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Begin Typing VigilThe Additions to Esther consist of six passages (containing 107 verses not in the Hebrew text), inserted in the LXX text by way of amplification of subjects referred to in the canonical chapters.
It cannot be said that these Additions, which are imaginative reconstructions of a forgotten past, are of great interest or importance. Perhaps as much as two centuries separate their date from that of the canonical portions of Esther, and they emanate from a different centre of Jewish life and thought, which possessed no independent sources of historical information.
Any interest, therefore, that these fragments possess lies not in their power to enlarge our knowledge of the story of Esther, but in the reflection they offer of the religious development of the circle in which they originated.
If we are to attach any weight to the postscript found in the LXX (10:14)—and Ryssel’s reason for rejecting its witness is not sufficient—the translation of canonical Esther dates from not later than 114 B.C.; but it seems unlikely that the Additions were incorporated with the translated portions until after this postscript was appended. The Additions may not all be the work of one author, but they are not translations, and Greek was their original language. It is probable that the Additions, with their slightly Egyptian flavour (cf. the use of ἀδελφός in 5:1, φίλοι in 8:13, the application of the word ‘Macedonian’ to Haman in 8:13, and ἐκτιθέναι in 8:13), were composed in Egypt, where the veneration for the canonical book was naturally not so high as in Palestine, rather than in Palestine by Egyptian Jews temporarily residing there.
But were the Additions made immediately upon the reception of the translation of Esther in Egypt, or only after some time had passed, and interest in the book had been awakened, and a desire aroused in the minds of patriotic Jews to hear the story of Esther in greater detail?
The latter hypothesis seems the more probable. Not only is time required for the creative activity of the imagination to get to work; but the postscript, which with its explicit reference to the translation of Esther must have been appended immediately on the introduction of the translation into Egypt, would surely have been worded differently, if the Additions had been already incorporated.
The date of the Additions, therefore, may be placed in the earlier part of the first century, and they may be regarded as contemporaneous with the Book of Wisdom. They can be referred to Maccabean times (as e.g. by Jacob and V. Ryssel) only by a complete rejection of the witness of the postscript.
Wisdom is the work of an Alexandrian Jew keenly distressed by Egyptian idolatry and by the growing laxity and indifference to the national religion on the part of a large number of the Jews resident in Egypt. The writer of Wisdom represents that more conservative section of the Egyptian Jews in whom the forces of reaction were at work, and who became the more ardently patriotic in proportion as they saw the traditions of their religion neglected.
The Additions to Esther may be accounted for in a similar way. The relations between the domiciled Jews of the Diaspora and the natives of the country were at times far from cordial, and in periods of trial and oppression, when the Jews were driven in upon themselves, it was natural for them to take refuge in the study of their sacred books, and of those especially, such as Esther, which told of the subjection of the heathen to the chosen people. It was only natural that elaborations of these favourite narratives should spring up, and in course of time take their place as authentic parts of the original works.
The Additions are free from all trace of Alexandrine doctrine, but there is no reason to suppose that every Jew residing in Egypt surrendered to the influence of the philosophic atmosphere of Alexandria. The practical purpose with which the Additions were composed would cause their author to eschew the introduction of all foreign elements. His hearers would be of the simpler type, not versed in speculation, but familiar only with the religious ideas of the O.T.; his object would be rather to confirm them in the old than to provide a meeting-place for the old with the new. Accordingly, the Additions might be expected to be strictly orthodox and conservative in tone; and this is exactly what we find. The spirit of simple prayer breathes in them, and trust in God and remembrance of God’s mercies to Israel are especially emphasized.
These deuterocanonical books were received as scripture in many Greek-speaking Jewish and Christian communities.