Book of Judith
The Book of Judith is part of the Apocrypha.It appears in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles. It is the story of how Judith seduces and beheads Holofernes, while as yet retaining her honour. The Israelites then slaughter the besieging army.
Apocrypha
Notes
Like many "sacred" texts, it contains passages designed to gaslight the oppressed. After propping up Judith, the namesake, as somebody saintly and beyond reproach, the book proceeds to give Judith's advice.
"17. As long as the Israelites did not sin in the sight of their God, they prospered, for their God, who hates wickedness, was with them.18 But when they abandoned the way he had prescribed for them, they were utterly destroyed by frequent wars, and finally taken as captives into foreign lands. The temple of their God was razed to the ground, and their cities were occupied by their enemies...So now, my master* and lord, if these people are inadvertently at fault, or if they are sinning against their God, and if we verify this offense of theirs, then we will be able to go up and conquer them." Judith, 5: 17-20.
In the book, a besieged Jewish people, running low on water and watching their children suffer deyhdration, suggest they should give in for "we would be better off to become their prey. Although we would be made slaves, at least we would live, and not have to see our little ones dying before our eyes, and our wives and children breathing their last."
But Judith admonishes them "testing" God, saying "For if he does not plan to come to our aid within the five days, he has it equally within his power to protect us at such time as he pleases, or to destroy us in the sight of our enemies...."saying "So while we wait for the salvation that comes from him, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our cry if it pleases him. For there has not risen among us in recent generations, nor does there exist today, any tribe, or clan, or district, or city of ours that worships gods made by hands, as happened in former days.
19 It was for such conduct that our ancestors were handed over to the sword and to pillage, and fell with great destruction before our enemies." (Judith, 8: 15-19).
Additional gaslighting in Judith 9: 2-4
Footnotes
