Difference between revisions of "The Rest Of Esther"

The Rest Of Esther <ref name="term_3550" />  

<p> Introductory </p> <p> 1. Name </p> <p> 2. Contents </p> <p> 3. Original [[Language]] </p> <p> 4. [[Versions]] </p> <p> 5. Date </p> <p> Literature </p> <h4> Introductory </h4> <p> The Book of Esther in the oldest manuscripts of the [[Septuagint]] (B,A,N, etc.) contains 107 verses more than in the [[Hebrew]] Bible. These additions are scattered throughout the book where they were originally inserted in order to supply the religious element apparently lacking in the Hebrew text. In Jerome's version and in the Vulgate, which is based on it, the longest and most important of these additions are taken out of their context and put together at the end of the canonical book, thus making them to a large extent unintelligible. In English, [[Welsh]] and other Protestant versions of the [[Scriptures]] the whole of the additions appear in the Apocrypha. </p> <p> 1. Name </p> <p> In the English Versions of the [[Bible]] the full title is "The Rest of the Chapters of the Book of Esther, which are found neither in the Hebrew, nor in the Chaldee." Since in the Septuagint, including the editions by Fritzsche, Tischendorf and Swete, these chapters appear in their original context, they bear no separate title. The same is true of Brereton's English translation of the Septuagint; but in Thompson's translation the whole of the [[Apocrypha]] is omitted, so that it is not strictly a translation of the whole Septuagint. </p> <p> 2. Contents </p> <p> In Swete's edition of the Septuagint the interpretations constituting "the Rest of Esther" (sometimes given as "Additions to Esther") are designated by the capital letters of the alphabet, and in the following enumeration this will be followed. The several places in the [[Greek]] Bible are indicated in each case. </p> <p> A (Latin, English, Ad Est 11:2 through 12:6): Mordecai's dream; how he came to honor. Precedes Esther 1:1 . </p> <p> B (Latin, English, Ad Est 13:1-7): Letter of Artaxerxes. Follows Esther 3:13 . </p> <p> C (Latin, English, Ad Est 13:8 through 14:19): The prayers of [[Mordecai]] and Esther. Follows Esther 4:17 . </p> <p> D (Latin, Ad Est 15:4-19; English, 16:1-16): Esther visits the king and wins his favor. Follows C, preceding immediately Esther 5:1-14 . </p> <p> E (Latin, English, Ad Est 16:1-24): Another letter of Artaxerxes. Follows Esther 8:12 . </p> <p> F (Latin, English, Ad Est 10:4 through 11): Epilogue describing the origin of the [[Feast]] Purim. Follows Esther 10:3 . </p> <p> But besides the lengthy interpolations noticed above there are also in the Septuagint small additions omitted from the [[Latin]] and therefore from the English, Welsh, etc., Apocrypha. These short additions are nearly all explanatory glosses. </p> <p> In the <i> Century Bible </i> (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) the exact places where the insertions occur in the Septuagint are indicated and described in the notes dealing with the relevant passages of the canonical text. With the help thus given any English reader is able to read the additions in their original setting. Unless they are read in this way they are pointless and even in most cases senseless. </p> <p> 3. Original Language </p> <p> All scholars agree that "The Rest of Esther" was written originally in Greek Both external and internal evidence bears this out. But the Greek text has come down to us in two recensions which differ considerably. </p> <p> (1) The commonly received text supported by the manuscripts B, A, N, and by [[Josephus]] ( <i> Ant. </i> , XI, i). </p> <p> (2) A revision of (1) contained in the manuscripts 19, 93 <i> a </i> and 108 <i> b </i> . In the last two manuscripts both recensions occur. This revised text has been ascribed by many recent scholars (Lagarde, Schürer, R. H. Charles) to Lucian. In his <i> Libr. Vet. Test. Canon. Graece </i> , <i> Pars [[Prior]] </i> , <i> 1833 </i> (all published), Lagarde gives on parallel pages both recensions with critical notes on both. </p> <p> 4. Versions </p> <p> The two Greek texts are also given by [[Fritzsche]] (1871) and Swete (1891) in their editions of the Septuagint, and also by Scholz in his German <i> [[Commentary]] on the Book of Esther </i> (1892). </p> <p> For the ancient versions see "Esther Versions." </p> <p> 5. Date </p> <p> Practically all modern scholars agree in holding that "The Rest of Esther" is some decades later than the canonical book. In his commentary on Est ( <i> Century Bible </i> ) the present writer has given reasons for dating the canonical Est about 130 bc. One could not go far astray in fixing the date of the original Greek of the Additions to Esther at about 100 bc. It is evident that we owe these interpolations to a [[Jewish]] zealot who wished to give the Book of Est a religious character. In his later years John [[Hyrcanus]] (135-103 bc) identified himself with the Sadducean or rationalistic party, thus breaking with the [[Pharisee]] or orthodox party to which the Maccabeans had hitherto belonged. Perhaps we owe these additions to the zeal aroused among orthodox Jews by the rationalizing temper prevailing in court circles. R. H. [[Charles]] ( <i> [[Encyclopedia]] Brit </i> , XI, 797 <i> b </i> ) favors a date during the early (?) Maccabean period; but this would give the Ad Esther an earlier date than can be ascribed to the canonical Esther. </p> <h4> Literature </h4> <p> See the literature cited above, and in addition note the following: Fritzsche, <i> Exegetisches Handbuch zu den Apokryphen </i> (1851), 67-108; Schürer, <i> History of the Jewish People </i> , II, iii, 181ff (Ger. edition 4, III, 449ff); Ryssel (in Kautzsch, <i> Apocrypha </i> , 193ff); Swete, <i> Introduction to the Old [[Testament]] in Greek </i> , 257 if; the articles in the principal Bible Dictionaries, including <i> Jewish Encyclopedia </i> and <i> Encyclopedia Britannica </i> (11th edition). See also under Esther . </p>