Published: Sat, 13 Nov 2021
I can honestly say that I have never read the text of the Apocrypha. I've always been curious about it, but never took the time to read any of the text. I decided to start with the shorter works in the Apocrypha as a sort of sample of the text. One of the shorter works is some extra text found in the Story of Esther. I was immediately fascinated by this extra text in Esther as it provided more details and extended accounts of portions of the canonical Esther. For instance, the king, Ahasuerus (named Artaxerxes in the Apocryphal text) wrote two letters mentioned in Esther. The canonical text does not contain those letters, but only mentions them; however, the Apocryphal text of Esther gives the full written letter. Another very interesting thing about the Apocryphal text of Esther is that, unlike the canonical Esther, it actually mentions God by name. In fact, both Mordecai and Esther prayed to God, and those prayers are recorded in the Apocryphal text.
Since I found this text to be so fascinating, I decided to put it on the RCV website in some form for you to read. I have put together an article that contains the Apocryphal text of Esther. I have organized the article by the chapter in which the text appears in the Greek Septuagint. I have also noted where the Apocryphal text is placed in the Notes section at the bottom of each chapter page containing the text on the RCV website.
Now, as you read this text, keep in mind that this Apocryphal text (and all Apocryphal text) is to be read as a historical account and not as Scripture.