ABSTRACT
The Book of Judith describes a decisive event — a turning point — in a war in the Middle East. The king of Assyria has created a powerful coalition of nations and, ambitious for even greater power, has gone to war against another king, who is himself the leader of a coalition. The second army is vanquished and its leader killed, but pockets of resistance remain. Because the Old Latin text of Judith was adopted for use in the Gallican church, being employed in worship there before the imposition of Gregorian chant and associated liturgical practices, it seems plausible that at least the text of this responsory has Gallican roots, the verse of the chant, on the other hand, is taken from the Vulgate. A typical medieval antiphoner provides eight responsories for the period of the year during which the Book of Judith is read in the Divine Office; however, some give nine, and some fewer.
