Judith both is and is not a retelling of the Old Testament’s Book of Judith. The book itself is a matter of some controversy. Biblical scholars dispute the authenticity of the narrative of the Jewish widow who, directed by God, slays an Assyrian general and delivers the city of Bethulia. Scholars have traced several historical errors and textual inconsistencies in translations of the book. And, because the city of Bethulia itself is a fictional composite of several towns outlying Jerusalem, and the uncertain historical reality of Holofernes himself, Talmudic scholars doubt the historical reliability of the book. In fact, the Book of Judith is considered apocryphal, that is, a parable told to inspire faith rather than a historical account of events. Judith does not appear in either the Hebrew Old Testament or in the Protestant canon.

Judith itself is largely faithful to the book’s general storyline. Because the text is a fragment, some details from the Old Testament book, including the impact of the Assyrian occupation and their cruel strategy to starve the Israelites into submission, are lost. Rather, Judith focuses squarely on the heroic figure of Judith herself. The author of the poem makes one significant alteration to the Bible story.