16.2–6 The decree opens with a general lesson drawn from this experience about pride, loyalty, gratitude, and deceit.
16.4 Even the king now acknowledges that human plans stand under divine judgment.
16.5–6 So far the king asserts his own innocence: he was deceived by one he trusted as friend.
16.7–16 The general lesson of vv. 1–16 is now brought to the immediate events at hand.
16.7 Ancient records, possibly monuments and inscriptions available for all to consult.
16.8–9 The king almost admits his guilt, or at least his negligence. His motives remain, as he stated in 13.2, the welfare and peace of the kingdom.
16.10 Macedonian, a reproach; cf. Bougean in 12.6.
16.11–13 The alien Haman, who was valued as father to the king (13.6), but plotted to kill him, is contrasted with the aliens Mordecai, who acted truly as royal benefactor and savior, and Esther, who is recognized as a blameless partner in the rule of the empire (see 15.9).
16.14 That treason, not revenge for slighted honor, might have motivated Haman suggests that this is the king’s view of matters, in contrast to how Mordecai and Esther would perceive Haman’s plot against their co-religionists.
16.15–16 Here and in vv. 18, 21 the king again acknowledges the guiding hand of the living God, who rules all things (cf. Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4.34–37; Cyrus in Ezra 1.2). The Torah of the Jews is declared most righteous, anticipating permission granted to the Jews (v. 19) to live by it.
16.17 The king cannot annul the earlier decree but can align himself with the Jews and allow them to defend themselves.
16.21 The designation chosen people carries echoes of the exodus.
16.22–23 Commemoration of the day of deliverance entails celebration for Jews and a sign to Persians, both loyal and otherwise, of the fate of those who plot against the Jews and thereby the king.
ESTHER 8
13“Let copies of the decree be posted conspicuously in all the kingdom, and let all the Jews be ready on that day to fight against their enemies.”
14So the messengers on horseback set out with all speed to perform what the king had commanded; and the decree was published also in Susa. 15Mordecai went out dressed in the royal robe and wearing a gold crown and a turban of purple linen. The people in Susa rejoiced on seeing him. 16And the Jews had light and gladness 17in every city and province wherever the decree was published; wherever the proclamation was made, the Jews had joy and gladness, a banquet and a holiday. And many of the Gentiles were circumcised and became Jews out of fear of the Jews.
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8.13 The Greek version’s fight against is less harsh than the Hebrew’s “take revenge.”
8.17 Many Persians not only supported the Jews but actually were circumcised and became Jews; cf. the Hebrew version’s “professed to be Jews.”
ESTHER 9
Victory of the Jews
1Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, the decree written by the king arrived. 2On that same day the enemies of the Jews perished; no one resisted, because they feared them. 3The chief provincial governors, the princes, and the royal secretaries were paying honor to the Jews, because fear of Mordecai weighed upon them. 4The king’s decree required that Mordecai’s name be held in honor throughout the kingdom.a 6Now in the city of Susa the Jews killed five hundred people, 7including Pharsannestain, Delphon, Phasga, 8Pharadatha, Barea, Sarbacha, 9Marmasima, Aruphaeus, Arsaeus, Zabutheus, 10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the Bougean, the enemy of the Jews—and they indulgedb themselves in plunder.
11That very day the number of those killed in Susa was reported to the king. 12The king said to Esther, “In Susa, the capital, the Jews have destroyed five hundred people. What do you suppose they have done in the surrounding countryside? Whatever more you ask will be done for you.” 13And Esther said to the king, “Let the Jews be allowed to do the same tomorrow. Also, hang up the bodies of Haman’s ten sons.” 14So he permitted this to be done, and handed over to the Jews of the city the bodies of Haman’s sons to hang up. 15The Jews who were in Susa gathered on the fourteenth and killed three hundred people, but took no plunder.
16Now the other Jews in the kingdom gathered to defend themselves, and got relief from their enemies. They destroyed fifteen thousand of them, but did not engage in plunder. 17On the fourteenth day they rested and made that same day a day of rest, celebrating it with joy and gladness. 18The Jews who were in Susa, the capital, came together also on the fourteenth, but did not rest. They celebrated the fifteenth with joy and gladness. 19On this account then the Jews who are scattered around the country outside Susa keep the fourteenth of Adar as a joyful holiday, and send presents of food to one another, while those who live in the large cities keep the fifteenth day of Adar as their joyful holiday, also sending presents to one another.
The Festival of Purim
20Mordecai recorded these things in a book, and sent it to the Jews in the kingdom of Artaxerxes both near and far, 21telling them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, 22for on these days the Jews got relief from their enemies. The whole month (namely, Adar), in which their condition had been changed from sorrow into gladness and from a time of distress to a holiday, was to be celebrated as a time for feastingc and gladness and for sending presents of food to their friends and to the poor.
23So the Jews accepted what Mordecai had written to them 24—how Haman son of Hammedatha, the Macedonian,d fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lotse to destroy them, 25and how he went in to the king, telling him to hang Mordecai; but the wicked plot he had devised against the Jews came back upon himself, and he and his sons were hanged. 26Therefore these days were called “Purim,” because of the lots (for in their language this is the word that means “lots”). And so, because of what was written in this letter, and because of what they had experienced in this affair and what had befallen them, Mordecai established this festival,f 27and the Jews took upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all who would join them, to observe it without fail.g These days of Purim should be a memorial and kept from generation to generation, in every city, family, and country. 28These days of Purim were to be observed for all time, and the commemoration of them was never to cease among their descendants.
29Then Queen Esther daughter of Aminadab along with Mordecai the Jew wrote down what they had done, and gave full authority to the letter about Purim.h 31And Mordecai and Queen Esther established this decision on their own responsibility, pledging their own well-being to the plan.i 32Esther established it by a decree forever, and it was written for a memorial.
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a Meaning of Gk uncertain. Some ancient authorities add verse 5, So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.
b Other ancient authorities read did not indulge
c Gk of weddings
d Other ancient witnesses read the Bougean
e Gk a lot
f Gk he established (it)
g Meaning of Gk uncertain
h Verse 30 in Heb is lacking in Gk: Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth.
i Meaning of Gk uncertain
9.1–19 Victory of the Jews. The Jews treat their enemies as they would have been treated by them. V. 5 is omitted, lessening the harshness of the original. The Greek reduces the number of dead from seventy-five thousand to a more plausible fifteen thousand (v. 16).
9.20–10.3 The Festival of Purim. The name Purim (9.26) is based on the Hebrew word Pur, which is related to the Akkadian word for lots, used by Haman to determine the day for his pogrom. The emphasis on keeping the feast throughout the generations seems designed to regularize and secure a place in the Jewish calendar for a celebration that was not authorized by Torah and whose legiti
macy might therefore be doubted.
ESTHER 10
1The king levied a tax upon his kingdom both by land and sea.2And as for his power and bravery, and the wealth and glory of his kingdom, they were recorded in the annals of the kings of the Persians and the Medes. 3Mordecai acted with authority on behalf of King Artaxerxes and was great in the kingdom, as well as honored by the Jews. His way of life was such as to make him beloved to his whole nation.
ADDITION F
Mordecai’s Dream Fulfilled
4a And Mordecai said, “These things have come from God; 5for I remember the dream that I had concerning these matters, and none of them has failed to be fulfilled. 6There was the little spring that became a river, and there was light and sun and abundant water—the river is Esther, whom the king married and made queen. 7The two dragons are Haman and myself. 8The nations are those that gathered to destroy the name of the Jews. 9And my nation, this is Israel, who cried out to God and was saved. The Lord has saved his people; the Lord has rescued us from all these evils; God has done great signs and wonders, wonders that have never happened among the nations. 10For this purpose he made two lots, one for the people of God and one for all the nations, 11and these two lots came to the hour and moment and day of decision before God and among all the nations. 12And God remembered his people and vindicated his inheritance. 13So they will observe these days in the month of Adar, on the fourteenth and fifteenthb of that month, with an assembly and joy and gladness before God, from generation to generation forever among his people Israel.”
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a Chapter 10.4-13 and 11.1 correspond to chapter F 1-11 in some translations.
b Other ancient authorities lack and fifteenth
10.4–13 Mordecai’s dream stands fulfilled.
10.4–5 Recalling his dream, Mordecai underscores God’s action. No part of what was predicted failed to be fulfilled, as he briefly details.
10.9 Signs and wonders links this story with God’s saving events in the history of the Jews and especially the exodus.
10.10–11 Lots can refer to the fate set by God for Israel and the nations, fulfilled in the time appointed. According to Deut 32.9, Israel is God’s lot, or portion, among the nations.
ESTHER 11
Postscript
1In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and a Levite,a and his son Ptolemy brought to Egyptb the preceding Letter about Purim, which they said was authentic and had been translated by Lysimachus son of Ptolemy, one of the residents of Jerusalem.
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a Or priest, and Levitas
b Cn: Gk brought in
11.1 Postscript. Greek texts sometimes contained postscripts or colophons presenting date, author, and assertions of authenticity. This could be especially important for Esther, which existed in different Greek as well as Hebrew forms. Many suggest the Ptolemy referred to here is Ptolemy XII (ca. 78 BCE), although two other Ptolemies were married to a Cleopatra and ruled for at least four years. Dositheus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus are common Greek names, although these figures are Jews; nothing specific can be added to what is claimed here about them. The designation a priest and a Levite is unusual, since they are distinct categories (cf. Lk 10.29–37). The reference to the preceding Letter about Purim refers not just to the document mentioned in 9.29 but to the Greek Esther to which this postscript is attached.
WISDOM OF SOLOMON
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON is a hortatory discourse featuring a highly enthusiastic and eulogistic invocation of wisdom. The book is divided into three main parts. The first (1.1–6.21) is an exhortation to rulers to pursue wisdom and justice. Its central section is an exemplary story about the oppression of the just by the wicked and the ultimate triumph of the just through God’s judgment. The second part (6.22–10.21), written in the first-person singular, is about the nature of wisdom as a gift from God. The final part (11.1–19.22) is an elaborate account of events in the exodus in which God uses elements of the cosmos to save the Israelites and punish the Egyptians. The final sections of the first and second parts (6.12–21; 10.1–21) serve as transitions to the following parts. As is clearly the case in 1.1–6.21 and 6.22–10.21, the fictive speaker in 11.1–19.22 is King Solomon.
Authorship, Language, and Style
THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON was written in Greek by a learned and profoundly hellenized Jew. The strongest argument for the unity of the book is based on its language and style. In spite of some Hebrew coloring, such as parallelism, Hebraisms, and the simple connection of clauses by conjunctions, the author’s Greek is rich and spontaneous, and Jerome’s judgment that his style is “redolent of Greek eloquence” is completely justified. The author’s writing at times has the light touch of Greek lyric poetry, and he employs a wide array of Greek rhetorical figures. These characteristics, in addition to his many favorite theme words and expressions that recur throughout the book, argue for unity of authorship. The hypothesis that the Wisdom of Solomon is a translation of a Hebrew original is untenable.
Place and Date of Composition
MOST COMMENTATORS HAVE CORRECTLY ASSUMED an Egyptian origin for the book. The author’s hostility toward the Egyptians (chs. 11–19), their idolatry (chs. 13–15), and worship of animals (11.15; 12.24; 13.14; 15.18–19) fits well into an Egyptian context. The level of the author’s literary and philosophical education points more specifically to Alexandria as the place of composition. There is no consensus, however, regarding the date of the book, and various scholars have placed it anywhere between 250 BCE and 150 CE. The date of composition is difficult to determine because the book evinces no clear allusions to specific events. The presence of vocabulary that first appears in secular Greek literature only in the first century CE points to a period not earlier than that of Augustus (30 BCE), but the comparative paucity of Greek literature from the first century BCE makes this argument suggestive rather than probative. The desire to flatter a distant ruler (14.17) also points to the early Roman period, as does the use of the term “dominion” (kratesis) in 6.3, frequently used in papyri to refer to the capture of Alexandria by Augustus. The composition of the book, then, is most plausibly dated to the period between 30 BCE and 70 CE, although a date earlier in the first century BCE cannot be excluded.
Purpose and Situation
THE AUTHOR IS PRIMARILY ADDRESSING his fellow Jews in an effort to encourage them to take pride in their faith. He maintains that Jewish monotheism and morality are philosophically and ethically superior to the religious beliefs and practices of the Greeks and Egyptians. By presenting Judaism in this way, he seeks to shore up his people’s faith in the face of the increasing tensions between Jews and non-Jews in Alexandria following the Roman conquest of the city in 30 BCE, tensions that broke out in violence during the anti-Jewish riots in 38 CE. He also writes for the educated Jews who were attracted by Greek culture and tempted to assimilate fully and give up their Judaism.
Although the author’s attitude toward Egyptian religion and culture is clearly hostile, his attitude toward Greek culture is ambivalent. On the one hand, he himself is deeply hellenized and has internalized many of the viewpoints of Greek philosophy. His emphasis on the universal character of Judaism and its philosophical and ethical superiority (6.22–9.18) reflects Greek values. On the other hand, he is deeply committed to Judaism and the Jewish people. He implies that, as God protected the Jewish people at the time of the exodus (chs. 11–19), so too will he protect the Jewish community in their present situation.
Religious Ideas
THE CENTRALITY OF THE TEACHING on the immortality of the soul rather than on the resurrection of the dead represents a new emphasis in Jewish thought. It is a Greek idea and, as formulated by Plato, was a natural characteristic of the soul (Phaedrus 245C–E). Plato also held to the preexistence of s
ouls, which were periodically joined to appropriate bodies (Republic 617E). The author of Wisdom does mention such a preexistence (8.19–20), but his emphasis lies else where. Immortality is not a natural attribute of the soul but rather a gift of God granted as a re ward only to the righteous (2.23–24; 3.4; 5.15; 6.17–19; 8.13, 17; 15.3).
A central figure in the Wisdom of Solomon is Sophia, or Woman Wisdom. Although Wisdom appears in the first and third parts of the book, she dominates the central part of the book (6.22–10.21). In her role in the creation and ordering of the cosmos and in the providential guidance of the events of history she is no innovation; rooted in ancient Near Eastern myth, she has already appeared in Prov 8.22–31 and Sir 24.1–22. New here is the strongly philosophical way in which the author describes her. Her attraction as a mediating principle was clear. She was the perfect bridge between the particular traditions of Israel and the Greek universalist philosophical tradition that appealed so strongly to the author and to other educated Jews of Alexandria.
In sketching his own spiritual odyssey, the author confesses to a passion for Sophia that had gripped him from early youth and had led him to cast his lot with her forever. One has the impression here of more than mere literary artifice; readers are confronting a genuine religious experience that has enveloped the author’s mind and soul and filled him with the divine presence (8.2–3). His unbridled love for Wisdom is vividly reflected in his magnificent fivefold description of her essence, in which she is conceived as an eternal emanation of God’s power and glory (7.25–26, 29–30).
Moreover, the author is convinced that this experience is open to all and offers himself as a living paradigm for others to follow. In thus detailing his spiritual odyssey, he strikes a religious chord new to Hebrew wisdom writings, echoing a type of religiosity characteristic of the con temporary Isis mysteries in the pagan world and the Dead Sea sect within the Jewish world. In contrast to both, however, he disdains the path of esotericism, conveying instead the openness of wisdom’s path, which requires neither secret initiations nor entry into the community of a holy elect. [DAVID WINSTON, revised by THOMAS H. TOBIN]
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