The book of Judith, one of the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books of the Bible, is named for a remarkably brave and beautiful woman who displays great faith in the God of Israel. She seeks God's help as she carries out her plan to trick the enemy general Holofernes and to help the Israelite people to defeat the powerful Assyrian army. However, Judith is not the only heroine of this kind in the Jewish Scriptures. Her story and her actions are similar to those of other brave heroines who helped Israel in times of danger.

The time when Israel's tribes were first conquering the land of Canaan was known as the period of the judges. These judges (leaders) were chosen by God to help the Israelite tribes, especially when they were threatened by enemies. During this time, the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor conquered Israel and made life very difficult for the Israelites. When the people prayed for help, God chose a prophet and judge known as Deborah to lead them in battle against Jabin and Jabin's general, Sisera. Deborah gave her general Barak the courage to battle and defeat Sisera's army. Sisera escaped capture and hid in the camp of Heber. Heber's wife Jael knew who Sisera was and killed him in his sleep. With the loss of their general, Jabin's army and the Canaanites grew weaker, but the Israelite tribes gained strength in the land (see Judg 4:1-24).

Centuries later, the Babylonians forced many Israelites to leave their homeland of Judah. Some of them settled in lands governed by Persia. During this time, a beautiful woman named Esther acted to defend her people from terrible danger. Her story is told in a book that bears her name. She became the queen of King Xerxes of Persia. Haman, one of Xerxes's highest officials, hated the Jews and tried to get rid of them. But Esther bravely defended her people and convinced Xerxes that Haman was about to do an evil thing. Haman was executed, and the Jewish people living in Persia were spared. Esther's heroic act is still celebrated in the Jewish Festival of Purim (Esth 9:20-32).

Not all acts of heroism take place on the battlefield or in the palaces of the powerful. Other women in the Bible are also remembered for the brave things they did and the sacrifices they made because of their loyalty to God. The mother and sister of Moses hid the infant Moses in the Nile River when the Egyptian king threatened to kill all the Hebrew male infants (Exod 1:15-2:10). A Canaanite woman named Rahab risked her life to protect some Israelite spies in her home in Jericho (Josh 2:1-24). A woman named Hannah dedicated her infant son, Samuel, to God. Samuel became the last of Israel's judges and a prophet who chose Israel's first kings, Saul and David (1 Sam 1:1-2:11). It is likely that Mary, the mother of Jesus, had this Jewish heroine in mind as she sang her own song of praise to God when she learned that she also would give birth to a very special child (Luke 1:46-55).