*H And it was told Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, that the children of Israel prepared themselves to resist, and had shut up the ways of the mountains.
Ver. 1. Mountains. Gr. adds, "and had fortified every summit of a high mountain, and had placed scandals in the plains," obstructing the passage (H.) with ditches, trees, (C.) and snares of every description. H.
*H And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Ammon.
Ver. 2. Ammon. Gr. adds, "and the satraps of the maritime country," (H.) the Philistines, who had submitted like the rest.
*H And he said to them: Tell me what is this people that besetteth the mountains: or what are their cities, and of what sort, and how great: also what is their power, or what is their multitude: or who is the king over their warfare:
Ver. 3. Them. Gr. adds, "Ye sons of Chanaan tell." He was not acquainted with their origin: the title belonged only to the Phœnicians, (C.) who might also be present. H.
*H And why they above all that dwell in the east, have despised us, and have not come out to meet us, that they might receive us with peace?
Ver. 4. East. Gr. "west," which seems more accurate, unless Holofernes was on the sea-coast, (C.) or that part of the country went by this name, as it does at present. H. — He was not absolutely unacquainted with the Jews, but spoke in contempt, (v. 27. W. M.) and wished to know if they had formed a league with the Egyptians, &c. C.
*H Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said; If thou vouchsafe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy sight concerning this people, that dwelleth in the mountains, and there shall not a false word come out of my mouth.
Ver. 5. My. Gr. "the mouth of thy slave." H.
*H This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.
Ver. 6. Chaldeans. Abraham was a native of Ur. Gen. xii. C. — This tended to conciliate the favour of the general, who was of the same country. M.
* Footnote * Genesis 11 : 31
And Thare took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.*H They worshipped one God of heaven, who also commanded them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there was a famine over all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there for four hundred years were so multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered.
Ver. 9. Heaven. Gr. adds, "the God whom they had known, and they (the Chaldean idolaters) cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and dwelt there many days: (H. that is, about two years. C.) and their God commanded them to leave their abode, and to go into the land of Chanaan; and they dwelt there, and were enriched;...and when," &c. — There. Gr. "and were there till they returned; and there they became innumerable." H.
* Footnote * Genesis 12 : 1
And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.* Footnote ** Genesis 46 : 6
And all that he had in the land of Chanaan: and he came into Egypt with all his seed;*H And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and made slaves of them to labour in clay and brick, in the building of his cities, they cried to their Lord, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with divers plagues.
Ver. 10. Oppressed. Gr. "craftily inveigled them." Ex. i. 10.
*H And when the Egyptians had cast them out from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take them again, and bring them back to their service,
Ver. 11. Plague. Gr. adds, "for which there was no remedy. And the Egyptians cast them out from among them. And God dried up the Red Sea before them, and conducted them to Mount Sinai and Cades-Barne, and cast out all the inhabitants of the desert; and they dwelt in the land of the Amorrhites, and exterminated all of Hesebon, by their power. Then crossing the Jordan, they took as their inheritance all the mountainous parts, and ejected the Chanaanite, Pherezite, Jebusite, Sichem, and all the Gergesites, and dwelt therein many days. And, " v. 21. H. — The environs of Sichem belonged to the Hevites. C.
* Footnote * Exodus 12 : 33
And the Egyptians pressed the people to go forth out of the land speedily, saying: We shall all die.* Footnote * Exodus 14 : 29
But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left:*H After they came out of the Red Sea, they abode in the deserts of mount Sina, in which never man could dwell, or son of man rested.
Ver. 14. Rested. This is attested, Deut. xxxii. 10. and Jer. ii. 6. M.
*H Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.
Ver. 16. Overcame, in the days of Josue, (M.) at Jericho, &c. H.
*H And even some years ago when they had revolted from the way which God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in battles by many nations and very many of them were led away captive into a strange land.
Ver. 22. Battles. He seems to speak of the captivity of Manasses, (W.) of the ten tribes, and of the loss sustained by Achaz. 2 Par. xxviii. 5. M. — By many. Gr. "exceedingly; and they were led captive into a land which was not their own, and the temple of their God became as a pavement, and their cities were taken by the enemies. But now, returning to their God, they are come up from the places to which they had been scattered, and have possession of Jerusalem, where is their sanctuary; and they have inhabited the mountainous country, for it was a desert." H. — Our adversaries would infer from this, and similar passages, that the siege of Bethulia could not have taken place till after the captivity at Babylon; and this many Catholics allow. But the proof is not conclusive, as all this might be verified under Manasses: (C.) "the temple was trampled on," (Syr. εγεννηθη εις εδαφος ) and profaned. See C. iv. 2. and 1 Mac. iii. 51. and Luke xxi. 24. It had been pillaged by Sesac and the Assyrians, and had stood in need of great repairs under Ezechias, Josias, &c. Several of the Israelites had escaped from the hands of their oppressors, (2 Par. xxxiv. 9.) and the Jews had regained their strength after the captivity of Manasses, (C.) having retired before into their strong holds in the deserts. H.
*H But if there be no offence of this people in the sight of their God, we cannot resist them because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.
Ver. 25. Cannot. Gr. "let my lord indeed pass by, lest their Lord should cover them with a shield, for their God is for them, and we," &c.
*H And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they had a mind to kill him, saying to each other:
Ver. 26. All the. Gr. "all the people round the tent murmured; and the great men of Holofernes, and all who dwelt in the maritime country, and in Moab, threatened to cut him to pieces. For we shall not fear the children of Israel. Lo! a people without power, strength, or army in battle array! We shall then go up, and they shall be for food to all thy army, lord Holofernes. And," C. vi.
*H Who is this, that saith the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor, and his armies, men unarmed, and without force, and without skill in the art of war?
Ver. 27. Who. They speak thus through indignation, though they knew Achior well enough. W. — Their blasphemous presumption was soon punished. M.
*H That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other.
Ver. 29. Other. This foolish attempt was not peculiar to this king. The great Nabuchodonosor was infected with the same vanity, (Dan. vi. 7.) and was imitated by many of the Persian monarchs, and by Alexander. Persas non piè tantum sed etiam prudenter Reges suos inter deos colere: Majestatem enim imperii salutis esse tutelam. Curtius viii. Yet most of the Greeks could not brook such flattery, though they were not influenced by religion, but by reason, and their own haughty temper. See Justin vi. Mart. x. 62.