Judith 8:32
32 Then Judith said to them, "Listen to me. I am about to do something that will go down through all generations of our descendants. 33 Stand at the town gate tonight so that I may go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the town to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand. 34 Only, do not try to find out what I am doing; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do." 35 Uzziah and the rulers said to her, "Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you, to take vengeance on our enemies."
1 Clement 55:4
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians1 But, to bring forward examples of Gentiles also; many kings and rulers, when some season of pestilence pressed upon them, being taught by oracles have delivered themselves over to death, that they might rescue their fellow citizens through their own blood. Many have retired from their own cities, that they might have no more seditions. 2 We know that many among ourselves have delivered themselves to bondage, that they might ransom others. Many have sold themselves to slavery, and receiving the price paid for themselves have fed others. 3 Many women being strengthened through the grace of God have performed many manly deeds. 4 The blessed Judith, when the city was beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be suffered to go forth into the camp of the aliens. 5 So she exposed herself to peril and went forth for love of her country and of her people which were beleaguered; and the Lord delivered Holophernes into the hand of a woman. 6 To no less peril did Esther also, who was perfect in faith, exposed herself, that she might deliver the twelve tribes of Israel, when they were on the point to perish. For through her fasting and her humiliation she entreated the all seeing Master, the God of the ages; and He, seeing the humility of her soul, delivered the people for whose sake she encountered the peril.
Notes and References
"... In 1 Clement, Judith’s story appears in truncated form (and without her maid) in what has been delineated as chapter 55. The author claims to be bringing in examples from “the Gentiles,” but then proceeds to talk about rulers who have received oracles to accept death during the time of plague to save others, those in the church community who have placed themselves into slavery and prison to ransom others, and Judith and Esther. From the order, it is not clear whether the community considers itself part of the Gentiles or somewhere between the Gentiles and (presumably) Jewish Judith and Esther, and the other examples of the letter certainly come from both Jewish and non-Jewish contexts ... 1 Clement 55 emphasizes Judith’s success as a woman with typically masculine courage, a description that counteracts chapter 6’s apology that women martyrs complete their race of faith in a manner equal to the Apostles Peter and Paul despite being weak in body (but not mind) ... the problem remains that the Judith of 1 Clement must “seek permission” from the town’s elders before going out and cutting for herself the head of Holofernes. This, of course, could have the effect of amplifying the inscription of a social hierarchy, given that the author might be supporting the literal “elders” as presbyters over against a faction of perhaps younger upstart – Judith here is the one for the job simply because she is the one capable of walking over there; other leaders, both male and female, might be staying home ..."
Peters, Janelle Judith and the Elders of 1 Clement (pp. 60-68) Open Theology, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2021