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The Hebrew version of Esther described her motivated by concern for her people and relatives. The Greek Septuagint changes this so she focuses on her own safety, harmonizing her words with an earlier warning that she could perish despite her position.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Esther 8:6
Hebrew Bible
4 When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she arose and stood before the king. 5 She said, “If the king is so inclined, and if I have met with his approval, and if the matter is agreeable to the king, and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?” 7 King Ahasuerus replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have already given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he took hostile action against the Jews.
Date: 200–101 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Esther 8:6
Septuagint
4 Then the king stretched out to Esther the golden scepter: and Esther arose to stand near the king. 5 And Esther said, If it seems good to you, and I have found favor in your sight, let an order be sent that the letters sent by Haman may be reversed, that were written for the destruction of the Jews, who are in your kingdom. 6 For how shall I be able to look upon the affliction of my people, and how shall I be able to survive the destruction of my country? 7 And the king said to Esther, If I have given and freely granted you all that was Haman's, and hanged him on a gallows, because he laid his hands upon the Jews, what do you yet further seek?
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In the second part of the sentence, in the Masoretic text Esther expresses concern for her relatives, while in the LXX she is concerned about her own safety. This interpretation in the LXX is probably directly related to Mordecai’s warning in 4:3 ‘Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace’ ..."
Emanuel Tov, The LXX Translation of Esther: A Paraphrastic Translation of MT or a Free Translation of a Rewritten Version? (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 507–526.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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