c Other ancient authorities read feared
d Gk they
e Gk they
f Or breath
g Other ancient authorities read they were created
16.5 By the hand of a woman emphasizes a key theme of the whole work.
16.15–16 Fear of God is entitlement to mercy and true greatness. Judith constantly demonstrated her piety, which guaranteed her success.
16.17 Ruin is the fate of those who arise against God’s people.
16.21–25 Section Á (see note on 8.1–16.25), conclusion about Judith. The narrative closes with elements found in Section A (8.1–8). Both passages include the information that Judith was the widow of Manasseh (8.2; 16.22), that she lived alone in Bethulia on her estate (8.4; 16.22), and that she had servants and property (8.7; 16.21, 24). Both tell of a death: Manasseh dies and is buried (8.2–3); Judith dies and is buried (16.23–24). Both conclude with the public effect of Judith’s faith (8.8; 16.25).
16.22 Many desired to marry her, but she gave herself to no man, better “Many men wanted her, but no man had intercourse with her.” Judith practiced celibacy. The motivations of the men are unclear. What is certain is that she chose to continue living in solitude for the rest of her life.
16.23 One hundred five years, the length of the Maccabean period (168–63 BCE). She set her maid free. Judith’s last act balances her first, in which she sent the maid to summon Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis (8.10).
16.24 Seven days, the customary period of mourning for the dead (1 Sam 31.13; 1 Chr 10.12; Sir 22.12).
16.25 No one ever again spread terror among the Israelites. The book ends with a note of utopian finality. Unfortunately, history was not so benign.
ESTHER
(The Greek Version Containing the Additional Chapters)
11 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
NOTE: The deuterocanonical portions of the book of Esther are several additional passages found in the Greek translation of the Hebrew book of Esther, a translation that differs also in other respects from the Hebrew text (the latter is translated in the NRSV OT). The disordered chapter numbers come from the displacement of the additions to the end of the canonical book of Esther by Jerome in his Latin translation and from the subsequent division of the Bible into chapters by Stephen Langton, who numbered the additions consecutively as though they formed a direct continuation of the Hebrew text. So that the additions may be read in their proper context, the whole of the Greek version is here translated, though certain familiar names are given according to their Hebrew rather than their Greek form, e.g., Mordecai and Vashti instead of Mardocheus and Astin. The order followed is that of the Greek text, but the chapter and verse numbers conform to those of the King James, or Authorized Version. The additions, conveniently indicated by the letters A–F, are located as follows: A, before 1.1; B, after 3.13; C and D, after 4.17; E, after 8.12; F, after 10.3.
The Two Books Compared
THE BOOK OF ESTHER AS FOUND IN THE GREEK BIBLE (the Septuagint) is significantly longer than the book of Esther in Hebrew. The Greek version contains subtle changes from its Hebrew original as well as blocks of material that are referred to as Additions to Esther. This designation suggests that the material was added to an earlier form of Esther to deal with concerns of Jews whose sensibilities were disturbed by qualities of the older Hebrew story. According to the postscript found in the Septuagint Esther, this version of the book was brought to Egypt sometime in the mid-first century BCE (Addition F, 11.1). It was composed in the late second or early first century BCE.
Contention has surrounded the book of Esther and its canonical status. Perhaps most striking in the Hebrew is the absence of any direct mention of God, especially in a story about dangers confronting Jews in an alien setting. Also striking is the apparent neglect, especially by Esther, of aspects of Jewish Torah that came to define what it meant to be a Jew. A number of points in the story stretch historical credulity, and the strong note of harsh vengeance wrought by the Jews on their enemies has disturbed some readers. Noteworthy is the central role played by a woman, for spheres of influence and action for women in postexilic Judaism were quite circumscribed.
Additions A–F
FROM THE OPENING OF THE GREEK ESTHER, God is very present as the author of Mordecai’s dream (Addition A). Not only does the righteous nation cry out to God in its affliction, but we are told that what Mordecai saw was “what God had determined to do” (11.12). At the end of the story Mordecai recalls his dream, recognizes its point-by-point fulfillment, and attributes the rescue of his people to God (Addition F). This sense of providential shaping of events in human history, along with imagery envisioning a return of created order to chaos, envelops the story in an apocalyptic interpretative frame that creates a setting of cosmic conflict rather than a purely local political contest. This beginning and conclusion also highlight the importance of Mordecai, as does the account of how he uncovered a plot against the king, was rewarded with service in the court, and earned thereby the enmity of Haman.
Copies of the decrees written in the king’s name (Additions B and E) provide historical verisimilitude. The first authorizes the pogrom planned by Haman (Addition B), while the second counters the first by allowing Jews to defend themselves and calls on Persians to support them against their enemies (Addition E). These appear to be the only Additions originally composed in Greek. They serve to characterize both the villain Haman and the malleable king in fine counterpoint. In the first Haman is lauded as “second father” (13.6) to the king, the Jews and their Torah are slandered, and the king’s motives are said to be the peace of his kingdom. In the second Haman is vilified, the Jews and Torah are praised, the king’s motives are defended, and credit for his enlightenment, Haman’s defeat, and the Jews’ salvation is attributed to “the living God” (16.16).
Prayers by Mordecai and Esther seeking divine aid (Addition C) assert God’s power to save now as in the past. Mordecai is also able to justify his failure to bow before Haman by saying he would grant such respect only to God, and Esther is able to lament her marriage to a Gentile and her difficulties in observing Jewish dietary practices and to express her abhorrence of her present royal estate.
Esther’s reception when she appears unbidden before the king (Addition D) is more dramatic than in the Hebrew Esther. The Greek version also attributes the king’s change of spirit to God; and 6.1 states that “the Lord took sleep from the king,” making the deity the force behind these climaxes on the road to salvation for the Jews.
The cumulative effect of the Additions and the small changes from the Hebrew make the Greek Esther a much more dramatic, emotional book. God and the Jewish covenant tradition are at the center of the story, while the importance of the Purim festival is lessened. Thus in both the Additions and in its other small variations, the Greek Esther represents a distinct story that differs qualitatively from the Hebrew. Within Christian tradition the Additions took on something of a life of their own, being either set at the end of a translation of the Hebrew Esther or gathered separately in the Protestant Apocrypha.
The notes focus on the Additions and on differences between the Greek and Hebrew versions. For fuller notes on the common material, see Esther in the OT. [W. LEE HUMPHREYS, revised by SIDNIE WHITE CRAWFORD]
ADDITION A
ESTHER 11a
Mordecai’s Dream
2In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimeib son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. 3He was a Jew living in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the court of the king. 4He was one of the captives whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had brought from Jerusalem with King Jeconiah of Judea. And this was his dream: 5Noisesc and confusion, thunders and earthquake, tumult on the earth! 6Then two great dragons came forward, both ready to fight, and they roared terribly. 7At their roaring every nation prepared for war, to
fight against the righteous nation. 8It was a day of darkness and gloom, of tribulation and distress, affliction and great tumult on the earth! 9And the whole righteous nation was troubled; they feared the evils that threatened them,d and were ready to perish. 10Then they cried out to God; and at their outcry, as though from a tiny spring, there came a great river, with abundant water; 11light came, and the sun rose, and the lowly were exalted and devoured those held in honor.
12Mordecai saw in this dream what God had determined to do, and after he awoke he had it on his mind, seeking all day to understand it in every detail.
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a Chapters 11.2—12.6 correspond to chapter A 1-17 in some translations.
b Gk Semeios
c Or Voices
d Gk their own evils
11.2–12 Mordecai’s dream (Addition A) provides a divine but cryptic preview of what will take place. Mordecai is presented as a visionary, like Joseph or Daniel.
11.2 Artaxerxes, called Ahasuerus in the Hebrew Esther, is fully introduced in 1.1–9. Nisan (March–April), the first month of the Jewish year, the month of Passover. Mordecai is introduced as a Benjaminite of the line of Saul, Israel’s first king. For Shimei, see 2 Sam 16.5–14; 19.16–23; 1 Kings 2.8, 36–46. For Kish, Saul’s father, see 1 Sam 9.1, 14.51. Generations are telescoped, as son of can mean “descendant of.” Mordecai is introduced again in 2.5.
11.3 In the Greek Esther Mordecai is an important figure in the royal court from the outset. Cf. the Hebrew, which says he “was sitting at the king’s gate” (2.19; 3.2).
11.4 To have Mordecai exiled by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE along with Jeconiah (2 Kings 24.6–17), elsewhere called Jehoiachin, poses chronological problems, for Artaxerxes I reigned from 465 to 424 BCE, and Artaxerxes II even later.
11.5–6 A potential return of created order to chaos is tersely presented here. What in the Hebrew Esther is a conflict sparked by contention between court officials is in this dream transposed into a cosmic conflict between Israel and all other nations, indeed between righteous order and chaos.
11.7 The righteous nation is clearly Israel.
11.8 Comparison with Joel 2.2, 10–11 gives this dream an apocalyptic quality.
11.10 God, the first of many references to the deity in the Greek Esther, in marked contrast to the Hebrew, which makes no direct mention of the deity. Tiny spring, Esther.
11.12 The general import of this dream, stressing God’s shaping of human history, seems clear to Mordecai, but the details will be apparent only at the end (10.4–12).
ESTHER 12
A Plot against the King
1Now Mordecai took his rest in the courtyard with Gabatha and Tharra, the two eunuchs of the king who kept watch in the courtyard. 2He overheard their conversation and inquired into their purposes, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands on King Artaxerxes; and he informed the king concerning them. 3Then the king examined the two eunuchs, and after they had confessed it, they were led away to execution. 4The king made a permanent record of these things, and Mordecai wrote an account of them. 5And the king ordered Mordecai to serve in the court, and rewarded him for these things. 6But Haman son of Hammedatha, a Bougean, who was in great honor with the king, determined to injure Mordecai and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.
END OF ADDITION A
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12.1–6 A plot against the king.
12.1 Eunuchs, men who had been castrated, were ever-present functionaries in the Persian court.
12.5 Cf. 2.21–23, a doublet of this episode, where the events are noted, but Mordecai is not rewarded.
12.6 Haman, the villain of this story, is motivated to act against Mordecai because of links with the executed eunuchs. The meaning of Bougean is unclear; the substitution of “Macedonian” in some Greek texts (see also 16.10) and the Hebrew’s use of “Agagite” (3.1), linking him with Israel’s enemies the Amalakites, suggest the term is derogatory. Haman is here presented as the enemy both of Mordecai and the Jews and of the king.
ESTHER 1
Arataxerxes’ Banquet
1It was after this that the following things happened in the days of Artaxerxes, the same Artaxerxes who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia.a 2In those days, when King Artaxerxes was enthroned in the city of Susa, 3in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for his Friends and other persons of various nations, the Persians and Median nobles, and the governors of the provinces. 4After this, when he had displayed to them the riches of his kingdom and the splendor of his bountiful celebration during the course of one hundred eighty days, 5at the end of the festivityb the king gave a drinking party for the people of various nations who lived in the city. This was held for six days in the courtyard of the royal palace, 6which was adorned with curtains of fine linen and cotton, held by cords of purple linen attached to gold and silver blocks on pillars of marble and other stones. Gold and silver couches were placed on a mosaic floor of emerald, mother-of-pearl, and marble. There were coverings of gauze, embroidered in various colors, with roses arranged around them. 7The cups were of gold and silver, and a miniature cup was displayed, made of ruby, worth thirty thousand talents. There was abundant sweet wine, such as the king himself drank. 8The drinking was not according to a fixed rule; but the king wished to have it so, and he commanded his stewards to comply with his pleasure and with that of the guests.
9Meanwhile, Queen Vashtic gave a drinking party for the women in the palace where King Artaxerxes was.
Dismissal of Queen Vashti
10On the seventh day, when the king was in good humor, he told Haman, Bazan, Tharra, Boraze, Zatholtha, Abataza, and Tharaba, the seven eunuchs who served King Artaxerxes, 11to escort the queen to him in order to proclaim her as queen and to place the diadem on her head, and to have her display her beauty to all the governors and the people of various nations, for she was indeed a beautiful woman. 12But Queen Vashtid refused to obey him and would not come with the eunuchs. This offended the king and he became furious. 13He said to his Friends, “This is how Vashtie has answered me.f Give therefore your ruling and judgment on this matter.” 14Arkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malesear, then the governors of the Persians and Medes who were closest to the king—Arkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malesear, who sat beside him in the chief seats—came to him 15and told him what must be done to Queen Vashtig for not obeying the order that the king had sent her by the eunuchs. 16Then Muchaeus said to the king and the governors, “Queen Vashtih has insulted not only the king but also all the king’s governors and officials” 17(for he had reported to them what the queen had said and how she had defied the king). “And just as she defied King Artaxerxes, 18so now the other ladies who are wives of the Persian and Median governors, on hearing what she has said to the king, will likewise dare to insult their husbands. 19If therefore it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, inscribed in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians so that it may not be altered, that the queen may no longer come into his presence; but let the king give her royal rank to a woman better than she. 20Let whatever law the king enacts be proclaimed in his kingdom, and thus all women will give honor to their husbands, rich and poor alike.” 21This speech pleased the king and the governors, and the king did as Muchaeus had recommended. 22The king sent the decree into all his kingdom, to every province in its own language, so that in every house respect would be shown to every husband.
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a Other ancient authorities lack to Ethiopia
b Gk marriage feast
c Gk Astin
d Gk Astin
e Gk Astin
f Gk Astin has said thus and so
g Gk Astin
h Gk Astin
1.1–9 The king and his banquets, along with descriptions of the palace and extent of the empire, set an opulent stage for this story of court intrigue. The king in the Hebrew Esther is Xer
xes (486–465 BCE); the king here is identified as Artaxerxes, either I (465–424) or II (404–358).
1.10–22 Dismissal of Queen Vashti. Although summoned not only to display her beauty, as in the Hebrew version, but also to be proclaimed queen and crowned with the diadem, Vashti disobeys the king, sparking a potential crisis from the males’ point of view. Her disappearance clears the stage for Esther.
ESTHER 2
Esther Becomes Queen
1After these things, the king’s anger abated, and he no longer was concerned about Vashtia or remembered what he had said and how he had condemned her. 2Then the king’s servants said, “Let beautiful and virtuous girls be sought out for the king. 3The king shall appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and they shall select beautiful young virgins to be brought to the harem in Susa, the capital. Let them be entrusted to the king’s eunuch who is in charge of the women, and let ointments and whatever else they need be given them. 4And the woman who pleases the king shall be queen instead of Vashti.”b This pleased the king, and he did so.
5Now there was a Jew in Susa the capital whose name was Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimeic son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin; 6he had been taken captive from Jerusalem among those whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had captured. 7And he had a foster child, the daughter of his father’s brother, Aminadab, and her name was Esther. When her parents died, he brought her up to womanhood as his own. The girl was beautiful in appearance. 8So, when the decree of the king was proclaimed, and many girls were gathered in Susa the capital in custody of Gai, Esther also was brought to Gai, who had custody of the women. 9The girl pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with ointments and her portion of food,d as well as seven maids chosen from the palace; he treated her and her maids with special favor in the harem. 10Now Esther had not disclosed her people or country, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11And every day Mordecai walked in the courtyard of the harem, to see what would happen to Esther.
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