ABSTRACT
It was in the middle of the month Eyor, in the year of the world 2673, that an old man and a young maiden sat watching the bright wood fire that blazed on the hearth of their little apartment. Jacob had been a soldier in his youth, and fought valiantly in the wars against the Philistines. In his old age he had retired to a lonely spot, on the outskirts of Gibeah, where he built himself a house, and dwelt in peace and comfort. Judith was his only child, the memorial of a loved and lost one; and in her was centered all the deep and fervent feelings of his heart. Jonathan began the war by attacking a garrison at Geba before his father was prepared with forces sufficient to oppose them. The panic-stricken Israelites fled on all sides; the few troops who obeyed the trumpet of Saul met at Gilgal.
