Crying to God. Prayer and Plot in the Book of Judith 223 Jael killed Sisera in her tent, by driving a tent pin through his head, this phrase evokes the possibility that Judith will try to kill the general of the enemy (and actually, in a similar location and by a comparable wound, making use of the opportunity that the drinking of the enemy creates) (14). Judith also mentions the ultimate purpose of God’s action: the acknowledgement of all the people that God is the God of power and might. This is the opposite aim of the rationale which drove Nebuchadnezzar ’s men: all their actions were meant to lead to the universal worshipping of Nebuchadnezzar as god (Jdt 3,8), excluding the possibility that any other deity has power (see Jdt 6,2: “who is god except Nebuchadnezzar?”). This line of the plot is now countered by the possibility that the opposite event will take place: the whole people will acknowledge the God of Israel. Even Achior, the Ammonite, will eventually have faith in this God (Jdt 14,10). The prayer of Judith is clearly of importance as far as the plot is concerned. Through biblical allusions, including a reference to an answered prayer of the past, it is suggested that God will answer her prayer and act through Judith. Moreover, concrete hints as regards the concrete development of the events are given. c) Judith’s prayers in the hostile camp (Jdt 11–13) Two lines of plot are present in Jdt 11–13: the deceitful plot of Judith, suggesting that her actions, her prayers included, will lead to the victory of Holofernes on the one hand; and on the other hand, Judith’s true plans to defeat her enemy and to deliver her people. Prayer has a function in both the deceitful and the ‘real’ plot. Judith tells Holofernes that she will go out every night to pray (Jdt 11,17; 12,6-8). This fits her deceit. She tells the (at least in the ears of the enemy) plausible lie that when she prays to God, her God will inform her when the Israelites have sinned (Jdt 11,17), which will be the first step in the victory of Holofernes. Yet, the so-called prayers to find out whether Israel has already sinned, also fulfil a function in the ‘real’ plot. The enemy gets accustomed to the idea that Judith and her slave woman leave the camp regularly. In this way, Judith will be able to escape once she has killed Holofernes (Jdt 13,3.10). Judith’s actual prayers all deal with the ‘real’ plot, since she prays (14) See S.A. WHITE, “In the Steps of Jael and Deborah: Judith as Heroine”, No One Spoke Ill of Her. Essays on Judith (ed. J.C. VAN DER KAM) (SBL EJL 2; Atlanta 1992) 5-16.