In seventh century B.C., the Assyrians are storming the walls of the Jewish city of Bethulia, leaving its people frightened and ready to hand their homes over to the invaders. As the Assyrians close in, the citizens of Bethulia are cut off from the outside world, and they begin to starve. Seeing her people's desperation, Jewish widow Judith (Blanche Sweet) poses as a harem worker, which wins her entry into the Assyrian camp, where she plans to kill their general, Holofernes (Henry B. Walthall).