Additions to the Book of Esther
A series of six extended writings to the original Book of Esther. These were originally written in Greek, not Hebrew, and are numbered as chapters 11-16 (or sometimes as additions A-F), placing them after the canonized ten chapters of the book. Key differences from the original: God is mentioned 50-some times in the additions but was never mentioned in the Hebrew chapters; the Jews are portrayed as deeply religious, while in the original, they are cast as an ethnic minority, not a religious one; Esther is portrayed as keeping kosher, which she wasn’t in the original; she’s portrayed as a weak, helpless woman rather than strong and confident, and, she’s no longer the heroine of the story, but simply a bit player in God’s heroic triumph.
- Chapter 11/Addition A: In this version of the story, Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, has a vivid prophetic dream, filled with dragons, thunder, lightning, and earthquakes. This, along with the overheard gossip (Chapter 2) of the king’s eunuchs, leads him to inform the king. In the original, there was no dream involved. And second, in this version, the two gossiping eunuchs turn out to be Haman’s men, and this is touted as the reason Haman goes after Mordecai, versus the whole scene in Chapter 3 where Mordecai refuses, as a Jew, to bow to Haman.
- Chapter 12/Addition B: You can begin to see how this was written well into the Christian era, and by outside forces. In Chapter 3, King Ahasuerus, here called Artaxerxes, writes a decree to all the provinces, on Haman’s say-so, to exterminate the Jews. The only detail we know is that Haman is incensed by Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to him. In this version, the letter enumerates the perverse crimes of the Jews – practicing strange rituals, leading a different lifestyle, and clearly, acting in concert for the destruction not only of his kingdom, but all the other nations of the world.
- Chapter 13/Addition C: There’s not much to this chapter, simply revisiting Moredecai’s and Esther’s prayers for the deliverance of the Jewish people from chapter 4. What’s changed, is that, as noted above, the prayers now mention God repeatedly, which they didn’t in the original, calling out to him as Lord, as God, as King.
- Chapter 14/Addition D: Two changes to the original chapter 5. First, before entering the king’s chambers, Esther fortifies herself with prayers – that wasn’t mentioned and/or didn’t happen in the original. And, when she enters the king’s chambers, in the original, as soon as he saw her he was overcome by her beauty and beckoned her to join him. In this addition, he sees her standing there and is incensed and angry – no reason given – and God has to step in and “change his spirit”, after which he rushes to her side, takes her in his arms, and comforts her.
- Chapter 15/Addition E: E and F are reversed in order simply based on which part of Esther they cover – their lettering/numbering probably having been an error in the original scribing. We jump to post-Haman, he having been taken out by the discoveries of Mordecai and revelations of Esther. At the end of Chapter 8 and early 9, King Ahasuerus had sent out a letter countermanding Haman’s to kill all Jews, and rather, to befriend them and make them welcome. The additions here add in a couple of paragraphs about Haman’s character – pointing out that he was, you know, a foreigner, from Persia (Iran) no less, and you know how they are, and I (the king) never liked him in the first place.
- Chapter 16/Addition F: We close out the additions on Mordecai musing about his memories of his prophetic dream – you know, the one that didn’t happen in the original book, but was added by Greek Christians in order to give a more religious bent to the text. Mordecai concludes that indeed, he, and the Jews, were blessed and aided by God, from the dream to all that came to pass afterwards.