Adventures in RCIA - The Second/Greek Book of Esther

From my Bible. It says, "Esther, The Greek Version Containing the Additional Chapters"

This one is kind of cool to me because I was named for this woman, and this story.
The differences between the book of Esther in the Protestant canon and the Greek translation used for older/other Bible canons are usually not that striking. At the end, the short discourse on the history and translation (into Greek) of either the whole manuscript or just Mordecai's letter about Purim (I can't be sure which, but probably the latter), is very striking if you're used to the other version, but it still does not change the meaning of the story. No synopsis is required here, as a synopsis could read exactly the same as a synopsis of the Protestant Canon's Hebrew book of Esther.

There are segments in the Greek version that are not in the Hebrew version. For example, the Hebrew version says prayers were made, cries were uttered, and etc. but does not say what exactly was said. The Greek version includes some prayers and some detailed descriptions of what people wore, what position they were in, where they were, the words they said, and so forth. It also at least claims to present the actual decrees when Haman's edict against the Jews and Mordecai and Esther's decree for the Jews. In short, it is more detailed. There also appears to be more direct teaching in this version.

One of the additions includes Mordecai's declaration of the feast of Purim, and in this section it also adds "because lots were cast, and that word means 'lot' in their language." That is something the translators added to clarify the subject of the text for Greek Jewish readers. I think it is useful for us because we are also reading a translated version, even if not in Greek. The fact is usually noted in footnotes, but not everyone reads those.

We do not have, as far as I know, the manuscript this was translated from, so we do not know how old it was. The translators either made some little errors, or something else is a bit funny here and there with the manuscript - either the original they translated from, or the Hebrew versions we are using now. The translators may have dropped the word "not" in a couple of places, for example.  None of the differences change the actual the story though, they change details.

The readers of this version would have been living among gentiles, and had to fight hard to keep to their roots and their faith. Much of the Septuagint books that were not added to the Hebrew Tanakh are very concerned with people holding on to their Jewish ways amid social and cultural pressure to adopt gentile ways. Most of the additional sections in this book do apply very much to that kind of situation; there are parts that read a lot like spiritual teaching on that topic. Esther and Mordecai also faced that situation, though. The Jews were targeted, in both versions of the story, because Mordecai the Jew bowed to no one but YHVH, while the king commanded everyone to bow to Haman. Some parts or aspects of the additions also add romance and strong emotional impact to the comparatively detached and dry (when read in English at least) Hebrew version. The Greeks likely would have valued the increased emotional elements. Perhaps Greek-speaking Jews would too, though perhaps not enough to justify adding to the scriptures over it... I think it could be that the translators added stuff that was not there in order to impact the Greek-speaking Jews, but why alter the story to get people to be faithful to the Truth?

Maybe these additions, or parts of them, were added by translators only, in order to adapt it for their readers. Maybe those additional sections were in the first manuscripts, but got lost or left out somewhere along the line.  I do not know for sure. We have no proof that these additions were in the original, but I don't think we have definitive proof that they were not. An absence of evidence does not guarantee anything. Either way, the Greek book of Esther seems aimed at people who must struggle against erosion and distortion of their faith in a culture that has conflicting values and does not love God. The Greek Jews and the early church surely drew strength from this, as can we.

To me, the difference between the Greek book of Esther and the Hebrew book of Esther is like the difference between the gospel accounts of the Resurrection. If you go through a Christian Bible - no matter which church it is printed for - and read the resurrection accounts in all four Gospels in a row, you'll find they do not perfectly line up. Some details vary, but the message we believe about Jesus altered by differences in details people remembered? No.

Does the Greek rendering of the story change anything for me? Well, it made my namesake more relatable, not that she wasn't already pretty relatable before. Her prayer when she was fasting in preparation for her uninvited visit to the King's throne-room, plus her behavior when she actually went in, particularly intensify the story for me. In the Greek version, she leaned on a maidservant's arm as she entered the throne-room, and nearly fainted a couple of times, yet still did what she had to do. At the very first instant when the doors came open the king was upset, and at the sight of his angry face she lost her strength. Yet at the sight of her - especially in that condition - God touched the king and his heart melted. The king was moved with compassion and went to comfort her. That was part of why he gave her mercy. The account does differ slightly in that he went to her, not she to him, and he touched her with the scepter as opposed to her reaching out to touch the scepter. If this deviation offends you, please read the accounts of the resurrection in all four gospels in one sitting, then return to the question.

The Greek version does not change the meaning of this book on the whole. It mostly just makes it easier to"see" the story in your mind, as it brings it much more to life. If a person prefers the Hebrew version for any reason, I do not think it will cause a problem. I also do not think relying on this one will hurt either, as it is so much the same. I do recommend a read through of both versions before getting too upset, one way or another. The differences are certainly not worth splitting churches or dividing the Body over, at all.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star