Original Word: יְהוּדִית
Part of Speech: Proper Name Feminine
Transliteration: Yhuwdiyth
Pronunciation: yeh-hoo-DEETH
Phonetic Spelling: (yeh-ho-deeth')
KJV: Judith
NASB: Judith
Word Origin: [the same as H3066 (יְהוּדִיתּ - Judean)]

1. Jewess
2. Jehudith, a Canaanitess

Judith

The same as Yhuwdiyth; Jewess; Jehudith, a Canaanitess -- Judith.

see HEBREW Yhuwdiyth

Word Origin
from the same as Yehudith
Definition
Esau's wife
NASB Translation
1,365* (1), Judith (1).

II. יְהוּדִית proper name, feminine (relation to foregoing names obscure) — wife of Esau Genesis 26:34, daughter of בְּאֵרִי the Hittite (not named Genesis 36:1); ᵐ5 Ιουδιν.

Name and meaning

Judith (Hebrew Yehudith) carries the sense of “Jewish woman” or “praiseworthy woman.” The name itself is ironic in the narrative because the one bearer recorded in the Hebrew canon stands in sharp contrast to covenant faithfulness.

Canonical occurrence

Judith appears once in the Old Testament:

“ When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.” (Genesis 26:34)

Family background and historical setting

• Daughter of Beeri the Hittite—part of the indigenous Canaanite peoples descended from Heth, son of Canaan (Genesis 10:15).
• Wife of Esau—first-born son of Isaac, twin brother of Jacob, ancestor of the Edomites.
• Married at approximately 1965 BC (traditional chronology), during the patriarchal sojourn in Canaan.

Covenantal implications

1. Violation of ancestral precedent. Abraham required Isaac to marry within his extended family (Genesis 24:3-4). Esau’s marriage to a Hittite disregarded that precedent and showed indifference toward the covenant promise.
2. Source of parental grief. Genesis 26:35 notes that “they were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” The plural pronoun includes Judith and Basemath; their presence brought spiritual and emotional distress into the patriarchal home.
3. Catalyst for Jacob’s departure. Rebekah later appealed to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women” (Genesis 27:46), motivating Isaac to send Jacob to Mesopotamia, where Jacob received the covenantal blessing and married within the family line.

Textual and genealogical considerations

• In Genesis 36:2-3 Esau’s Hittite wife is named Oholibamah, not Judith. The common solution is that Esau’s wives bore more than one name—Judith (Yehudith) may designate the same woman later called Oholibamah, or Basemath may be a second name for Judith. Scripture does not resolve the ambiguity, yet the inspired text consistently underscores Esau’s intermarriage with Canaanite women in defiance of covenant priorities.

Broader biblical themes

• Separation for holiness. Judith’s presence highlights the recurring biblical warning against alliances that compromise spiritual identity (cf. Deuteronomy 7:3-4; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
• Generational impact of marital choices. Esau’s decision foreshadows later conflicts between Israel and Edom, demonstrating how one generation’s spiritual neglect can reverberate through history.
• Parental responsibility and grief. Isaac and Rebekah’s sorrow anticipates later exhortations for parents to shape their children’s choices in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6).

Distinction from the Apocryphal Judith

The deuterocanonical book of Judith presents a pious Jewish heroine living centuries later. That narrative is not part of the Hebrew canon and has no historical link to Esau’s wife, though the shared name kept the memory of Yehudith alive in later Jewish tradition.

Ministry significance today

• The narrative of Judith warns believers to weigh marital relationships by spiritual, not merely cultural, considerations.
• Leaders can draw from Isaac and Rebekah’s anguish to counsel families about the long-term effects of unequally yoked unions.
• The episode affirms the faithfulness of God, who safeguarded the covenant line through Jacob despite Esau’s departures, reminding the Church that divine purposes prevail even amid human failure.

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