Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Niemand
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Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

Post by Niemand »

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Roman Catholic and Orthodox Bibles have a number of extra verses (107) in the Book of Esther, which are not known from the original Hebrew but do appear in Greek manuscripts. In Protestant Bibles, if they appear at all, they are separated into the Apocrypha. This puts them in a similar position to the additions to Daniel which I've already mentioned.

Esther is a very strange book, and some have questioned whether the whole thing should be in the Old Testament at all. The main characters Esther and Mordecai/Mardocheus have names that resemble those of the Babylonian deities Ishtar and Marduk, and there are other odd features. The book in its Hebrew form remains popular with Jews who base their Purim festival on it. Even so it appears to have been one of the last books to enter the Jewish canon.

The big problem with the Hebrew version of Esther is that it barely mentions God and that is partly why the Greek additions seem to have been added. God is mentioned fifty times in the additions. There are also some very Jewish additions, e.g. about kosher diet, not drinking wine given to pagan gods and also Gentiles being circumcised and converted. The only Jewish practice mentioned in the Hebrew is fasting, which is not something unique to Abrahamic religions.

The interpolations emphasise Esther's beauty and also make her more helpless than her addition-free counterpart.

The additions do not all appear to have been added by the same person.

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ ... ons-Esther
The six passages making up the Additions to Esther are identified by letters. Each passage may be briefly summarized.

Addition A (11:2-12:6) is a dream of Mordecai in which two great dragons appear ready to fight. A tiny spring grew into a great river when the righteous nation cried to God. Mordecai later overheard two eunuchs plotting against the king. He reported them and was rewarded by appointment to a high office. All this precedes Esther 1:1.

Addition B (13:1-7) is the text of the edict of Ahasuerus (Gr. has Artaxerxes) against the Jews. It is to be inserted after 3:13.

Addition C (13:8-14:19) gives the prayers of Mordecai and Esther. It follows 4:17.

Addition D (15:1-16; Lat. 15:4-19) is an elaboration of 5:1, 2 and should be inserted before 5:3. This passage describes the anger of the king at Esther’s intrusion, but God changed the king’s heart and attitude toward Esther.

Addition E (16:1-24) gives the text of the edict of Ahasuerus in behalf of the Jews. This passage follows 8:12.

Addition F (10:4-11:1), which follows 10:3, is the interpretation of Mordecai’s dream. The two dragons are Mordecai and Haman, and the tiny spring is Esther. The “lots” of Purim are two destinies, a “lot” for the Jews and a “lot” for the Gentiles.
Discrepancies. The many discrepancies introduced by the Additions make it difficult to accept them as original parts of the text. The attitude of Esther toward the king in 2:15-18 is not at all the same as that given in 14:15, 16. The irrevocable edict of 1:19 and 8:8 is revoked in 16:17. Haman is hanged in 7:10; crucified in 16:18. The Jews only are to keep Purim in 9:20-32, but all Persians are instructed to keep it in 16:22. Other contradictions are found when 2:16-19 is compared with 11:3-12:1; 2:21-23 and 6:3, 4 with 12:5; 3:5 with 12:6; 5:4-8 with 14:7; and 3:1 with 16:10.
NB- I don't endorse the use of "BCE".
https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblic ... -to-Esther
To bring the canonical book up-to-date in connection with contemporary anti-Semitism and to stress the religious meaning of the story, additions were made in its Greek translation. These Greek additions are (1) the dream of Mordecai (Esther’s uncle), a symbolic vision written in the spirit of apocalyptic literature; (2) the edict of King Artaxerxes (considered by some to be Artaxerxes II, but more probably Xerxes) against the Jews, containing arguments taken from classical anti-Semitism; (3) the prayers of Mordecai and of Esther, containing apologies for what is said in the Book of Esther—Mordecai saying that he refused to bow before Haman (the grand vizier) because he is flesh and blood and Esther saying that she strongly detests her forced marriage with the heathen king; (4) a description of Esther’s audience with the King, during which the King’s mood was favourably changed when he saw that Esther had fallen down in a faint; (5) the decree of Artaxerxes on behalf of the Jews, in which Haman is called a Macedonian who plotted against the King to transfer the kingdom of Persia to the Macedonians; and (6) the interpretation of Mordecai’s dream and a colophon (inscription at the end of a manuscript with publication facts), where the date, namely, “the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra” (i.e., 114 BCE), is given. This indicates that the additions in the Greek Esther were written in Egypt under the rule of the Ptolemies.
Other posts by me about the Apocrypha
This is an ongoing series about the Roman and Orthodox Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical book.

1 Esdras
viewtopic.php?p=1343974

2 Esdras (the most relevant book in the Apocrypha?)
viewtopic.php?p=1344302

Tobit
viewtopic.php?p=1341501#p1341501

Prayer of Azarias (Azariah) and Hymn of the Three Children
viewtopic.php?t=69264

Bel and the Dragon (quoted in full, KJV)
viewtopic.php?t=69261

Book of Susanna
viewtopic.php?t=69386

Book of Judith
viewtopic.php?t=69402

The Book of Sirach, Ecclesiasticus, the NT, the BOM and the other Jesus
viewtopic.php?t=69412

Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy/Jeremiah
viewtopic.php?p=1346145

Prayer of Mannases (aka Mannaseh; quoted in full KJV)
viewtopic.php?t=69263

Psalm 151 (quoted in full, NRSV)
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Epistle to the Laodiceans (NT, quoted in full Wycliffe's translation, )
viewtopic.php?t=64025&p=1208281
Last edited by Niemand on January 27th, 2023, 4:52 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Mordecai's Dream
Image

I do not think this is authentic but there is little heretical about it that I can see. The dream is reminscent of material elsewhere in scripture including the Book of Mormon.

The fight between the two dragons is also reminiscent of a story in Arthurian legend.

Additions to 11
1In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemeus and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and Levite, and Ptolemeus his son, brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said was the same, and that Lysimachus the son of Ptolemeus, that was in Jerusalem, had interpreted it.

2 In the second year of the reign of Artexerxes the great, in the first day of the month Nisan, Mardocheus [Mordecai] the son of Jairus, the son of Semei, the son of Cisai, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream;

3 Who was a Jew, and dwelt in the city of Susa, a great man, being a servitor in the king's court.

4 He was also one of the captives, which Nabuchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar] king of Babylon carried from Jerusalem with Jechonias king of Judea; and this was his dream:

5 Behold a noise of a tumult, with thunder, and earthquakes, and uproar in the land:

6 And, behold, two great dragons came forth ready to fight, and their cry was great.

7 And at their cry all nations were prepared to battle, that they might fight against the righteous people.

8 And lo a day of darkness and obscurity, tribulation and anguish, affliction and great uproar, upon earth.

9 And the whole righteous nation was troubled, fearing their own evils, and were ready to perish.

10 Then they cried unto God, and upon their cry, as it were from a little fountain, was made a great flood, even much water.

11 The light and the sun rose up, and the lowly were exalted, and devoured the glorious.

12 Now when Mardocheus, who had seen this dream, and what God had determined to do, was awake, he bare this dream in mind, and until night by all means was desirous to know it.


Additions to Esther 10
4 Then Mardocheus [Mordecai] said, God hath done these things.

5 For I remember a dream which I saw concerning these matters, and nothing thereof hath failed.

6 A little fountain became a river, and there was light, and the sun, and much water: this river is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen:

7 And the two dragons are I and Aman.

8 And the nations were those that were assembled to destroy the name of the Jews:

9 And my nation is this Israel, which cried to God, and were saved: for the Lord hath saved his people, and the Lord hath delivered us from all those evils, and God hath wrought signs and great wonders, which have not been done among the Gentiles.

10 Therefore hath he made two lots, one for the people of God, and another for all the Gentiles.

11 And these two lots came at the hour, and time, and day of judgment, before God among all nations.

12 So God remembered his people, and justified his inheritance.

13 Therefore those days shall be unto them in the month Adar, the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the same month, with an assembly, and joy, and with gladness before God, according to the generations for ever among his people.


Minor piece of interest here – one of a handful of references to India in the Apocrypha. This is from Esther 13's addition. Another is in Esther 16.
The copy of the letters was this: The great king Artexerxes writeth these things to the princes and governours that are under him from India unto Ethiopia in an hundred and seven and twenty provinces.

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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Additions to Esther (KJV) audiobook - 19 minutes
Additional info
https://www.abibleaday.com/bible-books/expanded-esther/
This complete text of Esther includes five additional sections inserted into Esther’s story:

Prologue: Added prior to Esther 1:1, this section tells of Mordecai’s prophetic dream and his successful efforts to save the king from an assassination attempt. This sparks Haman’s hatred of Mordecai and establishes the reason for the king’s future honoring of Mordecai.

Haman’s Letter: Inserted between Esther 3:14 and 3:15 is the text of Haman’s letter, under the seal of the king, that orders the annihilation of all Jews living across the land.

Prayers: Added after Esther 4:17 are two prayers. Mordecai’s prayer comes first, followed by a longer prayer from Esther. Esther’s prayer reveals her thoughts about her position as queen, which she loathes as an anathema to her devote Jewish faith. This section concludes with Esther approaching the king and God’s provision when she does.

Counter Decree: Inserted between Esther 8:12 and 13 is the decree issued my Mordecai, also under the king’s authority, to allow the Jews to defend themselves and seek revenge against their enemies.

Epilogue: Added after Esther 10:3 is a follow-up text, mostly a quote of Mordecai.

The expanded version of Esther is an Apocrypha text and not included in all versions of the Bible.


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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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Niemand
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

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An LDS reading of the Book of Esther (KJV) including the apocryphal sections, from Restored Ephraim publications. Just under an hour long.
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TheDuke
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Re: Additions to Esther (Apocrypha)

Post by TheDuke »

Try reading Josephus and his historical take on Esther it makes political sense to me more than religious learning

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