Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 4443 (also P.Oxy. 65. 4443, TM 61923, LDAB 3080, Rahlfs 0996) is a fragment of a Septuagint manuscript (LXX) written on papyrus in scroll form. It is the oldest extant manuscript that contains Esther 8:16–9:3 of the Septuagint text and verse numbering, according to the text of LXX. The manuscript has been assigned palaeographically to 50–150 CE.
Description
This fragment of a papyrus roll contains 31 lines of text in 3 columns. It is of semi-cursive script type.
Treatment to the name of God
The Hebrew book of Esther does not contain the tetragrammaton, so Anthony R. Meyer states that "it is well-known that the Tetragrammaton does not occur, and God plays virtually no role in the narrative. In the translation of this book, then, we have no reason to expect to find κύριος". A remarkable feature of the Greek Book of Ester, is that it has written the word θεός uncontracted, in Greek apocryphal additions, in which the word θεός (אֱלהִים) is not found in the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible (e.g. Masoretic Text).
The scroll form and the presence of the uncontracted word θεός (theos, not in nomina sacra form) suggest that it is of Jewish rather than Christian origin. The Masoretic Text of Esther makes no mention whatever of God under any title, although God is mentioned throughout the Septuagint text of the book and even more often in the independent "Alpha Text".Jean-Daniel Macchi, Esther (Kohlhammer Verlag 2019)Brittany Melton, Where is God in the Megilloth?: A Dialogue on the Ambiguity of Divine Presence and Absence (BRILL 2018), p. 69Aaron Koller, Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press 2014), p. 35
Content
The text of the fragment consists mainly of a letter of Ahasuerus that Jerome moved to form chapter 16:1–24 of the Vulgate. It is also referred to as Addition E and in the Septuagint text stood between verses 8:12 and 8:13 of the shorter Masoretic Text.James C. Vanderkam, An Introduction to Early Judaism (Eerdmans 2001), p. 85 According to Richard H. Hiers addition E "makes much pious reference to the power and justice of God".
Location
This manuscript comes from Bahnasa, Oxyrhychus, Egypt. Currently the manuscript is kept in Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms P. Oxy. 4443.
References
Sources
External links High resolution image of P. Oxy. 65. 4443