Talmai — Addition C 13: Their aim: to make a mortal king worshipped forever instead of God.
Licence: English and apparatus CC BY 4.0 (Talmai, Wroot Press); Greek from Swete, CC BY-SA. https://talmai.wrootpress.com/rights/
Canonical: https://talmai.wrootpress.com/unit/esth-plus-04.17-13/
Source edition: H. B. Swete, The Old Testament in Greek, 19.4.1a-30a

GREEK: καὶ ἀνοῖξαι στόμα ἐθνῶν εἰς ἀρετὰς ματαίων καὶ θαυμασθῆναι βασιλέα σάρκινον εἰς αἰῶνα.
ENGLISH (draft-awaiting-approval): and to open the mouths of the nations to praise vain things, and to have a mortal king marveled at forever.

PARALLELS:
- [Motif] Megillah 10b:20 (Bavli Megillah 9a-17a) — conduit: oral. The same self-deified-Haman tradition explains the plus's fear that 'a mortal king' would be 'marvelled at forever' in place of God.
- [Motif] Sifrei Aggadah on Esther, Midrash Panim Acherim, Version II 6:28 (Sifrei Aggadah on Esther: Midrash Panim Acherim, Version II) — conduit: lost intermediary. Haman is dismissed as 'flesh and blood, today here and tomorrow in the grave' set against the eternal God -- matching Addition C's protest against having 'a mortal king marveled at forever.'
- [Motif] Sifrei Aggadah on Esther, Midrash Abba Guryon 3:5 (Sifrei Aggadah on Esther: Midrash Abba Guryon) — conduit: lost intermediary. MT never has Haman claim divine honors; both here ('this wicked man set himself up as an object of worship') and in Addition C ('a mortal king marveled at forever') the same non-MT apotheosis charge is independently added.
- [Flagged] Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 50:5 (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 49-50) — conduit: oral. The idol Haman wears makes homage to him literal idol-worship, matching the plus's charge that the enemies aim to have 'a mortal king marveled at forever' and open the nations' mouths to praise vain things -- a man exalted to divine honors, absent from MT.
- [Motif] Rashi on Megillah 11a:7:1 (Rashi on Bavli Megillah 9a-17a) — conduit: oral. 'A man and not a king -- this is Haman' insists the adversary is merely mortal, the specific point of Addition C's complaint about a 'mortal king marveled at forever.'
- [Flagged] Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Megilat Esther, Midrash on the Book of Esther 3 (Otzar Midrashim: Midrash on the Book of Esther) — conduit: lost intermediary. 'Haman the wicked, who made himself into an idol' matches the plus's charge that the enemies' aim was to have a mortal marveled at as if divine, in place of God -- though the witness applies it to Haman rather than the king.
- [Motif] Targum Sheni on Esther 6:1:3 (Targum Sheni on Esther) — conduit: Aramaic. The idol images on Haman's robe make homage to him literal worship of a mortal man -- the specific non-MT detail matching Addition C's fear of 'a mortal king marveled at forever.'
- [Motif] Sifrei Aggadah on Esther, Midrash Panim Acherim, Version II 6:7 (Sifrei Aggadah on Esther: Midrash Panim Acherim, Version II) — conduit: lost intermediary. When Haman proclaims 'thus shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor,' Israel answers aloud 'not the king who is on earth, but the King who is in heaven' -- directly matching Addition C's refusal to let 'a mortal king be marveled at forever.'
- [Motif] Sifrei Aggadah on Esther, Midrash Panim Acherim, Version I 1:7 (Sifrei Aggadah on Esther: Midrash Panim Acherim, Version I) — conduit: lost intermediary. Haman embroiders an idol on his garment over his heart so that everyone who bows to him bows to an idol -- matching Addition C's charge that the plan is 'to open the mouths of the nations to praise vain things' and elevate a mortal to divine honor.
- [Motif] Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 1054:2 (Yalkut Shimoni on Esther (Remez 1046-1061)) — conduit: lost intermediary. Haman's idol worn on his garments makes homage to him worship of a man — matching the plus's fear that a mortal king be 'marveled at forever' in God's place; not MT material.
- [Motif] Megillah 11a:7 (Bavli Megillah 9a-17a) — conduit: oral. 'A man, and not a king' -- denying Haman royal status -- matches the plus's fear that a mortal king be 'marvelled at forever' in God's place.