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Old Testament
The Bible as the first Jewish-Christian readers heard it
Parallel text: Masoretic Hebrew · Septuagint · translation · orthodox reading
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Haman, Mordecai's Refusal, and the Decree of Extermination
Ester 3,1-19·MT (OSHB) + LXX·2/6
v.
Hebrew (MT)
Septuagint (LXX)
Orthodox Reading
1
אחר הדברים האלה גדל המלך אחשורוש את המן בן המדתא האגגי וינשאהו וישם את כסאו מעל כל השרים אשר אתו
Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐδόξασεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀρταξέρξης Αμαν Αμαδαθου Βουγαῖον καὶ ὕψωσεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπρωτοβάθρει πάντων τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ.
After these things King Achashveròshⓘ promoted and exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagiteⓘ, and set his throne above all the princes who were with him.
2
וכל עבדי המלך אשר בשער המלך כרעים ומשתחוים להמן כי כן צוה לו המלך ומרדכי לא יכרע ולא ישתחוה
καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ προσεκύνουν αὐτῷ, οὕτως γὰρ προσέταξεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ποιῆσαι· ὁ δὲ Μαρδοχαῖος οὐ προσεκύνει αὐτῷ.
And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate prostrated themselvesⓘ and bowed down before Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him; but Mordecai would not prostrate himselfⓘ nor bow down.
3
ויאמרו עבדי המלך אשר בשער המלך למרדכי מדוע אתה עובר את מצות המלך
καὶ ἐλάλησαν οἱ ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ τοῦ βασιλέως τῷ Μαρδοχαίῳ Μαρδοχαῖε, τί παρακούεις τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως λεγόμενα;
And the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai: Why do you transgress the king's commandⓘ?
4
ויהי באמרם כאמרם אליו יום ויום ולא שמע אליהם ויגידו להמן לראות היעמדו דברי מרדכי כי הגיד להם אשר הוא יהודי
καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐλάλουν αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουεν αὐτῶν· καὶ ὑπέδειξαν τῷ Αμαν Μαρδοχαῖον τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως λόγοις ἀντιτασσόμενον· καὶ ὑπέδειξεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Μαρδοχαῖος ὅτι Ιουδαῖός ἐστιν.
And it came to pass that as they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai's words would prevail, for he had told them that he was a Jewⓘ.
5
וירא המן כי אין מרדכי כרע ומשתחוה לו וימלא המן חמה
καὶ ἐπιγνοὺς Αμαν ὅτι οὐ προσκυνεῖ αὐτῷ Μαρδοχαῖος, ἐθυμώθη σφόδρα
And when Haman saw that Mordecai would not prostrate himself nor bow down before him, Haman was filled with furyⓘ.
6
ויבז בעיניו לשלח יד במרדכי לבדו כי הגידו לו את עם מרדכי ויבקש המן להשמיד את כל היהודים אשר בכל מלכות אחשורוש עם מרדכי
καὶ ἐβουλεύσατο ἀφανίσαι πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν Ἀρταξέρξου βασιλείαν Ιουδαίους.
But he thought it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai alone — for they had made known to him who Mordecai's people were — and Haman sought to destroyⓘ all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Achashveròsh, the people of Mordecai.
7
בחדש הראשון הוא חדש ניסן בשנת שתים עשרה למלך אחשורוש הפיל פור הוא הגורל לפני המן מיום ליום ומחדש לחדש שנים עשר הוא חדש אדר
καὶ ἐποίησεν ψήφισμα ἐν ἔτει δωδεκάτῳ τῆς βασιλείας Ἀρταξέρξου καὶ ἔβαλεν κλήρους ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας καὶ μῆνα ἐκ μηνὸς ὥστε ἀπολέσαι ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ τὸ γένος Μαρδοχαίου, καὶ ἔπεσεν ὁ κλῆρος εἰς τὴν τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην τοῦ μηνός, ὅς ἐστιν Αδαρ.
In the first month, which is the month of Nisanⓘ, in the twelfth year of King Achashveròsh, they cast the purⓘ — that is, the lot — before Haman, day after day and month after month, until the twelfth month, which is the month of Adarⓘ.
8
ויאמר המן למלך אחשורוש ישנו עם אחד מפזר ומפרד בין העמים בכל מדינות מלכותך ודתיהם שנות מכל עם ואת דתי המלך אינם עשים ולמלך אין שוה להניחם
καὶ ἐλάλησεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Ἀρταξέρξην λέγων Ὑπάρχει ἔθνος διεσπαρμένον ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου, οἱ δὲ νόμοι αὐτῶν ἔξαλλοι παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, τῶν δὲ νόμων τοῦ βασιλέως παρακούουσιν, καὶ οὐ συμφέρει τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐᾶσαι αὐτούς·
And Haman said to King Achashveròsh: There is a people scattered and dispersedⓘ among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not observe the king's laws: it is not in the king's interest to let them be.
9
אם על המלך טוב יכתב לאבדם ועשרת אלפים ככר כסף אשקול על ידי עשי המלאכה להביא אל גנזי המלך
εἰ δοκεῖ τῷ βασιλεῖ, δογματισάτω ἀπολέσαι αὐτούς, κἀγὼ διαγράψω εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον τοῦ βασιλέως ἀργυρίου τάλαντα μύρια.
If it please the king, let it be decreed to destroy themⓘ, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silverⓘ into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
10
ויסר המלך את טבעתו מעל ידו ויתנה להמן בן המדתא האגגי צרר היהודים
καὶ περιελόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν δακτύλιον ἔδωκεν εἰς χεῖρα τῷ Αμαν σφραγίσαι κατὰ τῶν γεγραμμένων κατὰ τῶν Ιουδαίων.
And the king removed his signet ringⓘ from his own hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jewsⓘ.
11
ויאמר המלך להמן הכסף נתון לך והעם לעשות בו כטוב בעיניך
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ Αμαν Τὸ μὲν ἀργύριον ἔχε, τῷ δὲ ἔθνει χρῶ ὡς βούλει.
And the king said to Haman: Let the silver be given to you, and the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.
12
ויקראו ספרי המלך בחדש הראשון בשלושה עשר יום בו ויכתב ככל אשר צוה המן אל אחשדרפני המלך ואל הפחות אשר על מדינה ומדינה ואל שרי עם ועם מדינה ומדינה ככתבה ועם ועם כלשונו בשם המלך אחשורש נכתב ונחתם בטבעת המלך
καὶ ἐκλήθησαν οἱ γραμματεῖς τοῦ βασιλέως μηνὶ πρώτῳ τῇ τρισκαιδεκάτῃ καὶ ἔγραψαν, ὡς ἐπέταξεν Αμαν, τοῖς στρατηγοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν κατὰ πᾶσαν χώραν ἀπὸ Ἰνδικῆς ἕως τῆς Αἰθιοπίας, ταῖς ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἑπτὰ χώραις, τοῖς τε ἄρχουσι τῶν ἐθνῶν κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν λέξιν δι’ Ἀρταξέρξου τοῦ βασιλέως.
Then the king's scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and everything was written as Haman had commanded, to the satrapsⓘ of the king, and to the governors who were over each province, and to the princes of each people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Achashveròsh and sealed with the king's ring.
13
ונשלוח ספרים ביד הרצים אל כל מדינות המלך להשמיד להרג ולאבד את כל היהודים מנער ועד זקן טף ונשים ביום אחד בשלושה עשר לחדש שנים עשר הוא חדש אדר ושללם לבוז
a τῆς δὲ ἐπιστολῆς ἐστιν τὸ ἀντίγραφον τόδε Βασιλεὺς μέγας Ἀρταξέρξης τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἕως τῆς Αἰθιοπίας ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἑπτὰ χωρῶν ἄρχουσι καὶ τοπάρχαις ὑποτεταγμένοις τάδε γράφει
And the letters were sent by couriersⓘ to all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilateⓘ all the Jews, young and old, children and women, in a single day, the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
14
פתשגן הכתב להנתן דת בכל מדינה ומדינה גלוי לכל העמים להיות עתדים ליום הזה
τὰ δὲ ἀντίγραφα τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐξετίθετο κατὰ χώραν, καὶ προσετάγη πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἑτοίμους εἶναι εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην.
A copy of the documentⓘ, to be issued as a decree in every province, was made known to all peoples, so that they should be ready for that day.
15
הרצים יצאו דחופים בדבר המלך והדת נתנה בשושן הבירה והמלך והמן ישבו לשתות והעיר שושן נבוכה
ἐσπεύδετο δὲ τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ εἰς Σουσαν· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καὶ Αμαν ἐκωθωνίζοντο, ἐταράσσετο δὲ ἡ πόλις.
The couriers went out in haste by the king's order, and the decree was proclaimed in the citadel of Susaⓘ. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusionⓘ.—— Masoretic (MT) ——[Greek Addition B — vv. 13a–19 of the LXX, absent from the Hebrew text]
16
[Assente nel Testo Masoretico: sezione propria del testo greco di Ester (Aggiunte greche, sec. II–I a.C.).]
ἐπέδειξεν ἡμῖν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην φυλαῖς ἀναμεμεῖχθαι δυσμενῆ λαόν τινα τοῖς νόμοις ἀντίθετον πρὸς πᾶν ἔθνος τά τε τῶν βασιλέων παραπέμποντας διηνεκῶς διατάγματα πρὸς τὸ μὴ κατατίθεσθαι τὴν ὑφ’ ἡμῶν κατευθυνομένην ἀμέμπτως συναρχίαν.
The great king Achashveròsh writes to the rulers of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces and to the governors under them: it has been reported to us that among all the peoples of the world there has been mingled a hostile people, contrary in its laws to every nation, which continually transgresses the edicts of kings, so that the sound administration of our empire cannot be achieved.
17
[Assente nel Testo Masoretico: sezione propria del testo greco di Ester (Aggiunte greche, sec. II–I a.C.).]
διειληφότες οὖν τόδε τὸ ἔθνος μονώτατον ἐν ἀντιπαραγωγῇ παντὶ διὰ παντὸς ἀνθρώπῳ κείμενον διαγωγὴν νόμων ξενίζουσαν παραλλάσσον καὶ δυσνοοῦν τοῖς ἡμετέροις πράγμασιν τὰ χείριστα συντελοῦν κακὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ τὴν βασιλείαν εὐσταθείας τυγχάνειν·
Having therefore considered that this people, alone among all, stands in perpetual opposition to every man, with a way of life foreign to our customs and malevolent toward our affairs, committing the worst evils, so that the kingdom may have no stability,
18
[Assente nel Testo Masoretico: sezione propria del testo greco di Ester (Aggiunte greche, sec. II–I a.C.).]
προστετάχαμεν οὖν τοὺς σημαινομένους ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ὑπὸ Αμαν τοῦ τεταγμένου ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ δευτέρου πατρὸς ἡμῶν πάντας σὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ τέκνοις ἀπολέσαι ὁλορριζεὶ ταῖς τῶν ἐχθρῶν μαχαίραις ἄνευ παντὸς οἴκτου καὶ φειδοῦς τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ δωδεκάτου μηνὸς Αδαρ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἔτους,
we have ordered that those indicated in the writings of Haman — who is set over our affairs and is our second father — all of them, together with wives and children, shall be utterly destroyed from the roots by the swords of their enemies, without mercy or regard, on the fourteenth of the twelfth month Adar of the present year,
19
[Assente nel Testo Masoretico: sezione propria del testo greco di Ester (Aggiunte greche, sec. II–I a.C.).]
ὅπως οἱ πάλαι καὶ νῦν δυσμενεῖς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ βιαίως εἰς τὸν ᾅδην κατελθόντες εἰς τὸν μετέπειτα χρόνον εὐσταθῆ καὶ ἀτάραχα παρέχωσιν ἡμῖν διὰ τέλους τὰ πράγματα. –
so that those who have long been hostile and who are hostile now, plunged violently in a single day into Sheolⓘ, may assure us for the future of stable and tranquil affairs.