volume 15, issue 1, 2023, pages 37-50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsBAQN3910
Published online: 2023-06-01
Published in print: 2023-06-30

Abstract: This paper interprets Judith’s two blows in Jdt 13:8 in the thematic framework of leadership. The study claims that Judith’s deed intratextually corresponds with the plan of the female protagonist approved by God. The two blows were dedicated to the two antagonists in the story and being in accord with the two projected wounds meant for the two categories of enemy (9:10.13). On the intertextual level, Judith’s two blows allude to Moses’ two strikes (Num 20:11). The author’s aim was to show Judith as the correction of the failed image of a leader. In contrast to Moses’ behaviour, Judith’s act does not disqualify her but prove her as a leader loyal to God.