Esther 10

Notes on the verses

Chap. X. Ver. 1 The isles of the sea.—Probably of the Ægean sea. Ver. 2. The book of the Chronicles.—‘‘The Persians have ever been remarkable for keeping exact chronicles of all public events. Their Tareekhs, which are compositions of this kind, are still very numerous, and indeed very important.”—Dr. Clarke.—X(Media.—Media, which comprehended the modern Azerbijan, and part of Irak, was a celebrated country of Asia, bounded on

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER. In the Apocrypha attached to most of our quarto Bibles, there are ten verses in addition to this chapter, and six whole chapters beside, forming what is there called ‘‘The rest of the Book of Esther;” but as these chapters are not found in the Hebrew, and we have no reason to believe they ever were, we consider them of no authority; yet their object seems to be to remedy the defect

there mentioned, lest the Gentiles, who are never backward to introduce their gods, should reproach them on that account. The very first line, therefore, of these additions is, ‘‘Then Mordecai said, God hath done these things.” But what follows of the dreams of Mordecai, the prayer of Esther, &c., deserves no credit, but is utterly foreign to the style of the book to which they are attached. It is also no less remarkable, that the Septuagint translators, in their version of this book, insert several passages, apparently with the same design of re-

(TH1s Book derives its title from the venerable patriarch Job, whose prosperity, afflictions, and restoration, are here recorded, with his exemplary and unequalled patience under all his calamities.

‘There can be no doubt that Job was a real, and not a fictitious character, and that the narrative of this Book is an historical fact; for the prophet Ezekiel mentions Job, Noah, and Daniel, as three persons of eminent piety; and the apostle James illustrates the advantage of patience by the example of Job, as he had before done the doctrine of faith and works by the examples of Abraham and Rahab. Add to this, that we have the strongest internal evidence, from the Book itself, of the reality of the person and history of Job: for it expressly specifies the names of persons, places, facts, and other circumstances, usually related in true histories. This we have the name, country, piety, wealth, &c.

of Job described; the the north by the Caspian sea and Armenia, west by Assyria, south by Susiana and Persia, and east by Hyrcania and Parthia, extending from 33° to 37° N. lat. and 45° to 53° E. long. —Persia.—Persia Proper, now Fars, was but a small province, being bounded on the north by Media, west by Susiana, south by the Persian gulf, and east by Caramania, extending from about 27° to 33° N. lat. and 50° to 55° E. long. But the Persian empire in its ancient state extended from the Hellespont to the Indus, above 2800 miles, and from Pontus to the shores of Arabia, above 2000 miles; comprehending a multitude of various nations. |}—Bagster. moving the opprobrium above-mentioned; as for instance, in ch.

ii. after ver. 20, - they add, ‘‘For so Mordecai had charged her, (namely, Esther,) to fear God, and keep his commandments.” So in ch. iv. 8. they make Mordecai exhort her to * pray unto the Lord,” as well as plead with the king. But of neither of these exhortations is there one word in the original; nor are they supported by any other of the ancient versions. This circumstance, however, by no means operates against any of the facts here recorded, or the authenticity of the book, which, in all probability, was written by Mordecai himself, or under his direction. Had it been written by Ezra, the facts would have been the same; but undoubtedly we should have had frequent references to the divine providence, and exhortations both to prayer and praise.

THE BOOK OF JOB. names, number, and acts of his children are mentioned; the conduct of his wife recorded as a fact; his friends, their names, countries, and discourses, are minutely delineated: and can we rationally imagine that these were not realities? The real existence of Job is also proved by the concurrent testimony of all eastern tradition: he is mentioned by the author of the Book of Tobit, who lived during the Assyrian captivity; he is also repeatedly mentioned by Mohammed as a real character; and the whole of his history, with many fabulous additions, was known among the Syrians, Chaldeans, and Arabians; among the latter of whom, many of the noblest families are distinguished by his name, and boast of being descended from him.

It is not, however, necessary for the historical truth of the Book of Job, that its manners should be a direct transcript of that actually employed by the different characters introdu-