daily scripture 9 march 06

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 9:50am

new american bible

esther

12 queen esther, seized with mortal anguish, likewise had recourse to the lord.

14 then she prayed to the lord, the god of israel, saying: "my lord, our king, you alone are god. help me, who am alone and have no help but you,

15 for i am taking my life in my hand.

16 as a child i was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forefathers that you, o lord, chose israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among all their ancestors, as a lasting heritage, and that you fulfilled all your promises to them.

23 be mindful of us, o lord. manifest yourself in the time of our distress and give me courage, king of gods and ruler of every power.

24 put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.

25 save us by your power, and help me, who am alone and have no one but you, o lord. "you know all things.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:00am

a word about these passages:

i've been sorta pulling readings from the catholic calendar, not to promote catholicism in any way, but simply because those are what i've been getting exposed to lately. usually i try to vary which version from which i pull the text and today that presented a bit of a quandary because i couldn't find them in any version but the catholic bible. now this was a bit shocking to me as i thought, well, old testament's old testament and there's not much you can change there, is there? a little research brought me some answers.

evidently there are four chapters of the book of esther (and perhaps others in other books, i don't know) that were basically added between 300 and 200 bc when the jewish texts were translated to greek. it seems odd to me that they just added them. but i guess they did. i have a feeling that many people think that they're not quite legit. certainly martin luther felt that way from what i've read.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:20am

Wow. This is a very short spliced version of the story. It does, though, sound like lyrics for a wonderful musical!

A few interesting notes on Esther (from my Bible school days):

1. Esther wasn't seen universally part of the "canon" until 120 AD/ACE.

2. God is never mentioned of referred to by name in this entire Hebrew book. There is a Septuagint version (the LXX Esther, or Greek version) that has God's name.

3. It is the only Hebrew canonical text NOT found among the dead sea scrolls.

4. Martin Luther was not fond of Esther at all: "I am so hostile to this book (II Maccabees) and to Esther that I would wish they did not exist at all; for they judaize too greatly and have much pagan impropriety."

5. Chapter 9 has some explicit violence -- which is rare for a Biblical text, AND for the style of this book.

Updated On: 3/9/06 at 10:20 AM

[The Grovers Corners Yenta2]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:22am

Good timing for this passage. Monday night is Purim in the Jewish calendar and that is the Feast of Esther.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:30am

i'm pretty sure this is from the septuagint version, touch, it's referred to as "chapter c". i looked in other versions of the bible for the elusive chapters a, b, c and d as published in the new american bible (catholic) but could not find them anywhere. that's what started my little search for esther.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:36am

Yes, I believe this is the LXX version (not to be confused with the X version).

As I recall, it has gone through quite a few "redrafts" since it first was added onto. So, it makes sense that these drafts may ruin the whole numbering system, so they did the A, B, C, D thing instead.

Other versions do not have these passages, although they are beautiful to read and the sentiment is wonderful and inspired.

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 10:50am

OK, here's a discussion point.

Children's Sunday schools -- at least the ones I was exposed to -- rarely teach the female-centric stories of the Bible. Esther, Ruth, Deborah almost never came up in class. The "wicked" women, like Jezebel and Eve, came up much more often.

Is this because of a chauvanistic attitude from the older days of the church. By older days, I mean post-Great Awakening, not as far back as Luther.

[beacon1]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 11:52am

The Story of Esther is a great story of faith and courage.

I love that her uncle counsels her that she was born and placed in this critical position "for such a time as this." It is a wonderful reminder that there is purpose to our lives and, if we allow ourselves to be prompted and to rise to challenges, we will grow as individuals and be helpful to others.

I'm glad it is included in the canon of scripture that we use in my church. (We use the KJV.) It is a reminder that men AND women have potential to be powerful instruments in the Lord's hands.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 2:51pm

Calvin, yeah, I'd tend to believe the matriarchs of Scripture don't get taught because the patriachal culture we live in doesn't allow for such stories.

In fact, we even change stories to suit ourselves. Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute until someone in church history decided to make her one -- there is no hint whatsoever of that in Scripture.

Even the Virgin Mary gets sort of "side praise," but never enough to warrant more for her than a "good job." Men prefer to learn from Job and Moses and Abraham and Paul. No room for Deborah and Esther and Ruth and Mary.

[beacon1]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:32pm

I am glad that the word about Mary Magdalene NOT being a prostitute is finally getting more attention. I beleive there is one passage which talks about her being tormented by devils which were cast out of her (I assume by Christ). Nothing about prostitution. She just gets identified with the woman taken in adultry.

Based on the Gospels, she is obviously someone valued highly by God because she was the first mortal to see the resurrected Lord. Not even Peter, James, and John, his closest male associates, had seen him yet. They first see an angel, later the Lord appears to them.

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:36pm

Ah, Job. I forgot about his wife -- another villainess.

Strange how pervasive the "Mary Magdalene is a reformed prostitute" story became. Kinda like those who insist there were three wise men, a number never mentioned in the Bible -- much less the names Melchior, Gaspar or Balthasar.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:48pm

i dunno, touch, i was raised with a healthy respect for the virgin. i think she's got a pretty high profile in the catholic church, at least that's the way i learned it. especially after fatima.

a quick anecdote that i always found cute: when i was growing up our priest would tell us that if we felt that our prayers to jesus were not being answered that we should threaten to tell his mother on him.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:50pm

Hah, I was just gonna say what Yenta did as far as perfect timing goes...The jewish holiday of Purim is coming up on Monday night and we are going to read those very lines out loud as part of the Megillah.

Akiva

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:51pm

True, but her profile is not like someone we should try to be like -- she is distanced. I would contend that is because she is a woman.

Not everyone gets the blessed visit from Flo.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 3:56pm

"I am glad that the word about Mary Magdalene NOT being a prostitute is finally getting more attention. I believe there is one passage which talks about her being tormented by devils which were cast out of her (I assume by Christ)."

The Bible says that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. The woman caught in adultery is never mentioned by name (despite what Mel Gibson put in "The Passion of Christ")

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 3/9/06 at 4:03pm

yeah, everybody can't aspire to be born without original sin and conceive the savior (these are things that i believe and i am not trying to force anyone to agree with them or accept them) without the help of a man, but in a more abstract form she's held up as living an ideal life: one without sin. granted no one can possibly hope to achieve such perfection, but as an example she holds great weight. i mean the lesson i got was, this is a life you should aspire to even if you cannot achieve it.