The Deuterocanon
Additions to Esther
The Greek Esther prays, the name of God spoken aloud in a book that never said it.
The Greek version of Esther is about a hundred and seven verses longer than the Hebrew, and the additions do something pointed: they put God into a book that had conspicuously left him out. Where the Hebrew Esther never mentions God, prayer, or the law, the Greek gives Mordecai a dream, both of them long prayers, and the text of the royal decrees. Jerome moved these passages to the end of the book when he translated the Vulgate, which is why they appear in some Bibles as a strange appendix with jumbled verse numbers. Catholics and Orthodox receive them as part of Esther; Anglicans and Protestants print them, when they print them, among the Apocrypha.
If you remember one thing
The Hebrew Esther never says the name of God. These additions do, repeatedly, which tells you something about how uncomfortable that silence made later readers.
Who, when, and why
- Written
- Greek expansions to Esther.
- First readers
- Greek-speaking Jews.
- Why it was written
- To supply the prayers and divine references the Hebrew Esther leaves out.
How it is shaped
- Addition AMordecai's dream
- Addition BThe king's decree
- Addition CThe prayers of Mordecai and Esther
- Addition DEsther before the king
- Additions E and FThe counter-decree, and the dream interpreted
What it keeps coming back to
A verse to carry
“O God, whose might is over all, hear the voice of the despairing, and save us from the hands of evildoers. And save me from my fear.”
Esther 14:19 (Greek)
Passages that trouble readers
Canon and arrangement
Jerome moved these passages to the end of the book, which is why they appear in some Bibles as an appendix with confusing verse numbers. Catholics and Orthodox receive them; Protestants print them, if at all, among the Apocrypha.
Named here rather than skipped. Where Christians read a passage differently, we say so instead of choosing for you.
Who receives this book
Read within Esther in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles; printed separately in the Apocrypha.
No one from this book has a write-up yet. The hall is still filling.
A quiz for Additions to Esther is on the workbench. In the meantime, the games for the judges, the kings, and the prophets are open.