The Uniqueness of her Prayer

The section on prayer in the book of Esther is given in the Addition 14 in the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). The reason is that certain parts of this book are not in the Hebrew but only in the Septuagint version. We Catholics who accept also these parts; so these parts are numbered in a different way. The thematic verse almost at the beginning that sets the tone of the text is, "Queen Esther, seized with deadly anxiety, likewise fled up to the Lord" (C:14:1) In all the forms of emergency prayer found in the Jewish manner of prayer, particularly,in the praying pattern of the woman that sense of flight to the Lord is evident. The take refuge in the Lord with great urgency and speed like a bird flying to the mountain.So David writes," In the LORD I take refuge; how can you see to me, "Flee like a bird to the Mountains!'" (Ps. 11:1). Again another psalm speaks of the escape like that of a bird fleeing from a trap, "We escaped with our lives like a bird from the fowler's snare; the snare was broken and we escaped" Ps.124:7).Similarly Esther flees from the worldly status in the palace at the moment of danger and takes refuge in the Lord. The text of the prayer of Esther is quite long. But the parts of a typical prayer are there: a) Self -abasement in humility and penitence by taking off the royal garments and putting on a penitential garb with even dirt smeared on herself; b) Address to God as the only God of Israel, saying: 'My Lord, our king, you alone are God'; c) Presentation of the gravity of the danger: "for I am taking my life in my hand" (C15); d)Acknowledgement of sin recalling past history and admitting the present state of sin: "But now we have sinned in your sight, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies" (C17) e) The fear of being deprived of the possibility of giving praise to God and restore the glory of God, the temple and the altar: to close the mouths of those who praise you, and to extinguish the glory of your temple and your altar; and f) The final request with her whole heart: " O God, more powerful than all, hear the voice of those in despair. Save us from the power of the wicked, and deliver me from my fear" (C:30). We know that the prayer worked wonderfully because God changed the anger of the king into kindness: "But God changed the king's anger to goodness" (D: 8). The rest of the story is already known to us: the Jews were spread of that threatened extermination and so they rejoiced by celebrating the feast of Purim. Purim (Hebrew 'lots', related to Akkadian puru) is a festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people living throughout the ancient Persian Empire from a plot by Haman the Agagite to annihilate them. According to the story, Haman cast lots to determine the day upon which to exterminate the Jews (Cf. Wikipedia).