of the OT: The Bride in the Song of Songs

The Song of Songs – a Hebrew idiom meaning 'the greatest song' – is one of the most intriguing books in the Old Testament. There is little scholarly consensus regarding its authorship, date, and structure. At one end, some argue its eight short chapters form a narrative unity; others claim to discern up to eighty separate sources. Certainly, the book seems fragmentary, even fitful, but that is perhaps fitting to its alluring subject: sexual love. Against many protests – owing to the book's sensuous themes and lack of mention of God – both Synagogue and Church incorporated this book into their Scriptures, on the grounds of tradition, and it even became one of the five megilloth (scrolls) read publicly at great feasts: the Song of Songs at Passover, thereby coinciding with the Christian celebration of Our Lord's sacrifice at Calvary.

The book consists in a dialogue between a male 'Lover' and a female 'Beloved', interspersed with a Chorus of the 'Daughters of Jerusalem'. The Beloved, the Bride, is identified by the Chorus as 'the girl of Shulam' (7:1), which could refer to Abishag of Shunem or indicate 'she who belongs to Solomon'. Indeed, the Lover is called 'king' (1:4, 12) and then clearly revealed as 'Solomon' (3:7, 9, 11). Interestingly, the word for Beloved, ra 'yati – variously translated as 'my darling', 'my love', or 'sweetheart' – occurs nine times in the Song but nowhere else in the Bible.

The exact identity of this woman of Shulam will remain mysterious, but that does not prevent us going deeper into the message of the Song. In a literal-historical analysis, the Song is simply about the delight of two lovers in each other's presence, including their physical union. It employs evocative metaphors to describe physical beauty, both male (5:10-16) and female (4:1-7; 6:4-7; 7:1-6): gazelles, doves, sheep, pomegranates, etc. The Bride describes herself as 'black but beautiful...as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon' (1:5), her sunburnt complexion the result of hard work in the fields (1:6). To a modern non-rural readership, these descriptions may seem exotic and unfamiliar, but the comparison of the Bride's hair to 'a flock of goats surging down Mount Gilead' would probably resonate with some modern advertisers!

So, this glorification of sex is full of earthy realism and steers a middle ground between two extremes. On the one hand, there have been cultures and communities throughout history that have denigrated sex, even to the point of declaring it evil. Of course, it was to combat this Manichaean idea that the material world (therefore, sex) is evil that St Dominic founded our Order of Preachers; and the Song is unambiguous scriptural vindication of the true Catholic position. On the other hand, ancient Israel was surrounded by fertility cults that divinised sex, with elaborate mythologies about God having a consort. The Jewish tradition firmly rejected these cultic ideas and instead praised earthly realities for what they are: very good things that God has given to us, to be enjoyed in their proper context (cf. Gen. 2-3). The goodness of sexual companionship in marriage is matched by fertility, evoked by 'mandrakes': 'I shall give you the gift of my love' (7:13-14), which could be the gift of offspring.

Nevertheless, spousal love does have a valid religious interpretation beyond the purely physical. The Bride sings that 'Love is strong as death...Many waters cannot quench Love, neither can the floods drown it' (8:6-7). The triumph of Love opens up questions about the divine power which can save us from that ultimate enemy, which is Death. Quite naturally, then, allegorical interpretations began to identify the Lover and Beloved with God and his People (for the Jews), or (for Christians) Christ and his Church or Christ and the individual soul. Following the prophetic tradition of Hosea and Malachi (Mal. 2:14), and St Paul's teaching on the Church (Eph. 5:25-32), Hippolytus, Origen and the Fathers explored this loving covenant relationship through the tender images of the Song. This tradition reached its apogee in St Bernard's sermons. Bernard emphasises that Love is the only way to God, a path that is both affective and ascetic. The 'kisses' of the Bride and Groom are compared to kisses on Christ's feet, hands and mouth, which represent the three stages of mystical union with the Divine: purgative, illuminative and unitive.

It's true that the allegorical interpretations can be excessively far-fetched and may detract from the vivid realism of the literal text. But neither should we simply wallow in this love poetry without opening our hearts to what it teaches us about God, who is the God of Love (1 Jn. 4:8). In his beautiful encyclical, God is Love, Pope Benedict XVI points out (§6) that the Song begins using a word for an insecure, 'searching' kind of love (dodim) and moves on to the love that is a discovery of the other and a gift of self (ahabà, or agape in Greek). This love is tender, it delights in the other and creates a true harmony of persons. As Benedict says, 'Love now becomes concern and care for the other. No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness [as the Bride cries, 'I am sick with love!' (5:8)]; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice.'

This beautiful communion of two self-giving persons in marriage is indeed a fitting reflection of God's love for us – and what our love for God should be. As St Paul writes, 'He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him' (1 Cor. 6:17). The Christian mystics are right to say that marital and sexual bliss, so wonderful in itself, pales in comparison to the glorious union that the redeemed enjoy with God in heaven.

'The Voice of the Beloved', from Daniel-Lesur's haunting evocation of The Song of Songs

Our Lady of Walsingham

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. Walsingham is known as 'England's Nazareth', a place of pilgrimage for almost a thousand years, ever since the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Richeldis de Faverches in the eleventh century. So, Our Lady of Walsingham carries a special significance to the Christians of our land. The National Shrine reminds us of the ancient faith we hold, which has shaped our culture and graced our people over the centuries. Walsingham remains a beautiful witness to the Annunciation at Nazareth, when God 'pitched his tent among us', taking our human flesh to himself in Jesus Christ.

Every year in May, the English Dominicans organise a pilgrimage to Walsingham. If you missed this year's pilgrimage, watch this space for the next!

Walsingham is also a place where English Christians seek unity. It is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox alike. Though the Anglican Church holds this feast on 15 October, as we celebrate this day let us continue to pray for Christian unity. Last year, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining many of their distinctive traditions.

During his visit to the UK in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said the Ordinariate 'should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all'.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

The Solemn Profession of fr Nicholas Crowe, OP.

On Sunday 16th September in the church of the Priory of the Holy Spirit, Oxford, during Mass, Brother Nicholas Crowe made solemn profession, consecrating himself to God and committing himself ‘until death’ to follow Christ in the way of life laid out by St Dominic and enshrined in our constitutions, as a friar preacher. Nicholas chose to add ‘Paul’ as a religious name, after the great apostle whose writings St Dominic carried around with him. We were joined by Nicholas’ family and many of his friends. After the church celebration, we continued to celebrate in the refectory, enjoying food and drink and especially everyone’s good company, love and conversation.

Nicholas has done a lot of work with young people, including a key role in establishing a weekly theology discussion group for young people (also including food, prayer and fraternity) and an annual theology summer school. Many of the young people he has worked with were present. It seems appropriate to let them speak for themselves of their impressions of his solemn profession.

"I was struck by the simplicity of the rite, as simple as Peter’s confession of faith in the day’s Gospel: ‘You are the Christ.’" (Daniel)

"Watching Brother Nick’s prostration, lying flat on his front, arms outstretched, before the Prior Provincial John Farrell and before Christ on the crucifix, I was struck by such a profound physical expression of humility, faith and sacrifice. As the Provincial said in his sermon, it expresses a laying down of his life. It was indeed a very solemn moment; and yet it was also a rising up, a joyful moment of commitment to the service and love of Christ, and to a wonderful community of Dominican brothers." (Theresa)

"Just as Paul was chosen by Christ to preach the Gospel to all nations, so on Sunday we witnessed a new Paul embrace the same call of Christ. All of his friends gathered in Blackfriars and joined with the saints and angels in heaven to pray for Br. Nicholas Paul that through his life as a Dominican friar he may spread the fire of God's love to our world and preach the gift of salvation. As he lay himself down before the cross and arose in the black and white of Christ's death and resurrection, the Church in Oxford was blessed with a visible witness of the faith that every Christian holds in their hearts. It is a joy to see such an ardent love for God and a consolation to know that today we have such people to pray for us and preach the Gospel." (Genevieve)

"In an age where many people find commitment difficult and love is often limited to a romantic view, Brother Nicholas's Solemn Profession was testimony to the joy and freedom of commitment, and the many ways in which love manifests itself in our lives through the community around us. In the Mass of Profession, after the vows have been declared, there are the words which are so powerful and yet so short, 'through the ministry of the Church, God has consecrated you to himself.' If anyone was in any doubt as to why someone might give up everything, it is, as John of the Cross would say, in order to receive God, and with God, everything else. The pearl of great price is certainly worth the effort and yet, as in all things it is God who works in us. What a great state of life to live in, to be totally dependent on God that He consecrates that person to himself."  (Chris)

"The Mass was marked by an atmosphere of complete serenity twinned with purposefulness. The occasion of Brother Nicholas Paul's Solemn Profession possessed a very holy and prayerful atmosphere. It will be very exciting to witness the fruits of this new beginning!" (Demelza)

"I was very taken by the words of the Provincial that Nick was ‘lying down in the pathway of Christ’, prostration being a sign of this. These words and the gesture of prostration that Nick undertook bring home very clearly that we are all called to share in both the cross of Christ and the resurrection. This is a call Nick has felt over a number of years now and sought to follow, and one to which he has now given his life more solemnly but also joyfully today. It expresses the theology and spirituality of St Paul, which is very appropriate as Nick has now taken Paul as an additional religious name. (Jo)

"It struck me as a very warm family affair, the family being the Order of Preachers. It was of course great that Nick’s natural family were there, sharing in the celebration of the gift of their son and brother to God. It felt like a mutual cementing of brotherhood and there was a distinct whiff of the kingdom heaven about it, and, of course, of the marriage of Cana afterwards! All very Dominican! I particularly liked the Provincial's comment in the homily that Nick's brothers were the means of his crucifixion as well as his resurrection: a realistic and honest observation. I guess that is the whole point of living in community." (Daniel)

"Catching a brief glimpse of Brother Nick at the festivities afterwards, he said as he was being whisked away again, 'It’s so wonderful to be in a room with so many people that you love'. This felt completely as it should be, for it was a solemn moment, and one well worth celebrating." (Theresa)

Women of the OT: Queen Esther

Queen Esther by Edwin Long in 1878

When we talk about Esther in the Book of Esther, we can’t ignore many other characters in the book as they seem to play roles almost as  important as hers. The hero of the Book of Esther is a Jewish woman who lived in Susa and became queen when she was chosen to be the wife of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) of Media and Persia. During a banquet of six months, when the Queen Vashti refused to appear into the presence of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) wearing the royal crown, the king, advised by his ‘wise men’ in the council, decided to depose her and to choose another queen, a much more beautiful woman, a virgin young woman! Esther was chosen.

In the beginning, the personality of Esther does not count that much; her uncle and adoptive father Mordecai is the one who is mentioned as a prominent servant at the king’s court. When he discovered a plot of two eunuchs to kill the king, he informed him and he was rewarded. Later Esther was chosen among other beautiful virgins – as she was beautifully formed and lovely to behold (Esther 2:7) – to replace Vashti who had disobeyed to the king’s orders. The king also raised Haman the Agagite above all the other fellow officials. Later, Haman and Mordecai did not get along and a serious conflict arose between them.

The Book of Esther presents two causes of the conflict between Mordecai and Haman: in Chapter A:17 (Prologue to the Book of Esther) we read that Haman wanted to harm Mordecai because of the two eunuchs the latter had accused before the king and the beginning of chapter 3 of the same book informs us that it was due to the fact that Mordecai refused to kneel and bow down to Haman. Haman decided to exterminate the Jews. Esther, helped by her uncle, manages to inform the king of Haman's wicked plans, and Haman and those who had joined him in his wicked plans are the ones to be exterminated. Nowadays, a holiday called Purim commemorates that event and it has very ‘happy’ celebrations, including sharing food, dressing up as for a carnival and… burning the images of Haman! Actually, the aim of the whole book seems to be the explanation of the origins of that feast which might in fact have more pagan origins than Jewish ones.

Queen Esther and Mordecai by Lilian Broca.

An important point is to be raised: the King who ordered the execution of Haman could not completely reverse the first decree to exterminate the Jews: he just gave them his support by a parallel decree, ‘drafted by Mordecai’, which allowed them to defend themselves because “whatever [was] written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring [could not] be revoked.” (Esther 8:8). In the end, the role of Esther, helped by the God of her community, seems to have been to bring the king and his governor to her side, the Jewish people.

Another side of Esther’s personality is that she represents people who, despite being far from their homelands – refugees, captives and others – manage to overcome their condition and become part of the host society and sometimes enter its leadership. Esther also has inspired the Jewish community which has been threatened throughout centuries in many places like Europe in the Middle Ages and during the Second World War and in today’s Middle East. Many are Jews who saw Esther story as a sign that God is always on their side in their conflicts against other nations.

In the same way that I strongly believe that Scripture tells us what is good and advisable to be done, it also presents examples of actions and reactions that might not be pleasing in the eyes of God. If it is written that the Jewish community in the kingdom of Media and Persia took revenge by killing those who wished to wipe them from the surface of the earth – or probably of Persia – it gives us at the same time an occasion to consider doing better than them. That is why we could not read the story of Esther and apply it to our lives leaving out the rest of the Holy Scriptures. In these days, as both nations, Israel and Iran (which was part and centre of the Persian empire), tend to settle on unsympathetic relations and belligerent moods, the story of Esther might not encourage in the resolution of the conflict. The Book of Esther thus reminds us that we should pray so that it does not end in blood as it is described in Esther's story.

The role played by Esther seems to be that she tried to always seduce the king by her unbelievable beauty any time she appear before him. Seduction appears to be her strength throughout the whole story. Her uncle Mordecai knew about that advantage and he encouraged her to appear before the king. However, she is also portrayed as a prayerful and courageous woman, who took the risk, first of all of appearing before the king without permission, and of revealing her race to the king, knowing that she could be killed. Carey A. Moore, in his contribution to the Anchor Bible series, wrote a book with the title Esther. In his comments, he wrote that “[h]aving carefully prepared herself spiritually (1v 16) and physically (v 1) for her ordeal, Esther now stood radiant, but nonetheless unsummoned, in the inner court before the king. The magic of her beauty, which had captivated the king from the very beginning (v 17), apparently saved her, although according to Addition D 8 God was responsible.” (1971:57). Esther’s beauty tells us that, God is the creator of beauty and beauty is a good thing. This tells us God endows with various and different gifts. But those do not suffice without God's help and we always need to turn to God in order to be able to use fruitfully those gifts.

Women of the OT: Queen Vashti

Found at the beginning of the Book of Esther, the story of Queen Vashti has largely been overshadowed by the more prominent queen after whom the book is named. Many would see her as a figure whose purpose is to ‘pave the way’ for Esther but the manner in which she does this has caused no little controversy among commentators. Vashti is a heroine to some and a disobedient villain to others.

Vashti is the queen of the all powerful King of Media and Persia, Ahasuerus, and we meet her at the close of a great and opulent festival which lasts for six months. The festival allowed the King to show, “the riches of his royal glory and the splendour and pomp of his majesty”, (Esther 1:4) and was for the enjoyment of his princes, nobles, governors and army chiefs and their staffs. The festival ends with a final banquet lasting seven days; “royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.” (Esther 1:7) No ‘austerity measures’ there. In addition, Queen Vashti also held a “banquet for the women of the palace.” (Esther 1:9) On the last day the king sent for Vashti whilst he was ‘merry with wine’, requesting that she appear before the court, “with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to behold.” (Esther 1:11) Vashti refused the king’s command and the king was, “enraged and his anger burned within him.” (Esther 1:12)

We are not explicitly given Vashti’s reasons for refusing the king’s request and opinion is divided on both her reasoning and whether she acted fittingly as queen. Of course, she could have been simply trying the patience of the king, testing his authority; on the other hand she could have considered his request to have been vulgar, distasteful and demeaning. There is the question then as to whether her refusal was fitting even if her stance was fortified by moral principle. Should the duty of obedience to the king go before principled moral action? We can see many parallels here to situations that may arise in our own lives and opinion will always be divided.

The king, in his anger and aided by his officials, determines that Vashti shall be replaced by another; not least for fear that her behaviour will cause other women to revolt against their husbands and masters. Letters were sent to every province, “that every man be lord in his own house.” (Esther 1:22) It is probably fair to say that Vashti was not surprised by this outcome and that she placed her own principles of decency and morality above that of obedience to husband and king. We read at the beginning of chapter two that the king, “remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.” (Esther 2:1) One may surmise that after his anger abated and his decision had been decreed he mused on this episode with the utmost seriousness. He does not exactly declare his culpability in the matter, and he could not undo what had been done, but we certainly find no mention of any similar episode with his next queen Esther. In fact far from that we read that he treats her seriously and with kindness and concern; indeed, he offers to grant her ‘half his kingdom’.

Women of the Old Testament: Judith

The book of Judith is a carefully crafted work that combines a good story with a powerful theological punch. The opening chapters set the scene: King Nebuchadnezzar of Nineveh and Assyria determines to punish the vassal states on his western border after they fail to send soldiers to support him in his war against King Arphaxad. He orders his General Holofernes to take his huge army and go and plunder the cities of Syria, Moab, Ammon, Judea, and Egypt, expunging the local religions as he goes so that all might worship Nebuchadnezzar as a god. Holofernes obeys and sweeps all before him until he reaches the borders of Judah. Here, to his surprise, he finds that the House of Israel has mobilized for war. The Jews, we are told, had only recently returned from exile and were determined that the temple of God should not be desecrated again. They fortified the hill villages and the narrow passes through which the invaders must pass, and then by prayer and fasting implored God to come to their aid. 

Before commencing his attack, Holofernes decides to seek the advice of Israel’s neighbours, all of whom have already surrendered to him. Achior the Ammonite briefly outlines the history of Israel, the people of God, and concludes that if Israel has been faithful to God’s commands then any attempt to conquer that land will fail. God, Achior claims, will protect his people. If, however, Israel has sinned and followed false gods, then God will allow them to fall into the hands of their enemies. Holofernes himself will to some extent become an instrument of God’s vengeance. The dramatic tension is thus established: has Israel been faithful? Will God protect or condemn his people? (Judith 5: 20-21). 

Holofernes has no time for Achior’s advice and lays siege to Bethulia, a city on top of a mountain that if captured would allow easy access to Jerusalem, the Israelite capital and the location of the temple. After 34 days Bethulia began to run out of water and the desperate populace begged Uzziah, who ruled the city, to surrender lest they be forced to watch their own children die of thirst. Thus far Uzziah’s decision making has been impeccable. He has acted prudently by human standards by fortifying the strategically important hill country, and he has commended both himself and his people to God in his prayer. Yet even Uzziah’s faith is running low: Give God five more days, he tells the people, and if he has not acted in this time then we will surrender (Judith 7: 30-31). Uzziah, it seems, is not prepared to trust in God to the bitter end. When the suffering becomes too great he will take his chances with Holofernes. 

At this point we are introduced to the very beautiful and virtuous widow Judith. Before continuing his narrative, the author takes great care to inform his reader that Judith is both prudent of heart and discerning in judgement. This is significant as it highlights the contrast between the worldly wisdom of Uzziah which is willing to contemplate surrender, to the faith filled wisdom of Judith who will trust until death. Judith rebukes Uzziah and the elders for caving in to the peoples weakness by setting God a deadline. This, she claims, is to put God to the test. The truth of the matter, according to Judith, is that God is putting Israel to the test so that the nation’s faithfulness might be made manifest. In other words, just as Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, Israel is being asked to sacrifice her very existence. Judith is confident that Israel will be redeemed just as, ultimately, Isaac was redeemed and a ram died in his place. The wisdom, the prudence, of Judith is to view the sufferings of this life against the horizon of God’s fidelity and his promises. 

Uzziah accepts the rebuke, but points out that he has already given the people his promise and so God must act soon. Judith therefore comes up with a plan. She makes herself beautiful (the vulgate suggests that because her motives were pure, God even added to her beauty), left the city with Uzziah’s blessing and made her way to the enemy camp. After persuading the amorous Holofernes that she was a defector and gaining the General’s trust, she eventually finds herself alone in his tent while the great man lay on his bed ‘overcome’ with wine. With two blows from Holofernes’ own sword, she cut off his head and escaped with her maid back to the Israelite city. The next day the Israelite army came out of the city to attack and the Assyrian’s discovered that their leader was dead. In panic the Assyrians fled, pursued by the Israelites who plundered their camp.  After this there was peace in Israel until Judith's death many years later.

Beneath the pacy narrative of the book of Judith there is, then, a subtle reflection on the fidelity of God to his promises and the role that trials and sufferings play in both purifying and manifesting our faith. There is also a reflection on the nature of true wisdom and this, perhaps, is the key to unlocking the somewhat unusual conclusion to this work. The Old Testament typically associates an abundance of offspring as a blessing from God, indeed, to be a childless is usually presented as something of a curse. Yet the wise and beautiful Judith seems to be childless and, despite having many potential suitors, she chooses not to remarry. Instead, as an old woman, she set her maid free and distributes her wealth to her kinsman and her dead husband’s kinsman. Judith, it seems, died with nothing but her hope and trust in God. We seem to have in Judith, then, an anticipation of the celibate widows of early Christianity who devoted themselves to prayer and good works. These widows of the early Church were themselves an embryonic expression of what would become known as the religious life, that is, the life of monks, nuns, friars, sisters etc, the life of poverty, chastity and obedience. The author of the book of Judith may then be making a similar point to St. Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians (1:23). Total dedication and fidelity to God may look like foolishness by worldly standards, but viewed against an eternal horizon, it is the only rational way to live.

Women of the OT: Sarah, the Daughter of Raguel

The Book of Tobit is not one of the best known books of the Bible, not least, I suppose, because it is not found in the Hebrew canon and therefore not recognised as Scripture by Protestants. Thus, not so many people, perhaps, have heard of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, as of some of the other women we have looked at in our series so far.

In fact, though, Sarah plays a central role in the story related in the book, which relates something of God’s providence, as well as helping us think about the question of suffering, a little like the book of Job.

Sarah is Raguel’s only child, and has been married seven times, but on each occasion her husband died on their very wedding day. The distress this obviously causes her is only made worse by the abuse she suffers from her fathers’ maids, who accuse her of killing them all. This is how she is first presented to us in the book, intending to kill herself because she can’t bear it any more (Tob 3: 7-10).

Instead, though, she decides to pray to God: she stills sees no way out of her situation other than death, which is what she asks the Lord for, but for her father’s sake she at least doesn’t take her own life.

This prayer of Sarah’s in fact takes place at the same time as the prayer of Tobit, who is also in great suffering and also asks for his life to be ended: instead, these two seemingly unrelated situations both end up being solved when Tobit’s son Tobias, seeking to restore his family’s fortunes by reclaiming some of his father’s money, ends up marrying Sarah (and surviving), as well as finding the way to heal the blindness with which his father has been afflicted.

Sarah’s terrible experience of the loss of seven husbands is not, and cannot be fully explained – though it’s attribution to the demon Asmodeus affirms that it really is an example of evil in the world, and doesn’t merely seem to be bad. On the other hand, the joint solution of Sarah’s and Tobit’s problems gives us a glimpse of one tiny aspect of the workings of God’s Providence, showing how he can draw good out of seemingly terrible situations. Sarah’s prayer in her distress is not exactly the height of piety – it’s near desperation, and concern for her father, rather than high religious sentiment that brings her to turn to the Lord – but even so, that desperate cry for help finds an answer she could hardly have dreamt of, and reminds us too of the value of prayer, however imperfect it might seem.

The Queen of Sheba

1 Kings 10:1-13.

The visit of the Queen of Sheba from afar to King Solomon to hear his wisdom has been made very well known by the use that Jesus made of it (Mt 12:42 & Lk 11:31). Sheba is mentioned rarely in the Bible, indicating it was on the extreme age of the area that with which the Jews had contact.

The original journey and meeting of the two leaders was, it seems, made for pragmatic earthly reasons – but the Oriental and Jewish understanding of wisdom covers, and is probably rooted, in such pragmatic good sense. It was a meeting of two leaders and their retinues to come to a trade agreement. We have just been told that Solomon, in whose reign Israel reached its maximum size, controlled the land at the head of the Red Sea (1 Kings 9:26-28). He equipped a fleet there and had a lot of influence on trade routes that passed through or near his expanded territory. The exact location of Sheba is disputed but it is most probably in Arabia. It presumably made use of the Red Sea and other trading routes that Solomon controlled. It was beholden on other states and traders to make trading arrangements with him for the good of their own exports and wider economies. Such meetings involved impressing each other with the quality of one’s court, and exchanging gifts, all of which happens in 1 Kings 10:1-13, but a deal also had to be struck. Part of this involved asking policy questions, listening to an assessment of political and economic issues: raising such issues would certainly be included in the ‘difficult questions’ and other ‘things on her mind’ in our text. She, and her officials, may also have asked ‘obscure riddles’ as this was part of Oriental diplomacy in this period. A king was a judge and expected to be wise, and in many cultures was seen as an instrument of divine teaching, even perhaps of divine revelation. As well as testing his political, economic and practical wisdom, these more obscure puzzles gave further indication of a king’s intelligence and wisdom. The Queen was impressed on all fronts - he literally took her breath away - and made a deal with Solomon. It appears that he got huge payments (as the more powerful monarch - v 10) but she got what she wanted in trade terms too (v 13). The passage and this principal reading of it make good sense of its location amidst other passages about the trade expansion and riches of Solomon.

The story tells us other things too. It is interesting that a woman ruled a kingdom, something unusual in that period, though not unheard of in parts of Arabia. She was not a Jew. Her comments to Solomon show her to be remarkably familiar, for a foreigner, with aspects of the Jewish religious view and its view of the purpose of kingship (v 9). She notes both that is a result of Yahweh’s favour and everlasting love that Solomon reigns and importantly she stresses that he has been made king to minister justice and righteousness. These are the key principles of the covenant and of his role within it especially in the Deuteronomistic understanding of it. Prophets often insisted upon them and kings in general neglected them.

Her mention of them is impressive and perhaps ironic, given the narrative development. The very next chapter tells of the fall of Solomon. He is enticed by the religion of foreign women. It is also clear that he exploited his people to make his court as impressive as it was. One is left wondering if the Queen of Sheba sensed the dangers and was giving him a hint, put in a diplomatically wise and subtle way, to be careful. Certainly she did him no harm, unlike these other women, and may have had a truer grasp of the heart of divine wisdom than Solomon, at least as he deteriorated in his later years. All this makes her an impressive figure, one to be commended, and not just for going to such efforts to listen to wisdom.

Jesus himself commends her: the people of his own day are more interested in seeing signs than hearing wisdom, a fact made more shocking by the superiority of the wisdom of Jesus over that of Solomon. Not only does the Queen of Sheba put them to shame: Jesus says she is competent to judge them. High praise indeed and perhaps indicative that she did see the flaws in the attitudes and policies of Solomon. At any rate she not only listened to and recognised wisdom: she had wisdom.