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LXX Esther

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 6

1 But the Lord removed sleep from the king⁠ that night: and he told his teacher to bring in the books, the registers of daily events, to read to him. 2 And he found the records written concerning Mordecai, how he had told the king concerning the two chamberlains of the king, when they were keeping guard, and sought to lay hands on Artaxerxes. 3 And the king said, What honor or favor have we done to Mordecai? And the king's servants said, You have not done anything to him. 4 And while the king was inquiring about the kindness of Mordecai, look, Haman was in the court. And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had come in to speak to the king, that he should hang Mordecai on the gallows, which he had prepared. 5 And the king's servants said, Look, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, Call him. 6 And the king said to Haman, What shall I do to the man whom I wish to honor? And Haman said within himself, Whom would the king honor but myself? 7 and he said to the king, As for the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let the king's servants bring the robe of fine linen which the king puts on, and the horse on which the king rides, 9 and let him give it to one of the king's noble friends, and let him array the man whom the king loves; and let him mount him on the horse, and proclaim through the street of the city, saying, Thus shall it be done to every man whom the king honors. 10 Then the king said to Haman, You have well said: so do to Mordecai the Jew, who waits in the palace, and let not a word of what you have spoken be neglected. 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and mounted him on the horse, and went through the street of the city, and proclaimed, saying, Thus shall it be to every man whom the king wishes to honor. 12 And Mordecai returned to the palace: but Haman went home mourning, and having his head covered. 13 And Haman related the events that had happened to him to Zeresh his wife, and to his friends: and his friends and his wife said to him, If Mordecai is of the race of the Jews, and you have begun to be humbled before him, you will assuredly fall, and you will not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him.⁠ 14 While they were yet speaking, the chamberlains arrived, to hasten Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

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Compare Esther 6:13 and LXX Esther 6:13

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

In the Hebrew version of Esther, Haman’s wife and friends warn that he cannot beat a Jewish rival. The Greek Septuagint translation has them give the reason, that God is with Mordecai, changing the story to make God explicit.

Passages

Esther 6:13

Hebrew Bible
12 Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head. 13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!” 14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Esther

LXX Esther 6:13

Septuagint
12 And Mordecai returned to the palace: but Haman went home mourning, and having his head covered. 13 And Haman related the events that had happened to him to Zeresh his wife, and to his friends: and his friends and his wife said to him, If Mordecai is of the race of the Jews, and you have begun to be humbled before him, you will assuredly fall, and you will not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him. 14 While they were yet speaking, the chamberlains arrived, to hasten Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Esther

References

… intermediary, charges Esther to entreat the king on behalf of her people. To this the Septuagint adds that Mordecai bid her ἐπικάλεσαι τὸν κύριον ‘Call upon the Lord’. At 6.1, on the night before Haman plans to hang Mordecai, the king is sleepless. According to the Greek narrator, ὁ δὲ κύριος ἀπέστησεν τὸν ὕπνον ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην ‘But the Lord kept sleep from the king that night’. At 6.13 Haman’s wife and friends tell him that if Mordecai is Jewish, Haman cannot prevail against him. The Greek adds, ὅτι θεὸς ζῶν μετʼ αὐτοῦ ‘because a living god is with him’. …
Cameron Boyd-Taylor, “Esther and Additions to Esther,” in The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint, ed. James K. Aitken, Bloomsbury Companions (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), 214–215.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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