Reassessing the Textual Tradition of the Book of Judith

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Barbara Schmitz
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 556455262

In the highly productive scholarship on Jewish literature of the Second Temple period, the Book of Judith continues to be a recurring and stimulating point of interest. One of the central research questions that has interested scholars for decades is the fact that the earliest versions of the Book of Judith exist only in Greek, all of them already recensions. In fact, among the oldest known manuscripts, there is not a single trace of a Hebrew or Aramaic version of the text. The overall aim of this project is to reassess the textual history of Judith. While previous scholarship has focused on reconstructing the original version of the text, this project reverses the perspective and focuses instead on the divergences among the Judith texts. The aim is to examine the diverse and often highly disparate Judith versions, analyzing them in their own right and identifying the techniques of their recension and translation. To this end, the production of a feature-rich yet intuitively usable digital edition of carefully selected manuscripts in diplomatic form will form the basis for a comprehensive study of the concrete textual evidence and the various editorial and translational agendas to be published in the form of a digital volume. By examining each selected textual witness, the project aims to elucidate the 'world' of the editors and translators: their times, their places, their aims and their agendas. A total of ten manuscripts have been selected from the Greek, Old Latin, Vulgate, Syriac and medieval Hebrew textual tradition, each representing a central element in the reconstruction of the textual history. These include minuscules 53 and 583, which have not yet been edited but are among the manuscripts whose attribution is highly controversial. In this respect, the project will benefit immensely from recent developments in translation studies and Septuagint Greek and will advance them. Furthermore, this text-critical project is of particular importance for medieval studies: although Judith is not included in the Hebrew canon, Judaism rediscovered Judith in the Middle Ages. Interestingly, the new medieval Hebrew versions are reworkings of the Christianized Vulgate of Judith, which even influence the way Jews celebrate their major festival of Hanukkah. Consequently, the argument of Jewish-Christian relations and transcultural exchange in the Middle Ages is at the heart of the present text-critical discussion. By providing direct access to individual textual witnesses, the project sets new standards in Judith studies and leads to a new reconstruction and historical contextualisation of the textual tradition of the Book.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Privatdozent Dr. Christian Reul