(Significant differences between the Masoretic and Septuagint versons of Esther exist.  I have relied upon the Masoretic text for all of my previous writings.  In this article I’ll compare the differnces and explain why my conclusions remain the same.)

The “Masoretic” text of the Book of Esther is in every modern Bible. Masoretes were Jewish scholars who attempted to write a Hebrew Bible from from Hebrew sources between about A.D. 500 and AD. 1100. The Hebrew language was problematic because it lacked vowel signifiers and thus the meaning was unclear without “oral” traditions. The Majorettes tried to address this problem and produced the “Masoretic text” upon which most modern Bibles are based.

The older version of the Scriptures was the Septuagint — in Greek. It predated the Incarnation.

I have relied up the Masoretic version — the standard for all English Bibles that I have used: New American Standard, New International Version, English Standard Version, and King James.

In the Septuagint version of the Book of Esther, Queen Esther prayed to God, and both Israel and Abram are referenced — neither of which occurs in the Masoretic text.

Does this change my interpretation of Esther?

No, it does not. Here is why:

The Sons of Israel were under Judgment in Persia during this time. It is not unreasonable to believe that the annihilation of the Jews in Persian would have been a continuation of that judgement. The annihilation of the Jews in the Persian Empire does not at all mean the Annihilation of all the offspring of Israel — not even close. The Jews in Persia were a portion of the two southern Tribes — Judah and Benjamin. Both Esther and Mordecai were of the Tribe of Benjamin (as was Saul the son of Kish, and Saul who becomes Saint Paul). The Ten Northern tribes left the land of Canaan centuries earlier; the went to Assyria and had subsequently dispersed to Europe (John 7:35). So this was not a threat to the existence of Israel’s offspring.

The Jews in Esther set up a new festival, which Moses did not authorize, to the God of Chance — the days of Purim (the throwing of the dice). Mordecai “sought the good of his people and the one who spoke for the welfare of the whole nation.” There was no repentance in the Septuagint for their own sins or the sins of their fathers.

Did God save the Jews in the book of Esther? Or was it the God of Chance and Fortune — Lucifer — that saved the Jews in Esther?

The Christian prophet Isaiah answer this question before it even happened:

“But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and while fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny (Isaiah 65:11 NASB).”

That was the Jews in the Book of Esther — they forsook the Lord, settled and prospered in the land of the Persians (they forgot his Holy Mountain), and the set up a table for Fortune (the Pur) and filled cups for Destiny.”

The Amplified, KJV21, and other versions refer to “Gad” and “Meni” as the gods these Jews honored.

These were pagan gods:

“But you who abandon (turn away from) the Lord, Who forget and ignore My holy mountain (Zion), Who set a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune], And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni [the god of fate]. Isaiah 65:11 AMP

AND:

“But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget My holy mountain, that prepare a table for that Gad, and that furnish the drink offering unto that Meni. Isaiah 65:11 KJ21

Strong’s Lexicon describe Gad and Meni as follows:

“Meni is a term found in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in Isaiah 65:11, where it is associated with a pagan deity or concept of fate or destiny. The term is often linked with Gad, another deity, suggesting a practice of worship or reliance on fortune and destiny, contrary to the worship of Yahweh.”

The Jews who wrote the Masoretic text make explicit (by removing references to God or the Patriarchs) that Post-Resurrection Jews utterly rejected the God of the Patriarchs and Prophets.

So both texts — Masoretic and Septuagint — are evidence against the Jews. Jews remain an utterly antichrist entity (1 John 2:22), hostile to all mankind (1 Thes 2;15), and fit for no good work.

The Book of Esther remains a warning to the world of the evil nature of the Jews and their rejection of the God of the Patriarchs, which is Jesus Christ.

Fritz Berggren, PhD
Colorado
20 April 2025 A.D.