The prayer of Esther for herself and her people.
Esther prayeth in humilitie of spirite, that God wil deliuer the people from the crueltie of Aman.
1Queen Esther also, fearing the danger that was at hand, had recourse to the Lord.Similmente la regina Esther ricorse al Signore atterrita pell'imminente pericolo.ESTHER also the queene fled to our Lord, fearing the peril that was at hand.Esther quoque regina confugit ad Dominum, pavens periculum quod imminebat. 2And when she had laid away her royal apparel, she put on garments suitable for weeping and mourning: instead of divers precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body with fasts: and all the places in which before she was accustomed to rejoice, she filled with her torn hair.E deposte le vesti reali, prese abiti convenienti al lutto, e alle lagrime, e in vece di unguenti si coperse la testa di cenere, e di sozzure, e umiliò co' digiuni il suo corpo, e in tutti i luoghi, dove prima era solita dì rallegrarsi, spargeva i capelli, che si strappava.And when she had laid of her royal garmentes, she tooke clothes meete for weeping and mourning, and for diuers oyntmentes, filled her head with ashes and dung, and her bodie she humbled with fastes: and al the places, in which before she was accustomed to reioyse, she filled with tearing of her heares.Cumque deposuisset vestes regias, fletibus et luctui apta indumenta suscepit, et pro unguentis variis, cinere et stercore implevit caput, et corpus suum humiliavit jejuniis: omniaque loca, in quibus antea lætari consueverat, crinium laceratione complevit. 3And she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, saying: O my Lord, who alone art our king, help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but thee.E pregava il Signore Dio d'Israele dicendo: Signore mio, che se' il solo nostro Re, aiuta me abbandonata, e che altro aiuto non ho fuori di te.And she besought our Lord the God of Israel, saying: My Lord, which onlie art our king, helpe me solitarie woman, and which haue no other helper beside thee.Et deprecabatur Dominum Deum Israël, dicens: Domine mi, qui rex noster es solus, adjuva me solitariam, et cujus præter te nullus est auxiliator alius. 4My danger is in my hands.Il mio pericolo è imminente.My peril is in my handes.Periculum meum in manibus meis est. 5I have heard of my father that thou, O Lord, didst take Israel from among all nations, and our fathers from all their predecessors, to possess them as an everlasting inheritance, and thou hast done to them as thou hast promised.Io ho udito raccontare dal padre mio, come tu, o Signore, separasti Israele da tutte le genti, e i padri nostri da tutti i loro maggiori per possedergli in eterno come tua eredità, e facesti vergo di loro, come avevi promesso.I haue heard of my father that thou Lord didst take Israel out from al Gentiles, and our fathers out of al their predecessours before, that thou mightst possesse an euerlasting inheritance, and thou hast done to them as thou hast spoken.Audivi a patre meo quod tu, Domine, tulisses Israël de cunctis gentibus, et patres nostros ex omnibus retro majoribus suis, ut possideres hæreditatem sempiternam, fecistique eis sicut locutus es.
6We have sinned in thy sight, and therefore thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies:Noi peccammo dinanzi a te, e per questo tu ci abbandonasti nelle mani de' nostri nemici:We haue sinned in thy sight, and therfore thou hast deliuered vs into the handes of our enemies:Peccavimus in conspectu tuo, et idcirco tradidisti nos in manus inimicorum nostrorum: 7For we have worshipped their gods. Thou art just, O Lord.Perché noi adorammo gli dei loro: giusto se' tu, o Signore.for we haue worshiped their goddes. Thou art iust ô Lord.coluimus enim deos eorum. Justus es Domine: 8And now they are not content to oppress us with most hard bondage, but attributing the strength of their hands to the power of their idols.E adesso ei non sono contenti di tenerci oppressi in durissima schiavitù; ma attribuendo alla potenza de' loro idoli la fortezza delle lor braccia,And now it suffiseth them not, that they oppresse vs with most hard seruitude, but imputing the force of their handes to the might of their idols,et nunc non eis sufficit, quod durissima nos opprimunt servitute, sed robur manuum suarum, idolorum potentiæ deputantes, 9They design to change thy promises, and destroy thy inheritance, and shut the mouths of them that praise thee, and extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar,Pretendono di cangiare le tue promesse, e di sterminare la tua eredità, e di chiuder le bocche a quei, che ti lodano, e di estinguer la gloria del tuo tempio, e del tuo altare,they wil change thy promisses, and destroy thine inheritance, and shut the mouthes of them that prayse thee, and extinguish the glorie of thy temple and altar,volunt tua mutare promissa, et delere hæreditatem tuam, et claudere ora laudantium te, atque extinguere gloriam templi et altaris tui, 10That they may open the mouths of Gentiles, and praise the strength of idols, and magnify for ever a carnal king.Affinchè le bocche de' Gentili si aprano a lodare la possanza degli idoli, e a celebrare perpetuamente un re di carne.that they may open the mouthes of Gentiles, and prayse the strength of idols, and magnifie a carnal king for euer.ut aperiant ora gentium, et laudent idolorum fortitudinem, et prædicent carnalem regem in sempiternum. 11Give not, O Lord, thy sceptre to them that are not, lest they laugh at our ruin: but turn their counsel upon themselves, and destroy him that hath begun to rage against us.Non dare, o Signore, il tuo scettro a que' che non sono, affinché della rovina nostra non ridano, ma i loro disegni volgi contro di loro, e disperdi colui, che ha principiato ad infierire contro di noi.Deliuer not ô Lord thy scepter to them that are not, lest they laugh at our ruine: but turne their counsel vpon them, and destroy him, that hath begune to do cruelly against vs.Ne tradas, Domine, sceptrum tuum his, qui non sunt, ne rideant ad ruinam nostram: sed converte consilium eorum super eos, et eum qui in nos cœpit sævire, disperde.
12Remember, O Lord, and shew thyself to us in the time of our tribulation, and give me boldness, O Lord, king of gods, and of all power:Ricorditi di noi, o Signore, e fatti vedere a noi nel tempo della tribolazione nostra, e da a me coraggio, Signore, Re degli dei, e di tutte le potestà:Remember ô Lord: and shew thy self to vs in the time of our tribulation, and geue me confidence Lord king of goddes, and of al power:Memento, Domine, et ostende te nobis in tempore tribulationis nostræ, et da mihi fiduciam, Domine rex deorum, et universæ potestatis: 13Give me a well ordered speech in my mouth in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy, that both he himself may perish, and the rest that consent to him.Metti nella mia bocca parole adattate, nel cospetto di quel lione, e il cuore di lui volgi a odiare il nemico nostro, onde ed egli, e tutti gli altri, che son d'accordo con lui, periscano.geue me speach wel framed in my mouth in the presence of the lion, and turne his hart into the hatred of our enemie, that both him self may perish, and the rest that consent vnto him.tribue sermonem compositum in ore meo in conspectu leonis, et transfer cor illius in odium hostis nostri, ut et ipse pereat, et ceteri qui ei consentiunt. 14But deliver us by thy hand, and help me, who have no other helper, but thee, O Lord, who hast the knowledge of all things.E noi libera colla tua mano, e aiuta me, che altro aiuto non ho, se non te, o Signore, il quale conosci tutte le cose,But deliuer vs in thy hand, and helpe me, hauing no other helpe, but thee ô Lord which hast the knowlege of al things,Nos autem libera manu tua, et adjuva me, nullum aliud auxilium habentem nisi te, Domine, qui habes omnium scientiam, 15And thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.E sai com'io ho in odio la gloria degli ingiusti, e detesto il letto degli in circoncisi, e di qualunque straniero.and knowest that I hate the glorie of the wicked, and detest the bed of the vncircumcised, and of euerie stranger.et nosti quia oderim gloriam iniquorum, et detester cubile incircumcisorum, et omnis alienigenæ. 16Thou knowest my necessity, that I abominate the sign of my pride and glory, which is upon my head in the days of my public appearance, and detest it as a menstruous rag, and wear it not in the days of my silence,Tu sai la mia necessità, e com'io ho in abominazione il distintivo della superbia, e della mia gloria, che io porto sulla testa ne' giorni di mia comparsa, e lo ho in orrore, come un panno intriso di sporco sangue, e nol porto ne' giorni della mia quiete.Thou knowest my necessitie, that I abhorre the signe of my pride and glorie, which is vpon my head in the daies of my ostentation, and detest it as the cloth of a woman in her monthlie floores, and weare it not in the daies of my silence,Tu scis necessitatem meam, quod abominer signum superbiæ et gloriæ meæ, quod est super caput meum in diebus ostentationis meæ, et detester illud quasi pannum menstruatæ, et non portem in diebus silentii mei, 17And that I have not eaten at Aman’s table, nor hath the king’s banquet pleased me, and that I have not drunk the wine of the drink offerings:E come io non ho mangiato alla mensa di Aman, e non ho avuto piacere ai conviti del re, e non ho bevuto del vino di libagione:and that I haue not eaten at Amans table, neither the kings banket hath pleased me, and that I haue not drunke the wine of libamentes:et quod non comederim in mensa Aman, nec mihi placuerit convivium regis, et non biberim vinum libaminum:
18And that thy handmaid hath never rejoiced, since I was brought hither unto this day but in thee, O Lord, the God of Abraham.E mai ho avuto contento dacché fui qua trasferita sino al dì d'oggi, sa non in te, Signore Dio d'Abramo.and that thy handmayde did neuer reioyse, since I was transported hither vnto this day, but in thee ô Lord the God of Abraham.et numquam lætata sit ancilla tua, ex quo huc translata sum usque in præsentem diem, nisi in te, Domine Deus Abraham. 19O God, who art mighty above all, hear the voice of them, that have no other hope, and deliver us from the hand of the wicked, and deliver me from my fear.Dio sopra tutti possente, esaudisci le voci di coloro, che non hanno altra speranza, e noi salva dalle mani degli iniqui, e me libera dal mio timore.O God strong aboue al, heare the voyce of them, that haue no other hope, and deliuer vs from the hand of the wicked, and deliuer me from my feare.Deus fortis super omnes, exaudi vocem eorum qui nullam aliam spem habent, et libera nos de manu iniquorum, et erue me a timore meo.
14:1
Calmet
Fearing. Greek, "caught in the agony of death." The old Vulgate has many variations in this chapter. (Calmet)
Menochius
This prayer should be placed after that of Mardochai, at the end of Esther 4:(Menochius)
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Haydock
Ointments. Greek, "instead of the proud sweets, she filled her head with ashes and dust." Such as might be soon cleansed again. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Hands; very imminent. I am ready to expose my life, Psalm 118:109. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Heard. Old Vulgate often repeats, "from the books of my fathers;" adducing the various instances of protection which God had shewn to his people, Noe, Abraham, Jonas, the three children, Daniel, Ezechias, and Anna: which intimates that Esther made the sacred books the subject of her frequent meditations, as good people ought to do. (Haydock)
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Haydock
For. Greek, "since we have extolled," etc. Esther had not been guilty herself of this prevarication; but too many of the people had. (Haydock)
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Haydock
But. Greek Complutensian, "Yea, thou hast placed (or rather as the Alexandrian manuscript reads, they have placed) their hands upon the hands of their idols, (Haydock; making league together. Calmet) to tear away the decree of thy mouth," (Haydock) and to put in execution the projects of (Menochius) the devil. (Haydock)
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Idols. Greek, "of the vain things, and to render wonderful for ever," etc.
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Worthington
Not idols, as they are often here designated, (Calmet and 1 Corinthians viii.) being only the imaginations of men. (Worthington)
Haydock
Destroy. Greek, "Make an example of the man, who has begun (Haydock; evils. Calmet) against us." (Haydock)
Calmet
She throws the blame upon Aman, and not upon her husband. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Gods. Greek, "nations, and Lord of all power." (Haydock)
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Capellus
Lion. This expression seems not sufficiently respectful. (Capellus)
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Capellus
Stranger. Only those near Chanaan were forbidden to marry; and St. Paul commends Eunice, who had espoused an infidel. (Capellus)
Menochius
But this was not the reason of his commendation; for he ordains, Bear not the yoke with infidels. A pious woman might, therefore, very well refrain from such contracts, to which the Jews, at this time, were in a manner forced. Still Esther might have a conjugal love for her husband, (Houbigant) though she would have preferred to marry one poorer of her own religion; and here she only submitted to the designs of God, in raising her to such an elevated station. (Menochius)
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Capellus
Sign. The diadem. It was no sin to wear it. (Capellus)
Houbigant
What then? May not a pious prince despise such ornaments, raising his mind above them? (Houbigant)
Calmet
Silence, when I am alone. Nothing could give us a higher idea of Esther's virtue and greatness of soul, as her elevation did not make her forget herself. (Calmet)
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Capellus
Me. Ought she to have been thus affected towards her husband? (Capellus)
Houbigant
Undoubtedly: as the meats and the wine had been offered to idols. (Houbigant)
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Idoles are nothing in the vvorld. 1. Cor. 8. but ba•e imaginations of men.
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The Church vseth this prayer in the offertorie. the 22. sunday after Pentecost: as a parcel of holie Scripture.
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Of herselfe, nor for wordlie glorie she desired not to marie a heathen king but for the cōmon good she maried him, God dispensing with the law in this behalf. See ch. 2.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.19
149. Lastly, it followeth, “Thou art nigh at hand, O Lord, and all Thy ways are truth” ( ver. 151 ). Even in their troubles, it hath been a wonted confession of the saints, to ascribe truth unto God, because they suffer them not undeservedly. So did Queen Esther,
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 48.14
… the brightest star pales before the moon; put the moon beside the sun, and it no longer looks bright; compare the sun with Christ, and it is darkness. “I am that I am,” God says; and if you compare all created things with Him they have no existence. “Give not thy sceptre,” says Esther, “unto them that be nothing”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.38
… stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh, that they may walk in my commandments and observe my judgments and do them.” And what is that which Esther the queen prays when she says, “Give me eloquent speech in my mouth, and enlighten my words in the sight of the lion, and turn his heart to hatred of him that fighteth against us”?
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.4
… Thus this poor novice in Christ’s service was sorely perplexed. She came to hate all her fine apparel and cried like Esther to the Lord: “Thou knowest that I abhor the sign of my high estate”—that is to say, the diadem which she wore as queen—“and that I abhor it as a menstruous rag.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 52.2
… Of which kind was that holy woman Esther, who, though she was wife of a king, incurred the danger of interceding for her countrymen: and when she was praying before God, where she could not lie, in her prayer said, that her royal ornaments were to her but as the cloth of a menstruous woman.
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Vers. 1. Fearing the danger. — The Septuagint: seized in the agony of death, such as was the agony and final prayer of Christ in the garden.
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Vers. 2. She humbled herself with fastings. — The word "fastings" is not in the Greek, but is understood: for the Hebrews call the humiliation of the body fasting; for nothing so much as fasting depresses the flesh, whence the Hebrews call the fast appointed by Esther on the 13th of Adar Taanith Esther, that is, the humiliation, that is, the fast of Esther. Wisely St. Ambrose, Epistle 88: Esther, he says, bent the proud king by her fastings; concerning which I have said more at the end of chapter IV. By the tearing of her hair. — The ancients were accustomed in great calamity and lamentation to clap their hands, beat their breasts, pluck their cheeks, tear their hair from the vehemence of grief, so that they might move all to compassion and co-lamentation, as Esdras relates of himself, book I, chapter IX, and as Josephus relates of Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus and mother-in-law of Herod, and of Salome, sister of Herod, book XV, XI, and book XVI, XI.
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Vers. 3. Help me who am alone: — both because I am alone a Jewess in the court of a gentile king; and because I am destitute of all human aid, as follows; and because I desire the address and consolation of God alone, not of any man. Josephus says that Esther prayed thus: I dwell here alone, I am alone in the house of the king without father and without mother. As a poor little orphan girl who begs from door to door, so do I beg thy mercies window by window, that is, going from one window to another, that I may look toward heaven, and from thence expect aid for such affliction from God; for this reason the Jews were accustomed when praying to ascend to the roof, and to look toward heaven through the windows, as Judith did, chapter VIII, verse 5; Daniel, chapter VI, verse 10; indeed Christ for this reason used to ascend mountains, and there "he was spending the night in prayer to God," Luke VI, 12.
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Vers. 4. My danger (Josephus: my soul) is in my own hands, — that is, it is most present and extreme; for what is carried in the hands can easily be spilled, or snatched away and taken by a thief or enemy. Thus David, fleeing from Saul and enemies seeking to kill him, says, Psalm CXVIII, 109: "My soul is in my hands," that is, my life is in the utmost danger, so that I seem to carry it in my hand, and I offer it to anyone who wishes to take it away.
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Vers. 7. For we have worshipped their gods, — not I, but our ancestors in Jerusalem under Manasseh and other idolatrous kings. Thus Josephus Gorionides.
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Vers. 8. Attributing the strength of their hands to the power of idols, — that is, as Josephus translates it: Behold they (Haman and his followers) do not say that thou (O Lord) hast delivered us into their hands, but they attribute this to their idols (to Mithra, that is, the sun).
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Vers. 9. They wish to change thy promises (which thou didst promise to our fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc., that thou wouldst be God and protector of us) and to blot out thy inheritance (that is, the people of Israel, which as thy peculium acknowledges and worships thee alone as God and Lord) and to extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar, — recently rebuilt in Jerusalem by this Ahasuerus, that is, Darius Hystaspes, I Esdras VI. For if Haman had persuaded Darius to destroy all the Jews in Persia, his hatred would not have stopped there, but he would also have caused Jerusalem with its temple to be overthrown.
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Vers. 10. And they proclaim a carnal king; — Darius or Haman, who as a king and tyrant rules over us, so that they "proclaim" him to be more powerful than us and our God, having killed and destroyed us all.
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Vers. 11. Give not thy sceptre to them that are not, — that is, to false gods and idols which are not gods, so that divinity and thy omnipotence may not be ascribed to them, as if to say: Suffer not that divine power be attributed to demons as if to gods, as if through it Haman worshipping them had destroyed us, so that demons might triumph over thee, O Lord, and be worshipped as gods in thy place.
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Vers. 13. Grant a composed discourse in my mouth in the sight of the lion, — that is to say, So compose and order my words in my mouth, that I may soften the mind of my husband Darius, who is terrible like a lion, and incline him to mercy towards me and the Jews. Hence St. Augustine, book I On Christian Doctrine, chapter XV, teaches that a preacher ought, as Esther here, before his discourse to ask the same thing from God, namely that he so compose the words in his mouth, that the minds of his hearers may be penetrated, struck and pierced. Behold, Esther approaching Darius, not called, trembles like a kid before a lion, as if about to be devoured by him, and therefore wholly afflicted and contrite, most ardently implores and obtains the aid of the one God. Thus St. Paul calls Nero a lion, saying: "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion," II Timothy IV, 17. For, as it is said in Proverbs XX, 2: "As the roaring of a lion, so also is the terror of a king." This will be evident in the following chapter.
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Vers. 15. Thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and detest the bed of the uncircumcised, — that is to say, I, because I am faithful and a worshipper of God, detest marriage and union with Darius the infidel and idolater; but nevertheless I admit and permit it, driven by necessity, that I may please him and reconcile him to me and the Jews.
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Vers. 16. Thou knowest my necessity, — by which I am compelled to adorn myself as a queen in the royal manner of the Persians, that I may please my husband the king, which truly I would not wish, nor would I do, unless this necessity compelled me. Hence St. Augustine, epistle 199 to Ecdicia, reproves her because, wishing to please the one God, with indiscreet zeal she assumed the habit of a nun, and distributing her goods to the poor without the knowledge of her husband, she displeased him and gave him occasion for adultery. Which I abhor as the sign of my pride, which is upon my head in the days of my show, — namely when I appear in public or before the king, and show myself as a queen in royal dress and ornament. By the sign of pride he calls the royal tiara or crown, which she carried high and distinguished with gold and gems upon her head like a tower, as even now some women adorn and raise their head so that they appear to be turreted or tower-bearing, of whom Juvenal, Satire X: So many layers press down, so many fastenings still build high / The tower of the head; you will see Andromache from the front, / Behind she is smaller; you would believe her another. And I detest it as the cloth of a menstruating woman. — In Greek as the cloth of menstrual blood, that is the cloth stained with menstrual blood, which is most filthy, most foul, indeed poisonous and utterly abominable, as Pliny shows in many places, book VII, chapter XIX. Hear St. Augustine, Epistle 199, already cited: "Esther, that queen fearing God, worshipping God, subject to God, to her husband the king, a foreigner not worshipping the same God with her, nevertheless served subject, who with extreme peril, not only of her own but also of her nation, which was then the people of God, prostrated herself before the Lord in prayer, in her very prayer said thus that her royal ornament was to her as the cloth of menstruation; and thus praying she was immediately heard by Him who is the inspector of hearts and knew her to speak the truth. And certainly she had a husband who was the husband of many women, and a worshipper of foreign and false gods." And I do not wear it in the days of my silence, — in which namely at home in my chamber I rest and hide myself as a private person.
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Vers. 17. And I have not drunk the wine of libations, — namely offered and tasted beforehand to idols.
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Vers. 18. And thy handmaid hath never rejoiced from the time I was brought hither (into the palace and royal throne) until this present day except in thee, O God of Abraham. — that is to say, As Abraham believed in the one God, and hoped in Him alone, and placed all his goods in Him, so that he might rejoice in no other than in God and in his God; so also I have never rejoiced in royal honor and ornament, nor in riches and royal delights, as being fleeting, perishable and vain, but in thee alone, O Lord God; for thou art to me all honor, all beauty, all pleasure, all wealth, all sweetness, all good; and that solid, stable, immense and eternal. Great was the purity of Esther's soul, sincerity, charity and holiness, as is evident from these words. Let us learn from her to rejoice in nothing of the world, but in God alone, as David exhorts, saying: "Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, ye just." And "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart," Psalm XXXVI, 4. And Paul: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice." Philippians IV, 4. See the sayings there; for God alone is the true joy of the heart, nay, a sea and ocean as of all goods, so also of all joys. He alone fills all the senses and the depths of our soul with immense joys. Jesus honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, jubilation in the heart, says St. Bernard.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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II. DIVORCE IN THE BIBLE. - Fasting is praised and even commanded in the Old Testament (Tob. 12:8; II Kings 12:16; Judg. 8:6; Joel 2:12; Esth. 14:2; II Macc. 12:12).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.