Exodus 12:29

Hebrew Bible

28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 29 It happened at midnight—the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 30 Pharaoh got up in the night, along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house in which there was not someone dead.

Judith 13:1

Deuterocanon

1 When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his master's presence. They went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted so long. 2 But Judith was left alone in the tent, with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was dead drunk. 3 Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did on the other days; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. She had said the same thing to Bagoas.

 Notes and References

"... In several ways Holofernes resembles the Pharaoh at the time of the exodus, while Judith exhibits similarities to both Moses and Miriam.29 The contest between Israel's God and Holofernes is comparable to the dispute between the Lord and Pharaoh in Exodus. For instance, Pharaoh's question about Israel's God, ('Who is he?', Exodus 5:2), is loosely echoed in Holofernes' defiant question, ('Who is God if not Nebuchadnezzar?', Judith 6:2). The answer to both these questions comes in the victory songs, since Judith's song of triumph (Judith 16:1-17) echoes the Song of Moses and Miriam at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-21). When Judith 16:2 sings: 'The Lord is a God who crushes wars', it alludes to the Greek form of Exodus 15:3: 'the Lord who crushes wars'. Moreover, after a decisive blow against the foreign oppressor has taken place at night (Exodus 12:29; Judith 13:1), the discovery produces a loud cry. Just as when the Egyptians discovered the death of the firstborn, ('A great shouting happened', Exodus 12:30), so when the Assyrians discovered the death of Holofernes, ('Their shouting and cry became very great', Judith 14:19) ..."

Corley, Jeremy "Imitation of Septuagintal Narrative and Greek Historiography in the Portrait of Holofernes" in Xeravits, Géza G. (ed.) A Pious Seductress: Studies in the Book of Judith (pp. 22-54) De Gruyter, 2012

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