Bible Review

The name, yhwdyt, is generally understood to be Hebrew for “Jewess” and so would be an appropriate or allegorical name for the heroine. However, certainty on this matter is dened us because Esau’s Hittite wife had the same name (Genesis 26:34), and the male equivalent of the name, Jehudi, was borne by a foreigner in Jeremiah 36:14.

A region in southern Babylonia.

The listing of seven cities here is probably the author’s way of underscoring the totality of the capitulation to Holofernes, the number seven in the Bible being a symbol of completeness.

On this point, see W. D. Davies, “My Odyssey in New Testament Interpretation,” BR 05:03.

Canonicity refers to the canon or authoritative selection of books of scripture.

Koine (koy-NAY) is the dialect of Greek that superceded the classical Greek and flourished during the Roman period.

Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1988), pp. 11–12.

B.C.E (Before the Common Era) and C. E. (Common Era) are the religiously neutral terms used by scholars, corresponding to B.C. and A.D.

Paleography (literally, old writing) is the study of the manuscripts themselves rather than the text they contain. In attempting to date manuscripts, paleographers are especially concerned with the script, i.e., the style of the letters used. We have so many papyri from Egypt that a definite progression in the style of script from one period to the next can be seen.

See Baruch Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon—The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BR 04:06.