Prayer and Emotion in the Septuagint of Esther
1 The descriptive level: Emotions as depicted in the narrative of the Esther Septuagint
emotions as expressed by the voice of the narrator in the introduction to the prayer and in the passage concerning Esther’s audience with the king. In the second part of this paper, I will investigate the function of emotions within the narra-tive. In this context, it will become apparent that the Septuagint version of Esther demonstrates an interesting interplay between the narrator’s and the figures’ voices, underlining the theological impact of the story. Finally, I will attempt to view the description of the emotions as expressed in the Septuagint Esther within the cultural framework of the Hellenistic world and as a result of the encounter between Greek and Jewish culture and religion. This article should therefore be regarded as a contribution to the field of historical psych-ology, which has received scant attention until now,5 and it will place emphasis on the change from “Hebrew” to “Greek” anthropology.6
1 The descriptive level: Emotions as depicted in the narrative of the Esther Septuagint
1.1 Esther’s expression of emotions
If we wish to examine how the protagonist Queen Esther expresses her emo-tions, the prayer of Esther7 necessarily becomes the focus of attention because it is the only longer text in the narration that reveals something about her inner feelings.
As I. Kottsieper pointed out in his commentary, Esther’s prayer consists of two layers. The first layer resembles the collective lament. These verses are characterized by their poetical form and their use of the first person plural, which could be referred to as the “we-style” (C 14 beginning; 16*–23a, 25 beginning; 29 end; 30). This part is adapted to Esther’s particular and individual situation by
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5 Generally cf. Gillmayr-Bucher, Emotion; von Gemünden, Überlegungen; von Gemünden, Affekt; Egger-Wenzel/Corley, Emotions; Wagner, Emotionen.
6 Not many works focus on the different descriptions of emotions in the Hebrew Bible or the Septuagint; to cite just some examples, see the survey by Rösel, Mensch, or Wagner, Emo-tionen, 39–64, who more generally differentiates between a Hebrew and a Greek or Western concept of rage.
7 For more details on Esther’s prayer, see Marböck, Gebet, 78–92; see also Moore, Daniel, 208–
215, Steck/Kratz/Kottsieper, Buch, 166–178; Schorch, Piety, 32–39; Day, Faces, 63–84 (with a focus on the characterization of the figure of Esther). See also the general overview provided by McDowell, Prayers, 37–41.
way of prosaic embellishments as well as passages that voice Esther’s perspec-tive in the first person singular (15, 16 beginning; 23b, 25b–28).8
It seems striking that, in the prayer itself, we find only one passage where Esther explicitly expresses her feelings, namely, at the end of her prayer in its individual part. Here, Esther asks for encouragement and the ability to find the right words to address the “lion”, i.e. the king who appears to be superior and dangerous, and to change his mind so that he will fight against her adversary and his supporters (C 24). The addition C 25b introduces the paragraph in which Esther deals with the problems resulting from her marriage to a pagan king. She explicitly states that she is able to adhere to the Jewish dietary laws at the court of the foreign king; she also distances herself from sexual contact with an uncir-cumcised man by saying:
C 25 …. You know everything 26 so you know that I hate the pomp of the wicked, and I loathe the bed of the uncircumcised – and of any foreigner. 27 You know my ‘duty’: that I loathe that symbol of my exalted position which is upon my head. When I appear at court – I loathe it like a menstrual rag – I do not wear it when I am not at court. 28 Your maid servant has not dined at Haman’s table, nor have I extolled a royal party nor drunk the wine of libations. 29 From the day I arrived here until now, your maid servant has not de-lighted in anything except you, Lord, the God of Abraham. 30 God, whose might prevails over all, hear the voice of the despairing, and save us from the hands of the wicked! And, Lord, protect me from my fears.9
This is a fairly obvious expression of Esther’s despair and fears. However, her fears are not the main topic of this paragraph; she rather expresses her feeling of disgust and revulsion at having to deal with her non-Jewish husband and at her royal title. The depth of her loathing for the pagan monarchy and her own title is probably best embodied by the Greek term βδελύσσομαι, since this ex-pression, and the related term βδέλυγμα, is used in the Septuagint to refer to things that are ritually impure. Special emphasis is given to specific pagan ele-ments that, according to biblical traditions, are particularly repulsive to God.10
The statement that Esther loathes her royal crown is, of course, even more drastic, especially if we consider the comparison with a sanitary towel – an image that can hardly be any more revolting. By expressing her feelings like this and by using this image, Esther is able to counteract all suspicion that she enjoys being a queen. According to I. Kottspieper, the image of the sanitary towel can be used here because it implies an argument that emphasizes Esther’s situation:
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8 Cf. Steck/Kratz/Kottsieper, Buch, 166–169.
9 Quoted according to Moore, Daniel, 209.
10 Cf. Foerster, βδελύσσομαι, 598–600.
just as the menstrual period defiles a woman, without any fault on her part and without denying her the status of a devout Jew, Esther’s situation is portrayed as some sort of defilement for which, however, she cannot be made responsible.
She finds herself in an unavoidable predicament.11 To some extent, this makes Esther a tragic figure. Because of her marriage to a pagan king, she is unable to live wholly according to Jewish laws. By expressing her contempt for her own lifestyle and distancing herself from it, an attempt is made to exonerate her and to make her appear as a protagonist of the symbol system of the Jewish religion.
1.2 The narrator’s description of Esther’s emotions
Other statements about Esther’s emotional state may be found in the narrative frame of this prayer. In the introduction to the prayer, the narrator’s voice can be heard to say:
C 12 Queen Esther was terrified and sought refuge in the Lord. 13 She took off her stately robes and put on clothes appropriate for distress and mourning, and instead of extrava-gant perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung. She debased her body com-pletely, and she covered with her disheveled hair those parts which she ordinarily loved to adorn.12
The introduction to this paragraph states that Esther is “seized with mortal an-guish” and seeks refuge in God, creating a dramatic framework for the prayer.
The prayer is accompanied by rites of self-humiliation as Esther puts on “gar-ments of distress and mourning” and neglects her personal appearance. She does not wear any jewellery and her hair is tangled.13 Although the narrator does not explicitly address the protagonist’s feelings, the description of her clothing as “garments of distress and mourning” and the mention of mortal anguish clearly allude to the emotional side of Esther’s situation. It seems un-necessary to elaborate on her mortal anguish and extreme state of desperation.
Following Esther’s prayer, the narrator speaks again and describes in Addi-tion D how Esther goes to the king accompanied by her maids.
D 1 On the third day, when she had finished praying, she took off the clothing of a suppli-ant and dressed herself in a splendid attire. 2 After she had called upon the all-seeing God and saviour, she, looking absolutely radiant, took two maids, 3 leaning daintily on the
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11 Cf. Steck/Kratz/Kottsieper, Buch, 176.
12 Quoted according to Moore, Daniel, 208.
13 Cf. Marböck, Gebet, 82.
one, 4 while the other followed carrying her train. 5 She was radiant, in the prime of her beauty, and her face was assured as one who knows she is loved, but her heart was pounding with fear.
6 When she had passed through all the doors, she stood before the king. He was seated on this royal throne, arrayed in all his splendid attire, all covered with gold and precious stones – a most formidable sight! 7 Raising his face, flushed with color, he looked at her in fiercest anger. The queen stumbled, turned pale and fainted, keeling over on the maid who went before her.14
After God has changed the king’s spirit to gentleness, he inquires about her situation and she responds that she saw the king “like an angel of God” (D 13) and that she was “upset” (D 13) by his “awesome appearance” (D 13), because he was “wonderful” (D 14) and his “face was full of graciousness” (D 14). The passage closes with the words: “And as she spoke, she sagged with relief. The king was upset, and all his court tried to reassure her.”15
The motif of Esther’s fear is the common thread in this paragraph. Her heart is anxious and her fear is increased by the terrifying and awesome appearance of the king. Esther even confirms in her own words that she is afraid when she talks to the king. Once more, these feelings are reflected by her body. At the beginning of this paragraph there is a discrepancy between Esther’s beauty and gracefulness and her emotional state, while in this context, the sudden feeling of faintness mirrors her fear and distress.
It is possible to draw an initial conclusion regarding the description of Esther’s feelings at this point in the Septuagint version of the Esther story. The motif of fear is a defining element within the entire ensemble of traditions.
While this motif is at the centre of the prayer’s framework, it is, in the prayer itself, a rather constant voice in the background. However, in Esther’s actual prayer, her hatred and disgust of her royal position are particularly emphasized.
Bearing in mind that Esther is in mortal danger, the use of this motif is rather surprising and thus carries even more emphasis than in the case of the drastic comparison between the crown and a sanitary towel.
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14 Quoted according to Moore, Daniel, 216.
15 D 15–16; quoted according to Moore, Daniel, 217.