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Journey of a Passage

Esther 8:17

"Became Jews"

"Many of the people of the land became Jews (mityahadim); for the fear of the Jews fell upon them." The word occurs only here. The library's Greek (Giguet): "many were circumcised and judaized."

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original EstherComposed c. 400–150 BC (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Esther
Greek
  1. Old Greek Esther (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd–1st century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of Esther, freely, with additions
Latin
    English
    1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    Every witness, in order

    1. Composed c. 400–150 BC (debated)

      Original Esther

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. No copy of Esther has been identified among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

    2. Translated c. 2nd–1st century BC

      Old Greek Esther (library text: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of Esther, freely, with additions

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      parmi les gentils, beaucoup se circoncirent et judaïsèrent par crainte des Juifs

      among the gentiles, many were circumcised and judaized for fear of the Jews

      Old Greek via Giguet's French (its own verse numbers); not checked against Hanhart's Göttingen edition.

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Esther

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      וְרַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים כִּי־נָפַל פַּחַד־הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם

      and many of the peoples of the land were becoming Jews / declaring themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews fell on them

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      many of the people of the land became Jews

    What changed, and why

    Mityahadim may mean converted, claimed to be Jews, or sided with the Jews. The Greek makes it full conversion with circumcision. "For fear" complicates a picture of willing conversion; it reflects the narrator's point that power had shifted.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe library's Greek reads "circumcised and judaized." Via Giguet.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Counter-Edict, Self-Defense and Power →The king gives Haman's house to Esther and his ring to Mordecai. Esther falls at the king's feet weeping and begs him to reverse Haman's letters. He says a decree sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked, but they may write another. On 23 Sivan the scribes write in every script and language: the Jews may gather and defend themselves on 13 Adar, "to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish" any armed force that attacks them, "both little ones and women," and take their spoil. Mordecai goes out in royal robes; the Jews have light and joy; many of the peoples of the land "became Jews."