The Whole Megillah

#55: “The Whole Megillah” by Brendon Wahlberg
Pop quiz: which book of the Old Testament never once mentions God in it? Need more hints? This book is the only one in the entire Hebrew Bible not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not even a tiny fragment of it was there. Most scholars think this book is a work of patriotic fiction, not history, because its details disagree with what we know from historical sources. More clues? Martin Luther hated this book, saying of it, “I would it did not exist; for it Judaizes too much, and has in it a great deal of heathenish naughtiness […] it is more worthy than all [the apocryphal books] of being excluded from the Canon.” But despite Luther’s disdain, this book is read out loud every year in a party atmosphere, complete with costumes and noise-makers. Got it yet?
Yes, it’s the Book of Esther. Five points for you. Now, you are probably curious about my title. The word “Megillah” means a rolled scroll. There are five biblical scrolls, or “Megillot”, that are read in synagogues on certain holidays, namely Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. Esther is the most important one, the Megillah, the only one which it is obligatory to hear, read out loud in its entirety, on the holiday of Purim. Anyway, twentieth century Jewish comedians (for example, on “Laugh-In”) took this word and popularized an expression, the “Whole Megillah.” It means a long and boring story, tediously detailed and overly embroidered, long winded and drawn-out, an overextended and overly complicated account, a very involved and unnecessarily lengthy tale…sort of like this sentence, but much longer. Why did this expression make reference to the Megillah, the scroll of Esther? Maybe it was because, when you sit in the Synagogue listening to every word of it, it feels long and drawn-out. Maybe that is why there are noise-makers for the kids to play with…but more on this later.
I chose the title because Esther is the most important Megillah, and also because Esther comes in two versions. One is the original Hebrew version, written around 400BCE, and the other is a newer Greek version, written a few hundred years later. Now, the really interesting thing is, the Greek version is longer. Greek Esther is the same as the Hebrew version, but it has six new chapters added to it. And, while the original Hebrew Esther never mentions God even once, the six new chapters of Greek Esther are jam packed with references to God. What’s the story, here? Which version, in other words, is the “whole” Megillah?
To answer the question, let’s first see what the Hebrew version is all about. The Book of Esther is set in the ancient Persian Empire during the reign of King Ahasuerus (possibly the same person as Xerxes I, 485-464 BCE). The King throws a huge feast in his Palace of Susa, during which he drunkenly commands his wife, Vashti, to appear before his guests and show off her beauty. Vashti refuses, and the King is infuriated. His advisors warn him that her refusal might become widely known and inspire all Persian wives to disobey their husbands (shocking, I know!) He issues an irrevocable decree that Vashti is to be replaced as Queen, as her punishment.
The King orders the collection of all available beautiful young virgins. His favorite will become the new Queen. In Susa, there is a lovely young Jewish woman named Esther. She has lost her parents, and is cared for by her foster father Mordecai. When Esther joins the harem, Mordecai warns her not to reveal that she is Jewish, for as the rest of the book reveals, there was a dangerous level of anti-Semitism aimed at the Jews of the Diaspora in Persia. The King loves Esther more than all the other women, and makes her Queen instead of Vashti.
Mordecai watches over Esther from the Palace gate, and it is there that he overhears a plot to murder the King. He tells Esther, who tells the King, and the plot is foiled. Mordecai’s deeds are written in the royal records. Soon after that, the King happens to elevate a man named Haman (the villain of the story) to high rank. Haman is upset when everyone bows down before him at the Palace gate…except Mordecai. Haman is so angry, that he decides to kill not only Mordecai, but also all of Mordecai’s people, all of the Jews in Persia. The day of the massacre is planned.
Haman then goes to the King to gain his approval for the plan. Deviously, Haman describes a people living among the Persians but apart from them, a people with different laws, who do not obey the King’s laws. He persuades the King that these people, young and old, men, women, and children, should all be killed. Ahasuerus issues an irrevocable decree to do so, on the date chosen by Haman. Learning of the decree, Mordecai begs Esther to go to the King and help her people. She protests, saying that the punishment for approaching Ahasuerus uninvited is death. But finally, she decides to risk it. Fortunately, the King welcomes her, and accepts her invitation to a private banquet, along with Haman, on the following evening.
Meanwhile, Haman continues to fume about Mordecai. His wife suggests that he set up a gallows to hang Mordecai. But the King, unable to sleep, reads about Mordecai in the royal records, realizing that nothing has been done to reward him for foiling the assassination plot. In the morning, Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for “the man whom the King wishes to reward.” Of course, Haman thinks the King means him, not Mordecai. Haman suggests that such a person should be given the King’s robe and the King’s horse to ride in public, with a courtier leading the horse and announcing the honor to everyone. Haman is mortified when he is told to go and honor Mordecai in that fashion.
At the private banquet with Esther and Haman, the King offers his Queen anything she wishes. She asks only for the King to spare her life and the lives of her people. The King, not knowing his wife is Jewish, demands to know who would threaten his Queen’s life, and at once, she accuses Haman. The King stands and has to leave the room in his rage, while a stunned Haman throws himself on the Queen and begs Esther for his life. The King returns and interprets this as Haman daring to violate Esther. It is over for Haman. He is hanged on the very gallows he has set up for Mordecai. The exalted position of Haman is given to Mordecai.
But the decree has already gone out to slaughter the Jews in Persia, and it cannot be revoked. Esther and Mordecai are allowed to send out a second decree that when the attack comes, the Jews will be allowed to band together and defend themselves. When the terrible day arrives, the Jews are victorious, killing thousands of armed attackers in all of Persia. A day of anticipated mourning has been turned into a day of celebration and feasting, and Mordecai establishes the holiday of Purim to commemorate it. Purim is still celebrated today, and during the reading of the complete scroll of Esther, children use loud noise-makers to drown out the sound of Haman’s name whenever it is spoken. And that is the whole Megillah. Or is it?
By the time the Book of Esther was a few hundred years old, some Jews were already feeling uncomfortable about the fact that God is never mentioned in it. All of the rest of the Holy Scriptures were all about God. Not Esther – there, the characters save themselves through their own efforts. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (as the Septuagint), a new version of Esther was written to include in it. An unknown writer decided to revise Esther and correct the problem of God’s absence. A total of six new chapters were written and added to the original. So what do these chapters contain?
A new prologue describes Mordecai having a dream vision like something out of Revelation in the New Testament. Two dragons fight in an apocalyptic landscape, symbolizing the conflict between Mordecai and Haman. The entire people, on the verge of destruction, cry out to God, who brings their salvation in the form of light and water, symbolizing Esther becoming Queen. So right away, the new writer establishes that it is God whose actions save his people. A new epilogue gives the interpretation of the dream, concluding that God saved his people by working signs and great wonders.
Two other new chapters claim to be actual letters, copies of the decrees issued by the King, first to doom the Jews, and later to save them. But the letters add nothing to the story. They are only wordy and redundant explanations of what has already been said. These added sections really do turn the book into more of a “whole Megillah” in the sense that I mentioned earlier. However, there is one interesting detail in the letters. The Hebrew version of Esther calls Haman an “Agagite”, a descendant of the Amalekites, ancient enemies of the Jews. But the new Greek additions call Haman a “Macedonian”, which was not an ancient enemy, but a very current one. At the time of the additions to the book, the Macedonians under Alexander had conquered the Persians and were the newest oppressors of the Jews.
Another new section is added in the middle of the story. Maybe it offended the writer that Esther and Mordecai solved their own problems, seemingly without God’s intervention. So a lengthy prayer section is added, at the point where Mordecai learns of the terrible decree. The prayer of Mordecai recognizes God as all powerful and all knowing. Mordecai says that he did not refuse to bow before Haman out of pride, but because he would not bow before anyone except God. He prays to God to have pity and save his people from their enemies. Those who praise God must not be destroyed, so that they may live to continue praising God. Next, Esther discards all her finery and prays in sackcloth and ashes, recognizing that she has no help but God. She acknowledges that she and her people have sinned by worshipping other gods, and that their punishment is just. She begs God not to let his people be utterly destroyed, but instead to make an example for the world by destroying the wicked enemies of the Jews. She claims to hate her own Queenly grandeur, and swears that she has privately abhorred all pagan sacrifices and hated the bed of the uncircumcised. She reiterates that she is alone and that she has no one to help her but God.
The Greek additions to Esther are certainly in keeping with the themes of other Jewish religious writings of the time. And they certainly do correct the perceived flaw of the book not mentioning God. However, the additions are rather heavy handed and extreme in their contrast to the content and tone of the Hebrew original. And speaking of the Hebrew original, remember that it is the version that has been preserved in Jewish Bibles. Catholics have preserved the longer version of Esther as canonical. Protestants have placed the additions to Esther in the Apocrypha. But the Jews were evidently happy with Esther the way it was originally written, despite the fact that it did not mention God. Why was that?
One traditional interpretation is that, by not mentioning God, the book teaches that God’s face is sometimes hidden from us. At some points in history, God acts out in the open, such as in the book of Exodus. But at other times, God acts in a hidden manner, behind the scenes, as in the book of Esther. Things seem to work out in a providential manner, because God has worked much less obvious miracles that appear to be natural occurrences. Or perhaps the book of Esther tries to tell us that sometimes it really is up to us to save ourselves. Maybe the “whole” Megillah is a mixture of all these ideas. We keep and preserve both versions of the book because both messages are necessary to us. Now that I think about it, there’s an old saying that expresses both ideas together: God helps those who help themselves.