Holofernes

In the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, Holofernes (Greek: Ὀλοφέρνης; Hebrew הולופרנס) is an Assyrian invading general dispatched by Nebuchadnezzar to take vengeance on the nations of the West who withheld assistance to his reign. Holofernes occupied all the countries along the sea coast and destroyed all their gods, so that they would worship Nebuchadnezzar alone. Holofernes was warned against attacking the Jewish people by Achior, the leader of the children of Ammon, which angered him and his followers; they rebuked him, insisting that there was no god other than Nebuchadnezzar.

Artemisia Gentileschi's painting Judith Slaying Holofernes

The general laid siege to Bethulia, commonly believed to be Meselieh, and the city almost fell. Holofernes's advance stopped the water supply to Bethulia, and the people lost heart and encouraged Ozias and their rulers to give way. The leaders vowed to surrender if no help arrived within five days.[1]

Bethulia was saved by Judith, a beautiful Hebrew widow who entered Holofernes's camp, seduced him, then beheaded him while he was drunk. She returned to Bethulia with the severed head, and the Hebrews defeated the enemy.

Hebrew versions of the tale in the Megillat Antiochus and the Chronicles of Jerahmeel identify "Holoferenes" as Nicanor; the Greek version used "Holofernes" as deliberately cryptic substitute, similarly using "Nebuchadnezzar" for Antiochus.

Holofernes is depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Monk's Tale in The Canterbury Tales, and in Dante's Purgatorio (where Holofernes is to be found on the Terrace of Pride as an example of "pride cast down", XII.58–60). As a painter's subject it offers the chance to contrast the flesh and jewels of a beautiful, festively attired woman with the grisly victim, a deuterocanonical parallel to the Yael sequence in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament vignette of Salome with the head of John the Baptist.