S. Van Den Eynde, «Crying to God Prayer and Plot in the Book of Judith», Vol. 85 (2004) 217-231
If prayers are defined as communication in which prayers receive a response from God, this implies that they have a function as regards the plot of a story. As a test case, the impact of praying on the plot as well as the characterisation in the book of Judith (containing 21 references to praying) is analysed. The specific characterisation of God through prayer affects the plot. Apart from their importance for characterisation and plot, the prayers in Judith contribute in their own way to the development of its main theme: who is truly God, Nebuchadnezzar or YHWH?
Crying to God. Prayer and Plot in the Book of Judith 219
language in the introductory formula as well, but when a prayer is
quoted, a simple introductory use of the verb levgw may suffice since
the formal address of God in the second person already indicates that
this is a prayer indeed. Whether the prayers in Jdt 16 can formally be
identified as prayers is debatable. The comparison between Jdt 16,18
(prosekuvnhsan tw/' qew/') and Jdt 6,18-19; 13,17 suggests that this
action implies prayer. Jdt 16 mainly is Judith’s song of thanksgiving.
Judith seems to direct it to the people, not to God, and summons her
people to praise God, which places the song in a human-human
context rather than in an explicit human-divine communication (Jdt
16,1-2). Yet, since the people indeed sing a song of praise, and the
second part of the song is directed to God in the second person,
addressing God directly (Jdt 16,13-16), one may also argue that this is
a prayer.
All people praying in the book of Judith belong to the people of
Israel, and their prayers are all directed to (their) God (Jdt 4,9; 5,12;
11,17; 16,18; 13,17), who is several times adressed as ‘God, the Lord’
(Jdt 4,15; 7,19; 7,29) or the ‘(Lord) God of Israel’ (Jdt 4,12; 6,21; 10,1;
12,8; 13,7).
2. Prayer and plot in Judith
As by definition “plot†indicates the sequence of events in a
narrative text (9), the mere fact that Israel cries to God is part of the
plot. Yet, as far as we are concerned, our interest is not only to note this
fact, but also to analyse in how far a prayer, which implies the idea
that God receives the prayer, effects the ensuing events.
a) The prayers of the people and their leaders in Jdt 4-8
Nebuchadnezzar wants to punish all the people of the whole earth
for not having fought with him in a previous war. Out of fear for
Jerusalem and the temple (Jdt 4,1-3), the people living in Judea decide
to resist and prepare for war. Moreover, they pray all over the country
(Jdt 4,9), as well as in Jerusalem (Jdt 4,12). The content of the prayer
in Jdt 4,12 (“not to give up their infants as prey and their wives as
booty, and the cities they had inherited to be destroyed, and the
sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the
Gentiles†RSV) betrays their expectation that this God will listen to
(9) Compare J.L. SKA, “Our Fathers have Told Usâ€. Introduction to the
Analysis of Hebrew Narratives (Subsidia Biblica 13; Rome 2000) 19.