II. Desif/ii and Contents. — The object of these addi- tions is to give a more decidedly religious tone to the record contained in the book of Esther, and to show more plainlj' how wonderfiill}' the God of Israel inter- posed to save his people and confound their enemies. This the writer has effected by elaborating upon the events narrated in the canonical volume as follows :
1. Ch. i, 1 of the canonical volume is preceded in the Sept. by a piece which tells us that Mordecai, who was in the service of Artaxerxes, dreamt of the dan- gers which threatened his people, and of their deliver- ance (ver. 1-12). He afterwards discovered a con- spiracj' against the king, which he discloses to him, and is greatly rewarded for it (ver. 1.3-18). This is, in the Vulgate and Eng. version, ch. ,\i. 2-xii, 6.
2. Between ver. 13 and 14 of ch. iii in the canonical book, the Septuagint gives a copj' of the king's edict addressed to all the satraps, to destroy witliout com- passion that foreign and rebellious people, the Jews, for the good of the Persian nation, in the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of the coming year. This is, in the Vulg. and Eng. version, ch. xiii, 1-7.
3. At the end of ch. iv, 17 of the canonical book, the Sept. has two prayers of ]\Iordecai and Esther, that God may avert the impending destruction of his peo- ple. This is, in the Vulg. and Eng. version, ch. xiii, 8-xiv, 19.
4. Between ver. 1 and 2 of ch. v in the canonical book, the Sept. inserts a detailed account of Esther's visit to the king. This is, in the Vulg. and Eng. ver- sion, ch. XV, 1-lG.
5. Between ver. 13 and 14 of ch. viii in the canoni- cal books, the Sept. gives a copj' of the edict, which the king sent to all his satraps, in accordance with the request of Mordecai and Estiicr, to abolish his former decree against the Jews. This is, in the Vulg. and Eng. version, ch. xvi, 1-24.
6. At the close of the canonical book, ch. x, 3, the Sept. has a piece in which we are told that Mordecai had now recalled to bis mind his extraordinarj- dream, and seen how literally it had been fulfilled in all its particulars. It also gives us an account of the procla- mation of the Purim festival in Egypt.
The whole book is closed with the following entry : " In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemnsus end Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and
ESTHER
312
ESTHER
Levitc, ami Ptoleni}' his ?on, brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said was tlie same, ami that Ly- simacluis, tiie son of rtolemy, that was in Jerusalem, had interpreted it." This entry was apparent!}' in- tendi'd to give authority to tliis Greek version of EsTiiiCK by pretending that it was a certilied transla- tion from the Hebrew original. Ptolemy Philometor, ■who is here meant, began to reign B.C. 181. He is the same as is frequently mentioned in 1 Mace. (e.g. x, 57 ; xi, 12; conip. Josepii. Ant. xiii, 4, 1 and .5, and Clin- ton, F. II. iii, .'}!•;>)• I>ositheus seems to be a Greek ver- sion of JIattithiah ; Ptolemy was also a common name for Jews at that tim3.
III. Origin, his/oiical Character, and Unity. — The patriotic spirit with which the Jewish nation so fondly expatiated upon the remarkable events and characters of by-gone days, and which gave rise to those beautiful legends preserved in their copious literature, scarcely ever had a better opportunity afforded to it for em- ploying its richly inventive powers to magnify the great Jehovah, embalm the memory of the heroes, and brand the names of the enemies of Israel, than in the canonical book of Esther. Nothing could be more natural for a nation who "have a zeal of God" than to siipplij the name of God, and to piint out more distinct- ly his interposition in their behalf in an inspired book, whicli, though recording their marvellous escape from destruction, had for some reasons omitted avowedly to acknowledge the Lord of Israel. Besides, the book implies and suggests far more than it records, and it cannot be douljted that there are many other things connected with tlie liistory it contains which were well known at the time, and were transmitted to the nation. This is evident from the fact that Josephus (Ant. xi, 6, 6 sq.) gives the edict for the destruction of tlie Jews in the Persian empire, the prayers of Mor- deeai and Esther, and the second edict authorizing the Jews to destroj' their enemies, also mentioning the name of tlie eunuch's servant, a Jew, who betrayed the conspiracy to Mordecai, and citing other passages from the Persian chronicles read to Aliasuerus, besides that relating to Mordscai, and amplifications of the king's speech to Hainan, etc. ; and that the second Targum, the Chaldee, published by De Rossi, and Josippou ben-Gorion (ed. Breithaupt, p. 7-i sq.), give the dream of Mordecai, as well as his prayer and that of Esther.
The first addition which heads the canonical book, and in which Mordecai yore^ees in a dream both the dangers and the salvation of his people, is in accord- ance with the desire to give the whole a more religious tone. The second addition originated from the fact that eh. iii, 13 of the canonical book speaks of the royal edict, hence this piece pretends to give a copy of the said document ; the same is the case with the third addition, which follows ch. iv, 17, and gives the prayers of Mordecai and Esther, for the said passage in the canonical volume relates that Esther ordered prayers to be offered. The fourth addition after ch. v, 1, giving a detailed account of Esther's interview with the king, originated from a desire to give more information upon tlic fact, which is simply alluded to in the canonical passage. The fifth addition, after ch. viii, 13, origin- ated in the same manner as tlie second, viz. in a desire to supply a copy of the royal edict, while the sixth ad- dition, after ch. x, 3, beautifully concludes with an in- teri)retation of the dream with which the first addition commences the canonical volume. From this anal.ysis it will be seen that these suiiplemeiitary and embel- lishing additions are systematically dispersed through the l)ook, and form a well-adjusted and continuous liistory. In the Vulgate, liowever, which is followed by the versions of the lieformers on the Continent and our English translations, where these "additions are torn out of the proper connection and.removed to a separate place, they are most incomprehensible.