View source for Additions to Esther

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{{Books of the Old Testament}}
{{Books of Ketuvim}}
The '''Book of Esther''' is one of the books of the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' ("Writings") of the ''[[Tanakh]]'' (the [[Hebrew Bible]]) and of the Historical Books of the [[Old Testament]].  The ''Book of Esther'' or the '''Megillah''' is the basis for the [[Jewish]] celebration of [[Purim]]. Its full text is read aloud twice during the celebration, in the evening and again the following morning.

==Setting==
The Biblical ''Book of Esther'' is set in the third year of [[Ahasuerus]], a king of Persia who is identified as [[Artaxerxes]] in the Greek version of the book (as well as by [[Josephus]], the Jewish commentary  [[Esther Rabbah]], the Ethiopic translation and the Christian theologian [[Bar-Hebraeus]] who identified him more precisely as [[Artaxerxes II]] <ref>''E A W Budge, ''The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus'', Gorgias Press LLC, reprinted 2003</ref>). It tells a story of palace intrigue and [[genocide]] thwarted by a Jewish queen of Persia.

==Plot summary==
The book commences with a feast organized by Xerxes, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of [[Susa|Shushan]]. Xerxes orders his wife [[Vashti]] to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses. Xerxes removes her as queen. Xerxes then orders all "beautiful young girls to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who had no parents and is being fostered by her cousin [[Mordechai]]. She finds favor in the king's eyes, and is made his new wife. Esther does not reveal that she is Jewish. Shortly afterwards, Mordechai discovers a plot by courtiers Bigthan and Teresh to assassinate Xerxes. They are apprehended and executed, and Mordechai's service to the king is recorded
Xerxes appoints [[Haman]] as his prime minister. Mordechai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman's disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordechai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordechai but all the Jews in the empire. He obtains Xerxes' permission to execute this plan, against payment of ten thousand talents of silver, and he casts lots to choose the date on which to do this - the thirteenth of the month of Adar. When Mordechai finds out about the plans he orders fasting. Esther discovers what has transpired; she requests that all Jews fast and pray for three days together with her, and on the third day she seeks an audience with Xerxes, during which she invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordechai and builds a gallows for him. That night, Xerxes suffers from insomnia, and when the court's records are read to him to help him sleep, he learns of the services rendered by Mordechai in the previous plot against his life. Xerxes is told that Mordechai has not received any recognition for saving the king's life. Just then, Haman appears, and King Xerxes asks Haman what should be done for the man that he wishes to honor. Thinking that the man that the king wishes to honor is him, Haman says that the man should be dressed in the king's royal robes and led around on the king's royal horse, while a [[herald]] calls:  "See how the king honours a man he wishes to reward!" To his horror, the king instructs Haman to do so to Mordechai.

Later that evening, Xerxes and Haman attend Esther's second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including her. Overcome by rage, Xerxes leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation. The king comes back in at this moment and thinks Haman is assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier than before and he orders Haman hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordechai. The previous decree against the Jews cannot be annulled, but the king allows the Jews to defend themselves during attacks. As a result, on 13 Adar, five hundred attackers and Haman's ten sons are killed in Shushan. Mordechai assumes a prominent position in Ahasuerus' court, and institutes an annual commemoration of the delivery of the Jewish people from annihilation.<ref>Esther chapters 9-10</ref>

==Authorship and date==
[[Image:Göttingen-Esther.Rolle.0.JPG|thumb|right|Scroll of Esther (Megillah)]]''Esther'' is usually dated to the third or fourth century BC. Jewish tradition regards it as a [[redaction]] by the [[Great Assembly]] of an original text written by [[Mordecai]].<ref>Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Bathra 15a</ref> 

The Greek additions to Esther (which do not appear in the Jewish/Hebrew; see  "Additions to Esther" below) are dated to the 2nd century BC. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

==Debate over historicity==
As early as the eighteenth century, the lack of clear corroboration of any of the details of the story of the Book of Esther with what was known of [[Persian history]] from classical sources led some scholars{{Fact|date=March 2008}} to doubt that the book was historically accurate.  It was argued that the form of the story seems closer to that of a romance than a work of history, and that many of the events depicted therein are implausible and unlikely.

From the late nineteenth century onwards, several scholars{{Fact|date=March 2008}} explored the theory that the Book of Esther actually was a myth related to the spring festival of Purim which may have had a mixed West-Semitic/Akkadian/Canaanite origin.  According to this interpretation the tale celebrates the triumph of the Babylonian deities [[Marduk]] and [[Ishtar]] (which seem phonetically similar to the names of the heroes in this book - Esther for Ishtar and Marduk for Mordechai) over the deities of [[Elam]] or more likely the renewal of life in the spring and the casting out of the scapegoat of the old year.  Although this view is not widely held by the religious scholars today, it remains well known.  It is explored in depth in the works of [[Theodor Gaster]].

Traditionalists like Joyce G Baldwin, a principal of [[Trinity College, Bristol]], have fought back, arguing that Esther can be seen to derive from real history. For example, some historians occasionally give strong credence to the narrative based upon the traditions of a people. Thus, because the feast of Purim (which is a retelling of the book of Esther) is integral to Jewish history, there is strong reason to believe this story is indeed based upon a true, though obscure, historical event.

Also, based on the derivation of "Ahasuerus" from "Xerxes", identification of Ahasuerus with [[Xerxes I]] is common and parallels between Herodotus' account of Xerxes and the events in ''Esther'' have been noted. Others have argued for different identifications, particularly noting traditions referring to Ahasuerus as "Artaxerxes" in Greek. In 1923, Dr. Jacob Hoschander wrote ''The Book of Esther in the Light of History'', in which he posited that the events of the book occurred during the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon, in the context of a struggle between adherents of the still more-or-less monotheistic [[Zoroastrianism]] and those who wanted to bring back the [[Magi]]an worship of [[Mithra]] and [[Anahita]].

Some Christian readers have also tried to see the story as a Christian allegory, in the same vein as the [[Song of Solomon]]. The various major readings are considered separately in the sections that follow:

==Esther and Babylonian mythology==
{{Original research|section|date=September 2007}}
The ''[[History of Religions]]'' school of thought, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, argued against the historicity of the Bible by drawing comparisons between Biblical narratives and pagan myths. 

The fact that the events of the Book of Esther give rise to the spring festival of [[Purim]] was a reason for scholars arguing that the story emerged from a Babylonian seasonal myth. As the 19th/early 20th century scholars did not have the benefit of the [[Ugaritic]] texts, they sought an origin in Akkadian tradition rather than the more local West Semitic cultures.  In particular, these scholars drew comparisons and parallels between individuals in the ''Book of Esther'' and various real and conjectured Babylonian and Elamite gods and goddesses:

*The name Esther was thought to derive from the similarly sounding [[Ishtar]], the chief Babylonian goddess. Her original Hebrew name ''Hadassah'' was compared with Akkadian ''hadashatu'' said to be a title of Ishtar meaning "bride". 

*The custom of preparing [[homentash]]n at Purim is reminiscent of a description of Ishtar in [[Jeremiah]] 7:18, when it was customary "to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven."

*The name Mordechai was thought to derive from the Babylonian god [[Marduk]]. Marduk is a cousin of Ishtar in Chaldean mythology, as was Mordechai a cousin of Esther. 

*The name Vashti was thought to derive from an [[Elam]]ite goddess named Mashti, although Vashti is a Persian name.

*The name Haman was thought to derive from an Elamite demon named Homayun or Humayun or an Elamite god named Uman or Human (or other variations) or alternatively a Babylonian demon.

*The festival of Purim was thought to derive from various real and conjectured Babylonian or Elamite festivals, including an alleged Elamite or Babylonian festival marking the victory of Ishtar and Marduk over Uman and Mashti, similar to the triumph of Esther and Mordechai over their rivals Haman and Vashti. Other suggestions were that the Babylonian New Year festival (Sumerian ''Zagmuk'', Akkadian ''Akitu'', called ''Sacaea'' by [[Berosus]]) honouring Marduk - it was suggested that ''purim'' ("lots") originally referred to a belief that the gods chose one's fate for the year by lots; the Persian festival of [[Farvardigan]]; or the Greek festival of [[Pithoigia]] ("wine flask opening"), and it was noted that Hebrew for wine press is ''purah'' resembling ''purim''.


These arguments were subsequently thought to be flawed, though there is evidence both for and against them:

*Ishtar was well known to the Jews who officially opposed her worship. Her name in Hebrew scriptures is [[Ashtoreth]] which is phonetically unrelated to Esther despite the superficial similarity when transliterated into English (consonantal root {{Hbrayin}}{{Hbrshin}}{{Hbrtav}}{{Hbrresh}} vs {{Hbraleph}}{{Hbrsamech}}{{Hbrtav}}{{Hbrresh}}). Although the vowelization of the Hebrew name is thought to be a deliberate mispronunciation reflecting the vowels of the word ''bosheth'' denoting a shameful thing, the consonants accurately reflect the original name. "Esther" is most commonly understood to be related to the [[Persian language|Persian]] word for star (cognate with English ''star'') and the [[Median language|Median]] word for myrtle. (See ''[[Esther]]'' for a discussion of the meaning of the name.)

*The Akkadian ''hadashatu'' was not a standard title of Ishtar. It occurs once in a description of Ishtar as a "new bride" and its meaning is "new" not "bride". It is a cognate of Hebrew ''hadash'' (with a guttural ''h'') and is phonetically unrelated to "Hadassah" (consonantal root {{Hbrheth}}{{Hbrdalet}}{{Hbrshin}} vs {{Hbrhe}}{{Hbrdalet}}{{Hbrsamech}}).

*The [[Hamantaschen]] custom originated amongst Jews of Eastern Europe in relatively recent times. In Hebrew they are called "the ears of Haman."

*The name Mordechai is indeed most commonly connected with that of the god Marduk. It is considered equivalent to ''Marduka'' or ''Marduku'', well attested in the Persepolis texts as a genuine name of the period. The [[Talmud]] relates that his full name was Mordecai Bilshan (Megillah 15a). This has been understood as the Babylonian ''Marduk-bel-shunu'' ("Marduk is their lord"). Similar accounts of Jews in exile being assigned names relating to Babylonian gods is seen in the [[Book of Daniel]]. Babylonian gods and goddesses are indeed organized into families making many including Marduk and Ishtar some form of cousins but this is never a point explicitly stated in Babylonian texts.

*An Elamite goddess named Mashti is purely conjectural and unattested in sources, whereas "Vashti" can be understood as a genuine Persian name meaning "beautiful".

*Elamite theophoric elements such as ''Khuban'', ''[[Khumban]]'' or ''Khumma'' are known but are pronounced with an initial guttural consonant and not as Uman or Human or Haman, and are phonetically unrelated to the Persian name Hamayun, Homayun or Humayun, meaning "magnificent". The Babylonian demon is named ''Humbaba'' or ''Huwawa'' which is also pronounced with an initial guttural consonant ''kh'' and unrelated to Haman. The 19th century Bible critic Jensen associated it with the Elamite god Humban, a view dismissed by later scholars.

*An Elamite or Babylonian festival marking a victory of Ishtar and Marduk over alleged Uman and Mashti is purely conjectural and unattested in sources. The Babylonian New Year occurs at a very different date from Purim (in the month of ''Nisan'' not ''Adar''). A decision of fate by lots by the gods is not attested in any sources. [[Farvardigan]] was a five-day commemoration of the dead bearing no resemblance to Purim. Pithoigia also occurs at a different time to Purim and although Purim is celebrated with wine drinking this is not its focus; moreover the plural of the Hebrew for wine press is ''puroth'' not ''purim''.

Nonetheless, there are some similarities between some Baybylonain myths and the story of Esther. As for [[Haman]], several etymologies have been proposed for this name. It may be related to the Persian name Omanes, recorded by Greek historians or with the Persian name Vohuman meaning "good thoughts". It may be derived from the Persian word ''Hamayun'' meaning "illustrious" or "magnificent", or from Homayun, or Humayun, or from the sacred drink Haoma.

==Historical reading==
Those arguing in favour of an historical reading of Esther, most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II (ruled 405 - [[359 BC|359 B.C.]]) although in the past it was often assumed that he was [[Xerxes I]] (ruled 486 - [[465 BC|465 B.C.]]).

The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''Ahasuerus'' is most likely derived from [[Persian language|Persian]] ''Khshayarsha'', the origin of the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Xerxes''. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] wrote that Xerxes sought his [[Harem (household)|harem]] after being defeated in the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem with the exception of a domineering [[Queen consort]] [[Amestris]], a daughter of one of his generals, Otanes. ([[Ctesias]] however refers to a father-in-law and general of Xerxes named Onaphas). Amestris has often been identified with [[Vashti]] in the past. The identification is problematic however - Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, [[Artaxerxes I]] while Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes's reign. (Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with [[Esther]], although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail.) The name ''Marduka'' or ''Marduku'' (considered equivalent to ''Mordecai'') has been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius, and may refer to up to four individuals with the possibility that one of these is the Biblical Mordecai.

The Septuagint version of Esther however translates the name Ahasuerus as ''Artaxerxes'' - a Greek name derived from the [[Persian language|Persian]]: ''Artakhshatra''. [[Josephus]] too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks and the [[Midrash]]ic text, ''Esther Rabba'' also makes the identification. [[Bar-Hebraeus]] identified Ahasuerus explicitly as [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]]. This is not to say that the names are equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name ''Artaxerxes'' distinct from ''Ahasuerus'' and a direct Greek rendering of ''Ahasuerus'' is used by Josephus as well as in Septuagint occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Rather the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also ''Arshu'', understood as a shortening of ''Achshiyarshu'' the Babylonian rendering of the Persian ''Khshayarsha'' (Xerxes) through which the Hebrew ''Achashverosh'' (Ahasuerus) is derived.<ref name="Hosch">Jacob Hoschander, ''The Book of Esther in the Light of History'', Oxford University Press, 1923</ref> [[Ctesias]] related that Artaxerxes II was also called ''Arsicas'' which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix ''-ke'' that is applied to shortened names. [[Deinon]] related that Artaxerxes II was also called ''Oarses'' which is also understood to be derived from ''Khshayarsha''.<ref name="Hosch"/>

Another view attempts to identify him instead with [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes I]] (ruled 465 - [[424 BC|424 B.C.]]) - the latter had a Babylonian concubine, [[Kosmartydene]], who was the mother of his son [[Darius II of Persia|Darius II]] (ruled 424 - [[405 BC|405 B.C.]]). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.

Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the ''[[Book of Tobit]]'' is identical with that of the ''Book of Esther'', some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar's ally [[Cyaxares]] (ruled 625 - [[585 BC|585 B.C.]]). In certain manuscripts of Tobit the former is called ''Achiachar'' which like the [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''Cyaxares'' is thought to be derived from [[Persian language|Persian]]: ''Akhuwakhshatra''. Depending on the interpretation of ''Esther'' 2:5-6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from [[Jerusalem]] with [[Jeconiah]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]], in [[597 BC|597 B.C.]]. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested.

Jacob Hoschander has argued that evidence of the historicity of Haman and his father Hamedatha is seen in ''Omanus'' and ''Anadatus'' mentioned by [[Strabo]] as being honoured with Anahita in the city of [[Zile|Zela]]. Hoschander argues that these were not deities as Strabo supposed but garbled forms of "Haman" and "Hamedatha" who were being worshipped as martyrs. The names are indeed unattested in Persian texts as gods.<ref name="Hosch"/> (Attempts have been made to connect both "Omanus" and "Haman" with the Zoroastrian term [[Vohu Mana]], however this denotes the principle of "Good Thoughts" and is not the name of a deity.)

Whenever the book was written and whatever the historicity of the events recounted in it, clearly by the time it was written the term "Yehudim" (יהודים - Jews) already gained a meaning quite close to what it means up to the present - i.e. an ethnic-religious group, scattered in many countries, organised in autonomous communities and the target of intense hatred by fanatic groups.

==Allegorical reading==
{{Expand-section|date=May 2008}}
There are many classical Jewish readings of allegories into the book of Esther, mostly from Hasidic sources.  They say that the literal meaning is true, however there is hidden behind this historical account many allegories.

Some Christian readers consider this story to contain an allegory, representing the interaction between the church as 'bride' and [[God]].  This reading is related to the allegorical reading of the [[Song of Solomon]] and to the theme of the Bride of God, which in Jewish tradition manifests as the [[Shekinah]].

==Relation to the rest of the Bible==
''Esther'' is (in the Hebrew version) one of only two books of the Bible that do not explicitly mention [[God]] (the other is [[Song of Songs|the Song of Songs]], which is sometimes read as a metaphor for God's relationship with the Israelites). It is the only book of the [[Tanakh]] that is not represented among the [[Dead Sea scrolls]].  It has often been compared to the first half of the [[Book of Daniel]] and to the [[Biblical apocrypha|deuterocanonical]] Books of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]] and [[Book of Judith|Judith]] for its subject matter.  

The story is also the first time that the word Jew (יְהוּדִי) was used.  Before this, Jews were referred to as [[Hebrews]] or [[Israelites]]. Moreover, whatever the historical validity of the specific events depicted, the book clearly reflects a situation in which Jews were an ethnic-religious minority - scattered in many countries, organised in self-contained, self-governing communities and subjected to intensive and sometimes violent hatred by some members of the surrounding society. Clearly, whenever the book was actually composed, a phenomenon which can already be identified as a kind of [[antisemitism]] was in existence - whether or not Haman is an actual historical character.

==Additions to ''Esther''==
An additional six chapters appear interspersed in ''Esther'' in the [[Septuagint]], the Greek translation, which then was noted by [[Jerome]] in compiling the Latin [[Vulgate]]; additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. The extra chapters include several prayers to God, perhaps because it was felt that the above-mentioned lack of mention of God was inappropriate in a holy book. Jerome recognized them as additions not present in the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Text]] and placed them at the end of his Latin translation as chapters 10:4-16:24. However, some modern Catholic English Bibles restore the Septuagint order, such as [http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/index.htm#esther Esther] in the [[New American Bible|NAB]].

By the time ''Esther'' was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the [[Macedon]]ians of [[Alexander the Great]], who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the [[Septuagint]] version noticeably calls Haman a Macedonian where the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite.

The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the [[Septuagint]] –- [[Martin Luther]], being perhaps the most vocal [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} Luther's complaints against the book carried past the point of scholarly critique, and reflect Luther's antisemitism.

The [[Council of Trent]], the summation of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Counter-Reformation]], declared the entire book, both Hebrew text and Greek additions, to be canonical. While modern Roman Catholic scholars openly recognize the Greek additions as clearly being additions to the text, the ''Book of Esther'' is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition, the readings also are the prayer of [[Mordecai]], and nothing of [[Esther]]'s own words is ever used. The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] uses the Septuagint version of ''Esther'', as it does for all of the Old Testament. The additions are specifically listed in the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]], Article VI, of the [[Church of England]]:<ref>[http://www.episcopalian.org/pbs1928/articles/AnglicanTeaching/041.htm Article VI: OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR SALVATION]</ref> "The rest of the Book of Esther".

Some scholars suggest that ''Additions to Esther'' is the work of an Egyptian Jew, writing around 170 BCE, who sought to give the book a more religious tone, and to suggest that the Jews were saved from destruction because of their piety.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Esther Rabbah includes all of ''Additions to Esther'' save the "letter texts". It is these "letter texts" that contain the ahistorical assertions that Haman was a Greek.

==Reinterpretations of the story==
The 2006 film ''[[One Night with the King]]'' is loosely based on the Biblical story of Esther.

The classic 1960 Hollywood film version of the story, ''Esther and the King'' was directed by [[Raoul Walsh]] starring [[Joan Collins]] and [[Richard Egan (actor)|Richard Egan]].

In 1992 a 30-minute, fully-animated video, twelfth in [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s bestselling ''[[The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible|The Greatest Adventure]]'' series, titled ''Queen Esther'' features the voices of [[Helen Slater]] as Queen Esther, [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]] as King Ahasuerus, [[Werner Klemperer]] as Haman, and [[Ron Rifkin]] as Mordecai.<ref>[http://www.booksofthebible.com/p1958.html Hanna-Barbera's Greatest Adventure Series Videos - Queen Esther]</ref><ref>[http://www.earthling.com/cgi-bin/google.fcgi/itemKey=1923000071 The Greatest Adventure Stories From The Bible]</ref>

There are several paintings depicting Esther, including one by [[John Everett Millais|Millais]].

''[[VeggieTales]]'' also made an animated version entitled ''[[Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen]]''.

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Book of Esther| ]]
[[Category:Books of the Hebrew Bible|Esther]]