A letter from Hrabanus Maurus (c.834)

Translated letter:

The book of Esther, which the Hebrews number among the hagiographies, contains the sacraments of Christ and the church multiply in mystery, since Esther as a type of the church frees her people from danger and, when Haman/Aman who is interpreted as iniquity is killed, sends on to posterity the parts of the feast and the celebratory day. Indeed the interpreter of sacred history(1) declares this book to have been transferred word for word expressly from the archives of the Hebrews. And yet those things which he finds in the vulgate edition, he not only did not omit but added with full faith at the end of the book other things expressed with Hebraic truth which he found outside(elsewhere). We have however expounded with the allegorical sense those things which are put forth from the source of the Hebrews, others which are added from the language and letters of the Greeks and marked by that same interpreter with an obelisk we have omitted to expound, but the studious reader of their senses when s/he has investigated the preceding well, will be able to recognize them sufficiently. You, in any case, o most noble queen, since you will certainly recognize the divine sacraments in the expositions, will rightly assess what is to be perceived in the others. God omnipotent, who aroused the mind of that queen to relieving the calamities of her people, deign to lead you working with similar zeal to the joys of the eternal kingdom.

Original letter:

Liber Hester, quem Ebrei inter agiographa annumerant, multipliciter Christi et aecclesie sacramenta in mysterio continet, quia ipsa Hester in aecclesiae typo populum de periculo liberat et interfecto Aman, qui interpretatur iniquitas, partes convivii et diem celebrem mittit in posteros. Hunc quidem librum asserit sacrae historiae interpres de archivis Ebreorum relevatum verbum a verbo expressius se transtulisse. Attamen ea quae in editione vulgata repperit, non poenitus pretermisit, sed Ebraica veritate plena fide expressa cetera quae extrinsecus invenit iuxta finem libri addendo subiunxit. Nos autem ea, quae ex Ebreorum fonte prolata sunt, allegorico sensu exposuimus, caetera vero quae ex Graecorum lingua et litteris insuper addita sunt et ab ipso interprete oboelo prenotata exponere pretermisimus, sed horum sensum studiosus lector, cum anteriora bene rimaverit, satis agnoscere poterit. Tu autem, o nobilissima regina, cum sacramenta divina in expositis bene agnoveris, in ceteris quid sentiendum sit, rite censebis. Deus omnipotens, qui illius regine mentem ad relevandas populi sui calamitates erexerat, te simili studio laborantem ad eterni regni gaudia perducere dignetur.

Historical context:

Hrabanus Maurus, abbot of Fulda, sends his commentary on the book of Esther to empress Judith.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Jerome in his prologue to the book of Esther.

Printed source:

MGH Epistolae Karolini Aevi, v.3, ed. E Dummler, 1899, repr. 1978, 421-22, Hrabani Mauri Epistolae, ep.17b.

Date:

c.834