Texts in Conversation
Judith says that nations opposing Israel will face fire and worms in their flesh, reshaping Isaiah’s vision of a defeated army into language of final judgment. In Mark, Jesus reshapes Isaiah, like Judith, and intensifies it with eschatological language.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judith 16:17
Deuterocanon
15 For the mountains will be moved from their foundations with the waters, and the rocks will melt as wax at your presence: But you are yet merciful to those who fear you. 16 For all sacrifice is little for a sweet savor, and all the fat is very little for a whole burnt offering to you; but he who fears the Lord is great continually. 17 “Woe to the nations who rise up against my race! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment and put fire and worms in their flesh; and they will weep and feel their pain forever.” 18 Now when they came to Jerusalem, they worshiped God. When the people were purified, they offered their whole burnt offerings, their free will offerings, and their gifts. 19 Judith dedicated all Holofernes’ stuff, which the people had given her, and gave the canopy, which she had taken for herself out of his bedchamber, for a gift to the Lord.
Date: 100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Mark 9:46
New Testament
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire. 44 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 45 If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 46 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. 47 Everyone will be salted with fire. 48 Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Date: 60–75 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... There is evidence that Isaiah 66:24 played a strong influence on Jewish views of the judgement around the turn of the era. In Judith 16:17 the writer warns that the Lord will take vengeance on the nations that rise up against Israel. He will give 'fire and worms' to their flesh. In contrast to Isaiah 66:24 where the fire and the worms are agents of destruction, here they become agents of torment; the wicked shall 'weep in pain forever' (Judith 16:17). Likewise Sirach 7:17 warns that the punishment of the ungodly will be 'fire and worms'. In contrast to Judith, Sirach does not clarify whether the punishment will result in destruction or prolonged torment. The Isaiah Targum oscillates between the two views. First the translator states that the breath of the wicked "will not die and their fire shall not be quenched" suggesting perhaps ongoing suffering. However, he adds that they will suffer only until the righteous say, 'we have seen enough' (Targum Isaiah 66:24). Summing the above, Mark 9:43-50 shows the influence of two very similar biblical traditions - Jeremiah's Ge-hinnom texts and Isaiah 66:24. From the former Mark retains the name Gehenna, and from the latter some descriptive remarks. Nothing in Mark's sources suggests torment by fire or other means of apostates for shorter or longer periods of time. Both envisage the complete destruction of the wicked ..."
Kim Gary Papaioannou, “Places of Punishment in the Synoptic Gospels” (PhD diss., University of Durham, 2004), 56–57.
* 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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