Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The copy of the letter of Ahasuerus sent by Haman for the common slaughter of the Jews, which in historical order should be inserted at chapter 3, verse 14, as the Roman Greek text inserts it there. Then, at verse 8, is added the prayer of Mordecai for averting this slaughter, which in historical order should be placed after chapter 4.
Vulgate Text: Esther 13:1-18
1. The great King Artaxerxes, from India to Ethiopia, to the governors and commanders of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces subject to his rule, greetings. 2. When I ruled over very many nations, and had subjected the whole world to my dominion, I wished in no way to abuse the greatness of my power, but to govern my subjects with clemency and gentleness, so that passing their lives in quiet without any terror, they might enjoy the peace desired by all mortals. 3. When I asked my counselors how this might be accomplished, one who surpassed all others in wisdom and fidelity, and was second after the king, Haman by name, 4. informed me that a people was dispersed throughout the whole world, who used new laws, and acting contrary to the custom of all nations, despised the commands of kings, and by their dissension violated the harmony of all nations. 5. When we had learned this, seeing that one rebellious nation, using perverse laws against the whole human race, opposed our commands, and disturbed the peace and harmony of the provinces subject to us, 6. we commanded that whomever Haman, who is set over all provinces and is second after the king and whom we honor in place of a father, should designate, they should be destroyed by their enemies with their wives and children, and no one should have pity on them, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar of the present year: 7. so that these wicked men, descending in one day to the underworld, might restore to our empire the peace which they had disturbed.
Thus far the copy of the letter.
What follows, I found written after the place where it reads: And Mordecai went and did all that Esther had commanded him. Yet these are not found in the Hebrew, and are reported in absolutely no interpreter.
8. And Mordecai prayed to the Lord, remembering all His works, 9. and said: O Lord, Lord, almighty King, for all things are placed in Your dominion, and there is no one who can resist Your will, if You have decreed to save Israel. 10. You made heaven and earth, and whatever is contained within the compass of heaven. 11. You are the Lord of all, and there is none who can resist Your majesty. 12. You know all things, and You know that it was not out of pride and arrogance, or any desire for glory, that I did this — that I would not worship the most arrogant Haman, 13. (for I would willingly have been prepared even to kiss the traces of his feet, for the salvation of Israel); 14. but I feared lest I should transfer the honor of my God to a man, and lest I should worship anyone except my God. 15. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on Your people, because our enemies wish to destroy us, and to wipe out Your inheritance. 16. Do not despise Your portion, which You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt. 17. Hear my prayer, and be merciful to Your lot and Your heritage, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise Your name, O Lord, and do not close the mouths of those who sing to You. 18. And all Israel likewise cried out to the Lord with one mind and supplication, because certain death hung over them.
Verse 2: Passing Their Lives in Quiet
2. PASSING THEIR LIVES IN QUIET (that is, in calm without disturbances and tumults) — in peace and tranquility, as the Greek text has it.
Verse 6: Destroyed on the Fourteenth Day of Adar
6. LET THEM BE DESTROYED ON THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE TWELFTH MONTH ADAR. — For on the 13th day they were ordered to begin the slaughter, but to complete it on the 14th, just as it is clear from chapter 9, verse 17, that the Jews, with the lot reversed, did the same. Therefore this apparent contradiction has no force to make the authority and trustworthiness of these chapters suspect, as the Innovators wish.
Verse 8: The Prayer of Mordecai Recited
Moreover, this prayer of Mordecai is pious, vigorous, and fervent, which the Church accordingly uses in the Mass of Wednesday after the second Sunday of Lent, from which it is clear that it, like the rest of these chapters, is Canonical Scripture according to the decree of the Council of Trent, session 4.
8. In this verse the prayer of Mordecai is recited, before which St. Jerome prefaces thus: These are not found in the Hebrew — namely that shorter version which St. Jerome used — nor are they reported in any interpreter, namely Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the fifth and sixth editions, and similar ones. For the Septuagint must be excepted, because from them St. Jerome translated these passages; for before him the Septuagint version was the Vulgate which the Church used; and St. Jerome acknowledges in his Prooemium, chapter 15, that he translated these from the Vulgate.
Verse 13: Even to Kiss the Traces of His Feet
13. FOR I WOULD WILLINGLY HAVE BEEN PREPARED EVEN TO KISS THE TRACES OF HIS FEET, FOR THE SALVATION OF ISRAEL. — 'Traces' may be taken either properly, as the marks imprinted by the foot on dust or earth; or metonymically, as the feet themselves and the soles of the feet, by which these traces are imprinted on the earth. Whence Josippus Gorionides has: I would have been ready to lick the shoe that is on his feet, and the dust that he himself had trodden. This alludes to Isaiah 49:23: 'With their face bowed to the ground they shall worship you, and lick the dust of your feet.' And to Psalm 71 [72]:9: 'Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down, and his enemies shall lick the earth.' So Serarius and Sanchez, who shows with many examples that 'trace' is often taken for the foot that imprints traces on the earth.
Verse 14: Lest I Transfer the Honor of My God
Verse 14. But I feared lest I should transfer the honor of my God (namely the worship of latria owed to God alone) to a man. — For Haman wished to be adored as God, as I showed in chapter III, 2.
Verse 16: Do Not Despise Your Portion
Verse 16. Do not despise Your portion, — namely Your hereditary portion, that is, the people of Israel, whom You chose for Yourself as an inheritance and a possession, as Your own special and particular people out of all nations.
Verse 17: Do Not Close the Mouths of Those Who Sing
Verse 17. And do not close (in Greek, do not destroy, that is, do not allow to be closed and destroyed) the mouths of those who sing to You. — For they will no longer be able to sing to You; and so Your praise will perish both for You and for us.