Recherche – Detailansicht
Ausgabe: | November/2020 |
Spalte: | 1069–1071 |
Kategorie: | Altes Testament |
Autor/Hrsg.: | Macchi, Jean-Daniel |
Titel/Untertitel: | Esther. Übers. v. C. Palmer. |
Verlag: | Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer 2019. 361 S. m. 7 Abb. u. 11. Tab. = International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Geb. EUR 109,00. ISBN 978-3-17-020753-0. |
Rezensent: | Dionisio Candido |
The present commentary is the fruit of the author’s long-standing study of the book of Esther and is based, in particular, on his previous volume in French (Le livre d’Esther, 2016). However, this is not just a translation into English because there has also been a partial revision to make the text conform to the pattern of the International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (IECOT). Thus, it is addressed not just to specialists in biblical studies but also to those who work on the pastoral level.
The commentary by Jean-Daniel Macchi can be divided into three large sections: the Introduction (15–89); the analysis of the chapters of the book of Esther, to which is added the analysis of the Additions found solely in Greek (90–325); and the Bibliography and Indexes (326–359).
The Introduction tackles the textual question right from the start. This is probably the most delicate and complex question also for experts in the book of Esther. First of all, M. illustrates the diversity of the textual forms, beginning with the three main texts: the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT), the Majority Greek Text of the LXX, and the Minority Greek Text or Alpha Text (AT). Other ancient versions also merit attention: the Jewish Antiquities (Book XI) of Fla-vius Josephus, the Old Latin, the Vulgate, the Peshitta, the Coptic-Sahidic, Ethiopic and Armenian versions, the two Aramaic Targums (Targum Rishon, Targum Sheni) and the rabbinic literature.
M. does not confine himself to a generic description of these textual witnesses but aims to show the relationships among them and so also their specific place within the history of the editorial process of the book of Esther. With regard to the Hebrew and Greek witnesses to the text, this is a question which is still being dis-cussed extensively and which could really seem to be one reserved for the specialists. However, the reader of the commentary is re-quired to understand at least the essential aspects of the problem because M.’s position on this subject determines the structure and the content of his commentary.
Basing himself on the theories of David J. A. Clines (The Esther Scroll. The Story of the Story, 1984) and Michael V. Fox (The Redac-tion of the Books of Esther, 1991), M. places a reconstructed Hebrew text at the beginning of the redactional process. This is the Proto-Esther which would have contained only some parts of the present MT. Over this text, some Hebrew editors are supposed to have created the Proto-MT, that is, the present MT but not vocalised: the work of these editors would have consisted in adding to Proto-Esther some literary material here and there but, especially, the final chapters, 8–10. Thus, among the Greek witnesses, M. considers the AT the primary one: more precisely, this is the Proto-AT, namely, the translation of Proto-Esther in the parts shared by the Hebrew and Greek textual traditions. In the meantime, independently of the Proto-AT, another Greek author is reckoned to have created the Proto-LXX, another translation of the Proto-MT. In the history of the redaction of the Greek texts, this is the point of entry of the six Additions. These are the portions of text exclusive to the Greek textual witnesses of the book of Esther. M. does not specify whether the Additions were incorporated first in the AT and then passed from there into the LXX or the reverse: in fact, with the insertion of the six Additions, we get to the present form of both the AT and the LXX (cfr. the Table on p. 37). An important fact to be drawn from this scenario is the value which M. affords to the text of the AT, without the Additions, as a witness to the most ancient Hebrew text.
The textual questions just described remain in the background of the treatment of all the subsequent subjects within the commentary, beginning with the topic of the historical and cultural environment in which the various texts of the book of Esther were produced (38–52). In particular, M. focuses on three periods: Per-sian, Hellenistic and Maccabean. In considering the literary characteristics, primary attention is given to the MT (50–72): to the liter-ary genre and the parallels with other biblical texts such as those concerning Joseph (Gen 37–50), Moses and Daniel. There follows a consideration of the literary and thematic characteristics of Proto-Esther and of the Greek texts which are supposed to have been de-rived from it (72–74). The same distinction appears with the con-sideration of the questions bound up with the places and times which characterise the Hebrew or Greek narratives (75–79). The ecumenical concern, which is particular to the IECOT series, leads M. on to dealing with the different locations of the book of Esther within the Jewish and Christian biblical canons as well as the dif-ferent developments within the course of the history of the book’s reception (79–88).
This extensive Introduction is followed by the commentary proper which takes account of the textual problems and of M.’s ideas about them. That is why the reader who has to pass directly to the commentary without having taken on board the questions laid out in the Introduction could be a little disorientated at first glance. In the section devoted to commenting on the biblical text (90–298), consideration is given to the MT which is divided into eight chapters and not ten, as one would have expected: in fact, chapters 8–10 are treated together and on their own in compliance with M.’s idea that these last chapters of the Hebrew book are the product of the intervention of some editors on the original Proto-Esther. Each chapter of the Hebrew book (MT) is provided initially with a gener-ic description from the thematic point of view. Then the chapter of the MT is divided into pericopes: each of these has its translation, some notes on the Hebrew text and translation, and a synchronic analysis. The end of each chapter contains the diachronic analysis in three stages: the translation of Proto-Esther with a commentary; a study of the work of elaboration carried out by the authors who created the Proto-MT in the Maccabean and Hasmonean periods: and the characteristics of the MT and those of the Greek transla-tions. A separate chapter is devoted to the six Additions exclusive to the Greek text (299–325) which are held to be clearly late (II century BCE) and which differ from the MT from the theological point of view. Here too, M. tries to highlight carefully the differences be-tween the LXX and AT.
The final section of the commentary contains a good Bibliography (326–343) which is balanced and not excessive. Within the vast scholarly output, the reader is guided on the basis of some of the chief topics: the textual question; the literary issues with reference to Mesopotamian-Persian and Greco-Roman periods; and the post-biblical sources. Useful too is the subdivision of the bibliography by encyclopaedias, dictionaries, grammars, commentaries and articles as well as monographs. The final Indexes (344–359) enable the easy identification of some key words or the biblical quotations or the ancient works of literature which are cited in the commentary.
Although some issues still remain disputed, in particular concerning the redactional history of the texts of the book of Esther, this commentary constitutes a significant contribution on this topic and a useful tool for those who want to deepen their know-ledge of the subject.