Chapter Overview
Summary
Esther is chosen as queen. The LXX follows the MT closely but adds theological elements: Esther's beauty is attributed to God's favor, and her concealment of her Jewish identity is given a religious motivation. The LXX also adds details about Mordecai's role at the court.
Notable Variants
The LXX expands Mordecai's instructions to Esther about concealing her identity, adding that she should 'fear God and keep his commandments as when she was with him.' This theological addition transforms Mordecai's practical advice into religious instruction.
Structural Notes
Both versions have 23 verses. The LXX's verse lengths are occasionally longer due to expansions.
After these events, when the fury of King Ahasuerus had cooled, he remembered Vashti — what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The king's young attendants who served him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his kingdom to gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the house of the women, under the care of Hegai the king's eunuch who guards the women. Let their cosmetic treatments be provided.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The young woman who pleases the king will become queen in place of Vashti." The proposal pleased the king, and he acted on it.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
There was a Jewish man in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.
Masoretic (WLC)
אִישׁ יְהוּדִי הָיָה בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה
There was a Jewish man in Susa the citadel
Septuagint (LXX)
ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν Ἰουδαῖος ἐν Σούσοις τῇ πόλει
There was a certain Jewish man in Susa the city
LXX introduces Mordecai with essentially the same language as the MT.
He had been exiled from Jerusalem with the group of exiles deported along with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried into exile.
Masoretic (WLC)
הָגְלָה מִירוּשָׁלַיִם
who had been carried away from Jerusalem
Septuagint (LXX)
ὃς ἦν αἰχμαλωτισθεὶς ἐξ Ιερουσαλημ
who had been taken captive from Jerusalem
Both versions trace Mordecai's lineage through the exile of Jeconiah (597 BCE). The genealogy places him in the tribe of Benjamin.
He was raising Hadassah — that is, Esther — his uncle's daughter, because she had no father or mother. The young woman was shapely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.
Masoretic (WLC)
כִּי אֵין לָהּ אָב וָאֵם
for she had neither father nor mother
Septuagint (LXX)
παιδεύων αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ εἰς γυναῖκα
raising her for himself as a wife
SIGNIFICANT VARIANT. The LXX adds that Mordecai was raising Esther 'for himself as a wife' — a detail entirely absent from the MT, where Mordecai adopts her as a daughter. Some scholars argue this reflects a different understanding of their relationship; others see it as a Greek scribal expansion.
When the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and many young women were gathered to the citadel of Susa under Hegai's supervision, Esther too was taken to the king's house, into the care of Hegai the guardian of the women.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The young woman pleased him and won his favor. He quickly provided her cosmetic treatments and her portions of food, assigned her seven attendants selected from the king's house, and moved her and her attendants to the best quarters in the house of the women.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
Esther did not reveal her people or her ancestry, because Mordecai had instructed her not to disclose it.
Masoretic (WLC)
לֹא־הִגִּידָה אֶסְתֵּר אֶת־עַמָּהּ
Esther did not reveal her people
Septuagint (LXX)
οὐχ ὑπέδειξεν Εσθηρ τὸ γένος αὐτῆς
Esther did not reveal her people
The LXX adds a crucial theological clause: 'for Mordecai had commanded her to fear God and to keep his commandments as when she was with him. And Esther did not change her manner of life.' This transforms the concealment from mere strategy into religious obedience and adds explicit God-language absent from the MT.
Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the house of the women to learn how Esther was and what was being done with her.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
When each young woman's turn came to go to King Ahasuerus — after completing twelve months of treatment as prescribed for the women, since their preparation period was filled as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetic treatments for women —
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
When each young woman went to the king, whatever she requested was given to her to take along from the house of the women to the king's house.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second house of the women, under the care of Shaashgaz the king's eunuch who guarded the concubines. She would not go to the king again unless the king desired her and she was summoned by name.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
When Esther's turn came — Esther daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai who had adopted her — to go to the king, she asked for nothing beyond what Hegai the king's eunuch, guardian of the women, recommended. And Esther won the admiration of everyone who saw her.
Masoretic (WLC)
וַתְּהִי אֶסְתֵּר נֹשֵׂאת חֵן
Esther was winning favor
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ ἦν Εσθηρ εὑρίσκουσα χάριν
Esther was finding favor
The LXX attributes Esther's favor to divine agency more explicitly. The word charis (grace/favor) carries theological weight in Greek.
Esther was brought to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month — the month of Tebeth — in the seventh year of his reign.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and devotion more than all the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The king held a great feast for all his officials and servants — the feast of Esther. He granted a tax remission to the provinces and distributed gifts with royal generosity.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
When virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
Esther still had not revealed her ancestry or her people, as Mordecai had instructed her. Esther continued to follow Mordecai's direction, just as she had when he was raising her.
Masoretic (WLC)
וּמַאֲמַר מָרְדֳּכַי אֶסְתֵּר עֹשָׂה
Esther obeyed Mordecai's instructions
Septuagint (LXX)
τὴν ἐντολὴν Μαρδοχαίου Εσθηρ οὐκ ἤλλαξεν
Esther did not change Mordecai's command
The LXX again adds: 'Esther did not change her manner of life' and connects her obedience to the fear of God. The MT simply says she obeyed Mordecai as when she was under his care.
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh — two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold — became angry and plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The plot became known to Mordecai, and he reported it to Queen Esther. Esther informed the king, crediting Mordecai by name.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.
The matter was investigated and confirmed, and both men were impaled on a stake. It was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the king's presence.
No significant variant between the LXX and the MT for this verse.