Why Does Esther’s Apocryphal Prayer Matter?

The Know

The Book of Esther is unusual because it is the only book in the Old Testament that never mentions God.1 However, in Esther 4:16, Esther asks Mordecai to fast for her and then asserts, “I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” One assumes that Esther prayed, at least silently, during her fast. However, no such prayer is recorded in the Hebrew version of the Book of Esther. Later Jewish authors writing in Greek likely felt the absence of such a prayer in the text and imagined what she might have said in this moment of great anxiety as she prepared to go in to the king.2 This prayer is preserved in the Greek translation of Septuagint Esther, from the Apocrypha.3

According to the Greek version, Esther cries out, “Oh, my Lord, You only are our king; help me, I who am alone and do not have a helper other than You, because my moment of peril is at hand."4 In this text, Esther cries out to God in her moment of danger, knowing that God is the only one who can help her. She continues by expressing her confidence in all God did in the past for Israel: “I have heard since my birth in my people’s tribe that You, Oh Lord, took Israel from all the nations and our ancestors out from among all their forefathers, to be an eternal inheritance, and You did everything for them that You said You would” (Septuagint Esther C.16). She continues by stating the position the Jews now find themselves in: “But now we have done wrong before You, and You have handed us over into the grasp of our foes because we revered their gods. You are upright, Oh Lord” (Septuagint Esther C.17–18).

She complains that her enemies were not content that the Jews were not a free nation, but were now colluding with their idols to destroy the Jews (Septuagint Esther C.19). They were also trying to keep the words of God from coming true and were attempting to stop people from praising or bringing offerings to God (Septuagint Esther C.20–21). They were trying to give themselves something to boast about and elevating a mortal king to be revered (Septuagint Esther C.22). She pleads for protection from those who worship false gods:

Oh Lord, do not give up Your kingship to the non-existent, and do not allow them to scoff at our defeat, but turn their scheme against them, and publicly make an example of the one who started this against us. Remember, Oh Lord; reveal Yourself in our time of affliction, and make me bold, O King of the gods and Master of all power. (Septuagint Esther C.23)

She begs for help from the Lord to assist her when she goes in to the king, to get the king to turn against Haman and his allies. She asks God to save the Jews and herself, as God is the only one who could help them (Septuagint Esther C. 24–25). God knows that Esther dislikes having to be married to a non-Jew and hates being queen of a foreign kingdom (Septuagint Esther C. 25–26). She even hates her crown, and only wears it when she must, at public events (Septuagint Esther C. 27). She refuses to eat with Haman or even with the king (Septuagint Esther C. 28). She concludes, “Your enslaved one has not felt joy from the day of my change until the present, besides in you, Oh Lord, God of Abraham. Oh God who has control over everything, hear the cry of those who grieve, and defend us from the hand of those who do evil. And deliver me from my terror” (Septuagint Esther C.29–30).

The Why

Esther’s prayer is part of the Apocrypha and is therefore part of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles. However, according to Doctrine and Covenants 91, the Apocrypha is still of value to Latter-day Saints. Esther’s prayer can teach Latter-day Saints much about relying on God. The prayer depicts Esther, in her moment of greatest peril, calling out to God to help her, inspired by all God had done for her people in the past. People today can similarly call upon God when times are difficult, knowing that He helped people in the past and can help anyone who calls on Him today.

There is something raw about Esther’s complaint about what her enemies are trying to do to her, and her pleas to God for help against people who are trying to harm her and her people resonate with anyone who is under attack by enemies today. Her reminder to God that she is just trying to do her best in a difficult situation is likely similar to prayers that many Latter-day Saints have prayed over the years.

Perhaps the most compelling part of the prayer is when Esther begs the Lord to deliver her from her terror. Sometimes the most trying thing about a difficult situation is the fear that precedes it. Esther's frank pleading with God to save her from her fear is perhaps the most relatable part of the prayer and is something many Latter-day Saints have experienced. In the end, Esther’s prayer reminds all readers of the Bible that God will help people today, just as He helped people in the past, delivering them from fear and danger.