Texts in Conversation
David and Judith each use the enemy's own sword to behead a fearsome military champion threatening Israel. The Greek text of 1 Samuel 17 and Judith 13 uses the same phrase for the act of decapitation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Samuel 17:51
Hebrew Bible
50 David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand. 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and after killing him, he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. They chased the Philistines to the valley and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his tent.
Date: 600–501 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Judith 13:8
Deuterocanon
6 She came to the bedpost which was at Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword from there. 7 She drew near to the bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.” 8 She struck twice upon his neck with all her might and cut off his head, 9 tumbled his body down from the bed, and took down the canopy from the posts. After a little while she went out, and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid; 10 and she put it in her bag of food. They both went out together to prayer, according to their custom. They passed through the camp, circled around that valley, and went up to the mountain of Bethulia, and came to its gates.
Date: 100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Moreover, Judith's use of Holofernes' weapon to decapitate him echoes David's use of Goliath's sword to behead him. Indeed, the same phrase occurs in the Septuagint 1 Samuel 17:51 and Judith 13:8: "he/she cut off his head" (ἀφεῖλεν τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ). Finally, the taking of Holofernes' severed head to hang on the wall of Bethulia (Judith 14:1) recalls David's act of bringing Goliath's head to Jerusalem (1 Samuel 17:54). ..."
Jeremy Corley, “Imitation of Septuagintal Narrative and Greek Historiography in the Portrait of Holofernes,” in A Pious Seductress: Studies in the Book of Judith, ed. Géza G. Xeravits, DCLS 14 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 2012), 33.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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