The Sacred Scriptures:
THE BOOK OF JUDITH
Chapter One

St. Pachomius Library Translation of the Septuagint

1. In the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineve, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane, COMMENTARY
2. And built in Ecbatane a wall round about of stones hewn three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits: COMMENTARY
3. And set the towers thereof upon the gates of it an hundred cubits [high], and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits: COMMENTARY
4. And he made the gates thereof, [even] gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty forces, and for the setting in array of his footmen: COMMENTARY
5. And king Nabuchodonosor made war upon king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is [the plain] in the borders of Rhagau. COMMENTARY
6. And there came unto him all they that dwelt in the hill country, and all that dwelt by Euphrates, and Tigris and Hydaspes, and the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymæans, and very many nations of the sons of Cheleud, assembled themselves into battle-lines. COMMENTARY
7. Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and the Lebanon, and Antilebanon, and to all that dwelt facing the sea coast, COMMENTARY
8. And to those among the nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the inland parts of Galilee, and the great plain of Esdrelon, COMMENTARY
9. And to all that were in Samaria and the cities thereof, and beyond Jordan unto Jerusalem, and Betane, and Chellus, and Kades, and the river of Egypt, and Taphnas, and Ramesse, and all the land of Gesem, COMMENTARY
10. Until ye come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt, until ye come to the borders of Ethiopia. COMMENTARY
11. But all the inhabitants of the land made light of the word of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, neither went they with him to the war; for they were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from before their face without effect, and with disgrace. COMMENTARY
12. And [therefore] Nabuchodonosor was very angry with all this country, and sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all the borders of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria, and that he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and all Judæa, and all that were in Egypt, till ye come to the borders of the two seas. COMMENTARY
13. Then he marched in battle array with his power against king Arphaxad in the seventeenth year, and he prevailed in his battle: for he overthrew all the power of Arphaxad, and all his cavalry, and all his chariots, COMMENTARY
14. And became lord of his cities, and came unto Ecbatane, and took the towers, and spoiled the streets thereof, and turned the adornment thereof into reproach. COMMENTARY
15. He took also Arphaxad in the mountains of Rhagau, and smote him through with his darts, and destroyed him utterly that day. COMMENTARY
16. So he returned afterward [to Nineve], both he and all his company of sundry nations being a very great multitude of men of war, and there he took his ease, and banqueted, both he and his forces, an hundred and twenty days. COMMENTARY

• v. 1, "Ecbatane": q. v. For some reason, the text consistently makes the city's name a masculine plural: Ekbatanoi rather than Ekbatana.
• v. 2, "built in Ecbatane": According to Polybius [Hist. X, xxvii, 5], Ecbatana in fact had no city walls, but the walls of the castle at the centre of town were among the most beautiful in the world. Herodotus [Hist. I, 98] describes these walls, concentric like the canals of Atlantis, and ascribes to them immense size and various colours; the description in Polybius is more moderate but is in broad agreement. Herodotus claims the castle was built around 700 BC by Deioces, founder of the city (although the accuracy of his decidedly folkloric account of this personage is questionable).
• v. 2, "cubits": Taking a cubit as 15-20 inches (40-50 cm), the walls are at least 100 feet or 30 m high, about triple the height of Babylon's Ishtar Gate. The breadth of the wall (fifty cubits) is the same as the breadth of Noah's Ark [Gen. 6:15] and of the Temple courtyard mentioned in Ezek. 42:2.
• v. 5, "made war": Ecbatana was attacked by Cyrus the Great around 550 BC [Chronicle of Nabonidus] when he conquered the Medes and united them to Persia. It was attacked again by Darius I when it became the centre of a Median nationalist revolt. There is no record of its being attacked by the Assyrians or by Nebuchadnezzar.
• v. 11, "ambassadors": Gk. angeloi.
• v. 13, "power": The word used is dynamis, which we have usually translated "forces" in a military context.
• v. 14, "adornment": Gk. kosmos.