Addition C · The prayers of Mordecai and Esther · Greek after 4:17 · unit 11
She confesses Israel's sin and God's justice in their punishment.
Rahlfs 4:17k (lettering not yet checked against Rahlfs) · Swete, Esther 4.1a–30a · .txt · .json
καὶ νῦν ἡμάρτομεν ἐνώπιόν σου, καὶ παρέδωκας ἡμᾶς εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν, ἀνθʼ ὧν ἐδοξάσαμεν τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῶν. δίκαιος εἶ, Κύριε·
And now we have sinned before you, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies, because we glorified their gods. You are righteous, Lord;draft English
What the rabbinic bench shows
0 verbatim · 11 motif · 3 flagged · 5 candidates examined and rejected.
- Oral: shared narrative tradition, thematic rather than literary contact
- Lost intermediary: an earlier written aggadic source, no longer extant, stands between
- Aramaic: carried by a targum; how the targum came by it is open
Motif — candidate parallels
Unverified at pair level: in a seeded sample of forty motif pairs, 58% failed the study's own test. Read each as a candidate.
Israel's bowing to Nebuchadnezzar's image as the ground of liability matches Addition C's specific confession, 'we have sinned ... because we glorified their gods.'
Show the witness text (5 words)
'They bowed to the image' as the generation's sin directly matches the plus's confession 'we glorified their gods.'
Show the witness text (43 words)
The crisis is diagnosed as punishment for the specific, named sin of eating at the gentile king's table -- matching Addition C's confession 'we have sinned before you... because we glorified their gods' as a specific sin-and-deserved-punishment frame MT does not supply.
Show the witness text (36 words)
Mordecai 'knew' annihilation was decreed for the specific sin of bowing to Nebuchadnezzar's image -- matching Addition C's confession that they were handed to their enemies 'because we glorified their gods.'
Show the witness text (37 words)
'Is there favoritism -- how did they merit the miracle?' is the same theodicy question Addition C answers with 'you are righteous, Lord.'
Show the witness text (9 words)
Rashi's specific sins -- bowing to Nebuchadnezzar's image, enjoying Ahasuerus's banquet -- match the plus's confession that Israel sinned by glorifying its enemies' gods; a rabbinic theodicy not in MT.
Show the witness text (18 words)
The decree is sealed 'because they took pleasure in wicked Ahasuerus's banquet' -- the same specific sin-reason theodicy as the plus's confession.
Show the witness text (85 words)
God tells the patriarchs their sons are condemned 'because they did not sanctify my name in Nebuchadnezzar's days' -- a specific named sin, matching Addition C's confession that they were handed to their enemies 'because we glorified their gods... you are righteous, Lord.'
Show the witness text (374 words)
R. Shimon b. Yohai's answer — the generation was liable to destruction 'מפני שהשתחוו לצלם' — is exactly the plus's confession that they were handed to their enemies because they glorified other gods; not MT material (MT gives no theological cause).
Text not reproduced: licence not stated — research only, never published verbatim. Consult Yalkut Shimoni on Esther (Remez 1046-1061) at the reference above.
At the very point Addition C's prayer stands, Mordecai himself says destruction was decreed 'מיום שכרו לצלמו של נבוכדנאצר' — the same idolatry-as-cause confession, in the same speaker's mouth; not MT material.
Text not reproduced: licence not stated — research only, never published verbatim. Consult Yalkut Shimoni on Esther (Remez 1046-1061) at the reference above.
Esther's own inquiry into whether Israel's sin caused the decree matches the plus's confession that they sinned and were delivered into their enemies' hands.
Show the witness text (27 words)
Flagged for further study (3)
Both supply a cause MT withholds: the decree is punishment for Israel's own sin (the 18,900 who feasted with the gentiles), matching Addition C's confession 'we have sinned before you... you are righteous, Lord.'
Show the witness text (918 words)
'We are exiled and driven from our land, and because of our sin you handed us over' matches Addition C's confession almost point for point: we have sinned before you and you delivered us to our enemies; you are righteous.
Show the witness text (128 words)
'Your sins have now been exacted from you: your children were sold because of eating and drinking' -- the decree read explicitly as deserved punishment for a named sin, matching Addition C's confession 'we have sinned before you... you are righteous, Lord.'
Show the witness text (61 words)
Hebrew retroversions
Machine-assisted reconstructions of a Hebrew the Greek might render, made under Tov's principles and used only as search queries. They are hypotheses, not evidence.
ועתה חטאנו לפניך ותתננו ביד איבינו תחת אשר כבדנו את אלהיהם צדיק אתה יהוה
ועתה חטאנו לך ותסגירנו ביד שנאינו יען אשר פארנו את אלהיהם צדיק אתה אדני