And her aged woman attendant, coming in and out, sentinel and conscience, with austere face and lifted finger, symbolizes the fire of Israel that shall yet awaken within her.

When her love for her city and God finally becomes paramount, she shakes off the spell of the divine honors which she has followed all the camp in according to that living heathen deity Holofernes, and by the very transfiguration of her figure and countenance we know that the deliverance of Israel is at hand.

She beheads the dark Assyrian.

Soon she is back in the city, by way of the little gate by which she emerged.

The elders receive her and her bloody trophy.
The people who have been dying of thirst arise in a final whirlwind of courage.