Is Judith 1:1 historically incorrect and does it mean that it is not scripture?
Upvote:1
The text
In the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane (Judith 1:1, KJV)
--
The problem
Nineveh (sometimes spelled Nineve) was destroyed in 612 BC, and the Assyrian Empire (of which Nineveh had been the capital) was broken apart in 605 BC (source). Nebuchadnezzar the Great reigned from 605 BC to 562 BC, so it is highly unlikely that he would have been "reigning in Nineveh" in his 12th year.
--
Inerrancy
For those who accept the doctrine of scriptural inerrancy, there are two options:
- Reconcile the apparent error in Judith
- Reject Judith as scripture
For those who do not accept the doctrine of scriptural inerrancy, the above options are available, as well as others:
- Accept that Judith is doctrinally true but presented in a fictional historical setting
- Accept that Judith is doctrinally inspired but makes some minor historical errors
--
A survey of viewpoints
Catholic
Two Catholic viewpoints on the matter are presented here; the following are a few of the key arguments:
(a) According to what we may term "conservative" criticism, these apparent difficulties can every one be harmonized with the view that the book is perfectly historical and deals with facts which actually took place. Thus, the geographical errors may be ascribed to the translators of the original text or to copyists living long after the book was composed, and consequently ignorant of the details referred to.
(b) Some few Catholic writers...deem the errors of translators and of scribes to be no sufficient explanation in this matter. These few Catholics, together with the non-Catholics that do not care to throw the book over entirely into the realm of fiction, assure us that the Book of Judith has a solid historical foundation. Judith is no mythical personage, she and her heroic deed lived in the memory of the people; but the difficulties...show that the story as we now have it was committed to writing at a period long subsequent to the facts.
Protestant
Protestants do not accept the Book of Judith as inspired scripture on other grounds, so the question is moot from a Protestant standpoint.
Latter-day Saint
The Latter-day Saint viewpoint is outlined in Doctrine & Covenants 91:
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly;
2 There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men.
...
5 And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom;
6 And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited.
More post
- 📝 According to Catholic teaching, was Joseph and Mary's marriage a true marriage?
- 📝 According to Molinism, what is the meaning of a counterfactual of freedom?
- 📝 Are Christians called to forgive Unbelievers?
- 📝 What are the major views on Adam's motivation to sin given that he was not deceived?
- 📝 If God is perfect, do we live in the best of all possible worlds?
- 📝 What are the basis and larger connotations of the term “untimely born“ as St. Paul refers to himself in 1 Corinthians?
- 📝 According to mainline Protestant theology, why is Pentecost on Sunday and why did it lose its significance?
- 📝 Trying to understand the footnotes in the documents of the Vatican II council
- 📝 Is there a recognised soteriology that combines selective election for some and general election for everyone else?
- 📝 What makes a council ecumenical? [Catholic proof from authority]
- 📝 Did Jesus or 'an expert in the law' first share the greatest commandments?
- 📝 Why does 1 John say Christians are unable to sin?
- 📝 Do reformed theologians call "God the Father" Jehovah?
- 📝 Why isn't the Eucharist of protestant churches considered valid by non-protestants?
- 📝 What answer do continuationists have to the seven mentions of 'miracles/signs/wonders' in Revelation?
- 📝 What is meant by the statement of Our Lady to St. Dominic according to the Catholic Church
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for death being the last point for repentance?
- 📝 Do Protestants believe that "Our Father" is on par with "Our Mother," or is Jesus strictly invoking a male symbol only?
- 📝 Why Jeremiah 10:5 was changed from palm trees to scarecrows
- 📝 Why can the Catholic Church declare one person a saint but has never declared another damned?
- 📝 Did any of the Early Church Fathers believe in the supremacy of St. Peter?
- 📝 Denominations and Teachers
- 📝 What is the origin and basis for the Catholic teaching regarding Mary's vow of celibacy prior to her betrothal?
- 📝 Why was it not necessary to break Jesus' legs during crucifixion?
- 📝 How do Pre-Millennial Dispensationalists reconcile Hebrews 8:13?
- 📝 Does Roman Catholic doctrine recognize a moral distinction or difference between abortion and birth control?
- 📝 How is doing 'what is right in the eyes of everyone' different from being 'politically correct'?
- 📝 Protestants and Sola Scriptura adherents: When was scripture alone sufficient?
- 📝 Does the term 'lost' define a group eternally damned?
- 📝 How were the authors of the four gospels literate?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is Judith 1:1 historically incorrect and does it mean that it is not scripture?
- 📝 According to Jehovah’s Witnesses what does the name Immanuel mean in light of their belief that Jesus is a created being and not God?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law but did not abolish it?
- 📝 What does it mean that all scripture is God-Breathed?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus, Father, and Holy Spirit are of the same nature but different personas?
- 📝 What does it mean that John's Gospel does not have an account of the institution of the Eucharist?
- 📝 Since YHWH and the Bible acknowledge other gods, does that mean that they literally exist?
- 📝 What does the Nicene Creed mean when it says that the Father and the Son are of the same substance?
- 📝 What does it mean to not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
- 📝 What does it mean that God's wrath is infinite and what is its relation to existence of life on other planets?
- 📝 In Gen 15:16, what does it mean that "the iniquity of the Amorites is not complete"...is this related to "fill up the measure of their sins" 1 Th 2:16
- 📝 When scripture says, God "knows all things", does that include every action and decision every human will choose to make in the future?
- 📝 According to those holding that Lazarus was literally raised from the dead, why did Matthew, Mark, and Luke not mention it?
- 📝 What does it mean that Satan is "god of this world"?
- 📝 What exactly does it mean that Jesus Christ is the son of God?
- 📝 Why does Jesus not want people to repent and be forgiven in Mark 4?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus was the "second Adam"?
- 📝 Why does the Salvation Army not administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper?
- 📝 Why were both criminals that were crucified with Jesus abusing him in Mark, and not in Luke?
- 📝 According to Calvinism, why does God give mercy to some and not to others?
- 📝 What does Jesus mean by "this generation" and "all these things" in Mark 13:30
- 📝 What does it mean to comment on scripture with scripture?
- 📝 What does the abbreviation "RNIO" mean in a painting of the Virgin and Child?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses, does Jesus make the same claim as God, that he is the "first and the last,"?
- 📝 What does it mean that someone managed to live beyond 120 years?
- 📝 What does it mean to be an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ?
- 📝 Where does the Catholic tradition that Mary did not have pain giving birth to Jesus come from?
- 📝 What does it mean that "the two natures of Christ cannot be separated"?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach that it has the authority to change what is morally right and wrong?
- 📝 Jesus called God his own Father, and this is supposed to mean that Jesus is equal with God. Why?