HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 356
12Now the period after which a girl was to go to the king was twelve months. During this time the days of beautification are completed—six months while they are anointing themselves with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices and ointments for women. 13Then she goes in to the king; she is handed to the person appointed, and goes with him from the harem to the king’s palace. 14In the evening she enters and in the morning she departs to the second harem, where Gai the king’s eunuch is in charge of the women; and she does not go in to the king again unless she is summoned by name.
15When the time was fulfilled for Esther daughter of Aminadab, the brother of Mordecai’s father, to go in to the king, she neglected none of the things that Gai, the eunuch in charge of the women, had commanded. Now Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16So Esther went in to King Artaxerxes in the twelfth month, which is Adar, in the seventh year of his reign. 17And the king loved Esther and she found favor beyond all the other virgins, so he put on her the queen’s diadem. 18Then the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all his Friends and the officers to celebrate his marriage to Esther; and he granted a remission of taxes to those who were under his rule.
The Plot Discovered
19Meanwhile Mordecai was serving in the courtyard. 20Esther had not disclosed her country—such were the instructions of Mordecai; but she was to fear God and keep his laws, just as she had done when she was with him. So Esther did not change her mode of life.
21Now the king’s eunuchs, who were chief bodyguards, were angry because of Mordecai’s advancement, and they plotted to kill King Artaxerxes. 22The matter became known to Mordecai, and he warned Esther, who in turn revealed the plot to the king. 23He investigated the two eunuchs and hanged them. Then the king ordered a memorandum to be deposited in the royal library in praise of the goodwill shown by Mordecai.
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a Gk Astin
b Gk Astin
c Gk Semeios
d Gk lacks of food
2.1–18 Esther becomes queen.
2.1 In the Hebrew the king’s remembering Vashti launches the search for a replacement; here he forgets her.
2.5–6 A second introduction of Mordecai; see 11.2–4.
2.7 The Greek names Esther’s father Aminadab (cf. the Hebrew’s Abihail, 2.15) and fails to mention her Jewish name Hadassah.
2.9 Presumably the portion of food was not kosher (cf. 14.17).
2.18 This second in a series of banquets marking critical events in the story celebrates Esther’s appointment as queen (see 1.10).
2.19–23 The plot discovered. This may be a second plot, not a repetition of 12.1–6, although the second episode is an almost exact repetition of the first.
2.20 Unlike in the Hebrew, Mordecai’s instructions to Esther include that she is to fear God and keep his laws (see 2.10; 14.17).
2.21–23 Mordecai’s previous advancement sparks this plot by the chief bodyguards. His role is noted in a memorandum, but he is not rewarded (see 6.1–3).
ESTHER 3
Mordecai Refuses to Do Obeisance
1After these events King Artaxerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha, a Bougean, advancing him and granting him precedence over all the king’sa Friends. 2So all who were at court used to do obeisance to Haman,b for so the king had commanded to be done. Mordecai, however, did not do obeisance. 3Then the king’s courtiers said to Mordecai, “Mordecai, why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4Day after day they spoke to him, but he would not listen to them. Then they informed Haman that Mordecai was resisting the king’s command. Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. 5So when Haman learned that Mordecai was not doing obeisance to him, he became furiously angry, 6and plotted to destroy all the Jews under Artaxerxes’ rule.
7In the twelfth year of King Artaxerxes Hamanc came to a decision by casting lots, taking the days and the months one by one, to fix on one day to destroy the whole race of Mordecai. The lot fell on the fourteenthd day of the month of Adar.
Decree against the Jews
8Then Hamane said to King Artaxerxes, “There is a certain nation scattered among the other nations in all your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other nation, and they do not keep the laws of the king. It is not expedient for the king to tolerate them. 9If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they are to be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the king’s treasury.” 10So the king took off his signet ring and gave it to Haman to seal the decreef that was to be written against the Jews. 11The king told Haman, “Keep the money, and do whatever you want with that nation.”
12So on the thirteenth day of the first month the king’s secretaries were summoned, and in accordance with Haman’s instructions they wrote in the name of King Artaxerxes to the magistrates and the governors in every province from India to Ethiopia. There were one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all, and the governors were addressed each in his own language. 13Instructions were sent by couriers throughout all the empire of Artaxerxes to destroy the Jewish people on a given day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, and to plunder their goods.
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a Gk all his
b Gk him
c Gk he
d Other ancient witnesses read thirteenth; see 8.12
e Gk he
f Gk lacks the decree
3.1–15 Mordecai’s disobedience endangers the Jews.
3.1 The villain Haman was first met in 12.6, allied with those involved in the first plot against the king.
3.2–4 Mordecai’s refusal is explained in his prayer in 13.12–13; later Jewish tradition said it was because Haman had affixed a small idol to his garment, so that anyone bowing down to him was effectively worshiping an idol.
3.8–13 Just as the king did not earlier investigate the case of Vashti, so now he accepts Haman’s presentation of the situation without inquiring into his charges. V. 10 mentions the Jews directly.
ADDITION B
ESTHER 13a
The King’s Letter
1This is a copy of the letter: “The Great King, Artaxerxes, writes the following to the governors of the hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia and to the officials under them:
2“Having become ruler of many nations and master of the whole world (not elated with presumption of authority but always acting reasonably and with kindness), I have determined to settle the lives of my subjects in lasting tranquility and, in order to make my kingdom peaceable and open to travel throughout all its extent, to restore the peace desired by all people.
3“When I asked my counselors how this might be accomplished, Haman—who excels among us in sound judgment, and is distinguished for his unchanging goodwill and steadfast fidelity, and has attained the second place in the kingdom—4pointed out to us that among all the nations in the world there is scattered a certain hostile people, who have laws contrary to those of every nation and continually disregard the ordinances of kings, so that the unifying of the kingdom that we honorably intend cannot be brought about. 5We understand that this people, and it alone, stands constantly in opposition to every nation, perversely following a strange manner of life and laws, and is ill-disposed to our government, doing all the harm they can so that our kingdom may not attain stability.
6“Therefore we have decreed that those indicated to you in the letters written by Haman, who is in charge of affairs and is our second father, shall all—wives and children included—be utterly destroyed by the swords of their enemies, without pity or restraint, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, of this present year, 7so that those who have long been hostile and remain so may in a single day go down in violence to Hades, and leave our government completely secure and untroubled hereafter.”
END OF ADDITION B
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a Chapter 13.1-7 corresponds to chapter B 1-7 in some translations.
13.1–7 The bombasti
c quality of the king’s letter (Addition B) and its claims contrast with the opaqueness shown by him up to now. The letter is actually written by Haman.
13.3 I asked…accomplished. The king here assumes the initiative in seeking advice leading to the pogrom. This description of Haman contrasts with how readers will experience him and how the king will in time describe him in 16.1–14.
13.4–5 Jewish Torah is said here not only to set Jews apart from others but to set them against other nations.
13.6 On Haman as the king’s second father, cf. Joseph’s relationship to Pharaoh in Gen 45.8. The Jews are to be utterly destroyed, lit. “destroyed with root and branch.”
13.7 Hades, the place of the dead, not necessarily of eternal punishment.
ESTHER 3
14Copies of the document were posted in every province, and all the nations were ordered to be prepared for that day. 15The matter was expedited also in Susa. And while the king and Haman caroused together, the city of Susaa was thrown into confusion.
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a Gk the city
ESTHER 4
Mordecai Seeks Esther’s Aid
1When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled himself with ashes; then he rushed through the street of the city, shouting loudly: “An innocent nation is being destroyed!” 2He got as far as the king’s gate, and there he stopped, because no one was allowed to enter the courtyard clothed in sackcloth and ashes. 3And in every province where the king’s proclamation had been posted there was a loud cry of mourning and lamentation among the Jews, and they put on sackcloth and ashes. 4When the queen’sa maids and eunuchs came and told her, she was deeply troubled by what she heard had happened, and sent some clothes to Mordecai to put on instead of sackcloth; but he would not consent. 5Then Esther summoned Hachratheus, the eunuch who attended her, and ordered him to get accurate information for her from Mordecai.b
7So Mordecai told him what had happened and how Haman had promised to pay ten thousand talents into the royal treasury to bring about the destruction of the Jews. 8He also gave him a copy of what had been posted in Susa for their destruction, to show to Esther; and he told him to charge her to go in to the king and plead for his favor in behalf of the people. “Remember,” he said, “the days when you were an ordinary person, being brought up under my care—for Haman, who stands next to the king, has spoken against us and demands our death. Call upon the Lord; then speak to the king in our behalf, and save us from death.”
9Hachratheus went in and told Esther all these things. 10And she said to him, “Go to Mordecai and say, 11‘All nations of the empire know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is no escape for that person. Only the one to whom the king stretches out the golden scepter is safe—and it is now thirty days since I was called to go to the king.’”
12When Hachratheus delivered her entire message to Mordecai, 13Mordecai told him to go back and say to her, “Esther, do not say to yourself that you alone among all the Jews will escape alive. 14For if you keep quiet at such a time as this, help and protection will come to the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Yet, who knows whether it was not for such a time as this that you were made queen?” 15Then Esther gave the messenger this answer to take back to Mordecai: 16“Go and gather all the Jews who are in Susa and fast on my behalf; for three days and nights do not eat or drink, and my maids and I will also go without food. After that I will go to the king, contrary to the law, even if I must die.” 17So Mordecai went away and did what Esther had told him to do.
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a Gk When her
b Other ancient witnesses add 6So Hachratheus went out to Mordecai in the street of the city opposite the city gate.
4.1–17 Mordecai seeks Esther’s aid.
4.8 Unlike in the Hebrew, Mordecai’s actual words to Esther are cited, including his request that she call upon the Lord as well as approach the king.
4.11 Whether or not this ban on unsummoned appearances reflects actual Persian custom, it serves to heighten the narrative tension.
4.16 Initiative now passes to Esther, but not before Mordecai and she each offer prayers to their God.
ADDITION C
ESTHER 13
Mordecai’s Prayer
8a Then Mordecaib prayed to the Lord, calling to remembrance all the works of the Lord.
9He said, “O Lord, Lord, you rule as King over all things, for the universe is in your power and there is no one who can oppose you when it is your will to save Israel, 10for you have made heaven and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven. 11You are Lord of all, and there is no one who can resist you, the Lord. 12You know all things; you know, O Lord, that it was not in insolence or pride or for any love of glory that I did this, and refused to bow down to this proud Haman; 13for I would have been willing to kiss the soles of his feet to save Israel! 14But I did this so that I might not set human glory above the glory of God, and I will not bow down to anyone but you, who are my Lord; and I will not do these things in pride. 15And now, O Lord God and King, God of Abraham, spare your people; for the eyes of our foes are upon usc to annihilate us, and they desire to destroy the inheritance that has been yours from the beginning. 16Do not neglect your portion, which you redeemed for yourself out of the land of Egypt. 17Hear my prayer, and have mercy upon your inheritance; turn our mourning into feasting that we may live and sing praise to your name, O Lord; do not destroy the lipsd of those who praise you.”
18And all Israel cried out mightily, for their death was before their eyes.
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a Chapters 13.8—15.16 correspond to chapters C 1-30 and D 1-16 in some translations.
b Gk he
c Gk for they are eying us
d Gk mouth
13.8–18 Mordecai’s prayer (Addition C). After appearing twice in this introduction, the word Lord appears eight times in the prayer, underscoring its themes of divine power to save and human reliance on that power.
13.9–11 The prayer opens with praise of the deity as King, Creator, able to save Israel, one whom none can resist.
13.12–14 A confession of innocence follows in which Mordecai explains why he did not bow down to Haman. Elsewhere in the Bible Jews are depicted bowing down before kings and others (Gen 23.7; 42.6; 2 Sam 14.4; 1 Kings 1.16), and in the Diaspora Jews, like others, showed respect in this way before authorities.
13.15–17 Petition follows, in which the deity’s relationship with Abraham, the election of Israel, and the exodus are all recalled.
ESTHER 14
Esther’s Prayer
1Then Queen Esther, seized with deadly anxiety, fled to the Lord. 2She took off her splendid apparel and put on the garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she utterly humbled her body; every part that she loved to adorn she covered with her tangled hair. 3She prayed to the Lord God of Israel, and said: “O my Lord, you only are our king; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, 4for my danger is in my hand. 5Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations, and our ancestors from among all their forebears, for an everlasting inheritance, and that you did for them all that you promised. 6And now we have sinned before you, and you have handed us over to our enemies 7because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, O Lord! 8And now they are not satisfied that we are in bitter slavery, but they have covenanted with their idols 9to abolish what your mouth has ordained, and to destroy your inheritance, to stop the mouths of those who praise you and to quench your altar and the glory of your house, 10to open the mouths of the nations for the praise of vain idols, and to magnify forever a mortal king.
11“O Lord, do not surrender your scepter to what has no being; and do not let them laugh at our downf
all; but turn their plan against them, and make an example of him who began this against us. 12Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in this time of our affliction, and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion! 13Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him. 14But save us by your hand, and help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, O Lord. 15You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I hate the splendor of the wicked and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien. 16You know my necessity—that I abhor the sign of my proud position, which is upon my head on days when I appear in public. I abhor it like a filthy rag, and I do not wear it on the days when I am at leisure. 17And your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honored the king’s feast or drunk the wine of libations. 18Your servant has had no joy since the day that I was brought here until now, except in you, O Lord God of Abraham. 19O God, whose might is over all, hear the voice of the despairing, and save us from the hands of evildoers. And save me from my fear!”