JUDITH

According to apocryphal legend, the Biblical Israelites were besieged in the city of Bethulia by the Assyrian general Holofernes. Judith, a young Hebrew widow of great wealth and beauty, lay aside her mourning garments and adorned herself in her richest robes and ornaments. She entered the enemy camp with her maidservant, and soon dined with Holofernes at a great banquet he held for his officers. The general expected to seduce her, but when he drank too much and fell asleep, Judith seized his sword, prayed to God to strengthen her arm, and decapitated her enemy. As Holofernes was a bestial man and not in control of his appetites, the weaker Judith was able to conquer him by wit, wile and deception.

She and her maidservant smuggled the severed head from the enemy camp and brandished it from the city walls. The Israelites were so deeply inspired that they rallied and drove the leaderless invaders from the land.