Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Mordecai recounts the dream itself, whose meaning he had already expounded in chapter 10.
Vulgate Text: Esther 11:1-12
1. In the fourth year, when Ptolemy and Cleopatra were reigning, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and of Levitical lineage, and Ptolemy his son, brought this letter of Purim, which they said Lysimachus, the son of Ptolemy, had translated in Jerusalem.
This beginning also was in the Vulgate edition, which is found neither in the Hebrew nor in any interpreter.
2. In the second year, when the great Artaxerxes was reigning, on the first day of the month of Nisan, Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream: 3. a Jewish man who dwelt in the city of Susa, a great man, and among the first of the royal court. 4. He was of that number of captives whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah king of Judah; 5. and this was his dream: There appeared voices, and tumults, and thunders, and earthquakes, and disturbance upon the earth; 6. and behold, two great dragons, prepared to fight against each other. 7. At whose clamor all nations were stirred up to fight against the nation of the just. 8. And that was a day of darkness and danger, of tribulation and anguish, and great terror upon the earth. 9. And the nation of the just was troubled, fearing their own evils, and prepared for death. 10. And they cried out to God: and as they were crying out, a small spring grew into a very great river and overflowed into many waters. 11. Light and the sun arose, and the humble were exalted and devoured the renowned. 12. When Mordecai had seen this and risen from his bed, he pondered what God wished to do: and he kept it fixed in his mind, desiring to know what the dream might mean.
Verse 1: In the Fourth Year, Ptolemy and Cleopatra Reigning
This chapter should be placed at the beginning of the book in historical order, as the Roman Greek text places it.
1. IN THE FOURTH YEAR, WHEN PTOLEMY AND CLEOPATRA WERE REIGNING — in Egypt. For in that age, from the first Ptolemy Lagus king of Egypt, all the rest were called Ptolemies; and the queens, Cleopatras. This Ptolemy was the one surnamed Philometor, sixth from Alexander the Great, and he greatly favored the Jews; indeed he entrusted his entire kingdom to be governed by them, and appointed Onias and Dositheus, who were Jews, as commanders of his army, as Josephus attests in book 2 Against Apion. It is uncertain whether this Dositheus is the same as Dositheus the priest, who brought to Jerusalem the letter of 'purim,' that is, of lots, written in Hebrew by Mordecai and translated into Greek by Lysimachus, as is said here. Moreover, this verse is not from Mordecai, nor was it added by the Septuagint translators; for they lived before Philometor under Ptolemy Philadelphus, but it was inserted by some later sacred scribe for the sake of the history.
Verse 2: In the Second Year of Artaxerxes, Mordecai's Dream
2. IN THE SECOND YEAR. — Here begins the letter of Mordecai, which was written in the second year of Artaxerxes, that is, of Darius Hystaspes reigning in Persia. For Artaxerxes was the common name of the kings of Persia, just as Ahasuerus was of the Medes, as I have said. For it was the same year in which Darius granted the Jews permission to resume the building of the temple which Cyrus had begun, but which his son Cambyses had halted, as is clear from 1 Ezra 4 and 6.
Verse 5: Voices, Tumults, Thunders, and Earthquakes
5. AND THIS WAS HIS DREAM: THERE APPEARED VOICES, AND TUMULTS, AND THUNDERS, AND EARTHQUAKES, AND DISTURBANCE UPON THE EARTH. — All these things signified the tumults and disturbances which Haman stirred up against the Jews through the edict ordering all of them to be killed. For there were many hundreds of thousands of Jews who were all to be slain with their wives, daughters, and maidservants. Consider how great was the consternation, tumult, and lamentation among them.
Verse 6: Prepared to Fight Against Each Other
6. AND PREPARED TO FIGHT AGAINST EACH OTHER. — In Greek: Both came forward to fight, namely Mordecai against Haman.
Verse 7: To Fight Against the Nation of the Just
7. TO FIGHT AGAINST THE NATION OF THE JUST, namely against the Jews who were the faithful people dedicated to the worship of God.
Verse 10: The Small Spring Grew into a River
10. THE SMALL SPRING GREW INTO A VERY GREAT RIVER, etc. 11. LIGHT AND THE SUN AROSE; AND THE HUMBLE (the Jews) WERE EXALTED, AND DEVOURED THE RENOWNED — namely Haman with his followers and all others opposing them.
The small spring was Esther with her Jews, who at first humble and lowly grew into a river — indeed was turned into light and the sun — when, having become queen, she raised up Mordecai and the Jews so that they triumphed over Haman and their enemies by slaying them. It alludes to small springs which in deep places, like wells and caves, trickle forth modestly and are therefore dark and shadowy: but when they grow by the influx of neighboring waters, they become clear and bright, according to the verse: 'There was a spring of clear water, bright with silver waves.' Indeed they become brilliant like the sun, especially when they are so struck by the rays of the sun that the sun imprints in them either a rainbow or itself, as happens in a parhelion, when the sun shining through thin watery clouds displays another quasi-sun to be seen in them. For in a similar way Esther, after obtaining the kingdom, shone with majesty and glory like the sun. See what was said in the preceding chapter, verse 7.
HE PONDERED WHAT GOD WISHED TO DO, AND KEPT IT FIXED IN HIS MIND (to investigate and search out the meaning of the dream), DESIRING TO KNOW WHAT THE DREAM MIGHT MEAN. — From this it is clear that Mordecai, when he first saw the dream, did not understand its meaning, but gradually came to know it from the course of events and by divine inspiration. He sensed, however, in a general way that something great in favor of the Jews was signified to him by God. Whence Josippus the son of Gorion, in book 2, says: 'When Haman,' says Mordecai, 'was so hostile, he said to his Esther: The dream is being fulfilled which I told you in the days of your youth.'