Book of Esther

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For it is so written in

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The Book of Esther is a work from the Tanakh in the Hebrew bible, or the "Old Testament" in the Christian Bible. It is a story of Palace Intrigue and a single woman who thwarts a genocide.

The book is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim. This is the only book of the bible where God is not mentioned. The book is part of the "Writings" (Ketuvim), but traditionally it was considered a history written directly by one of the characters, Mordichai. It was likely written in the 4th or 3rd century BCE. Modern scholarship has generally considered it at best a "historical romance" fictionalizing historical characters. Facts about Persia and Persian traditions and laws are inaccurate, leading to that conclusion.

Contents

[edit] The Story

The story opens with the Persian King, Ahasuerus, at the 180 days feast celebrating his power and wealth, he commanded his wife, Vashti to show her face, so all could see her beauty and know how powerful a king he must be. Custom in the day was for women to keep their faces hidden[1] so Queen Vashti refused his order. The king consulted the wise men of the kingdom and the wise men said he should put a stop to wifely disobedience or all women would start disobeying their husbands.

Dumping his first wife for her disobedience, Ahasuerus seeks out the most beautiful woman in his lands, and lays eyes on the Jewish woman Esther, cousin of Mordecai who was an official in the King's court, and takes Esther for his Queen.

Sometime after the marriage of Esther to King Ahasuerus, Mordecai (her cousin) figures out a plot to assassinate the King. He tells Esther, who tells the king, and he becomes favored in the King's eye. However, Haman is even more favored - so favored all in the land are to bow to him. Mordecai refuses, ticking off the High Noble, who in retribution for this insult demands that all Jews in Persia be killed. Mordecai puts on sackcloth and ashes and proceeds to wail and tear his clothes in front of the palace gates until a servant of Esther's approaches him. Through the messenger, Mordechai informs Esther of the plan and commands her to plead to her husband, the king, telling her "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews."[2] Though frightened, Esther pleads with the court to let her have dinner with the king[3]. Esther reads to the King his Chronicles, and carefully reminds him that it was Mordecai who saved his life. The king plays a "role reversal" trick on Haman, elevating Mordecai into Haman's favoured place, and of course humiliating Haman.

So, then the great King Ahasuerus decides to have a feast in Mordecai's honour, and at the feast Esther reveals to him Haman's plot to kill all Jews, and states that both she and Mordecai are Jewish. Ahasuerus in a fit of rage at Haman, leaves the room, then returns to find Haman begging in Esther's lap. Ahasuerus determines that Haman is assaulting his queen, so he orders Haman killed on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai and the Jews.

[edit] Moral

What goes around comes around, and sometimes a man in a woman's lap is really just begging for his life.

Seriously, though, the Jews hold this story in special regard because of parallels it holds with the Holocaust; that is, it is the story of a narrowly averted attempt to exterminate the Jews. Unfortunately, the Holocaust didn't end in quite the same fashion as the Esther story, but at the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher reportedly shouted out "Purim Fest 1946."[4] Some Jewish people speculate that Streicher was drawing a parallel between the story of Purim, in which Haman's ten sons were executed on a gallows, and the Nuremberg trials, where ten Nazi leaders were ultimately hanged. [5]

[edit] Babylonian Connections

The fictionalized text uses the names "Esther" which is a corruption of the God Ishtar, and Mordecai, which has a corrupted meaning of "Servant of Marduk".[6]

[edit] See also

Guide to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures
Torah: Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy Old Testament History: Book of Joshua - Book of Judges - Ruth - Samuel (1 & 2) - Kings (1 and 2 Kings) - Chronicles - Ezra and Nehemiah - Book of Esther Old Testament Wisdom: Book of Job - Psalms - Book of Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon Major Prophets: Isaiah - Book of Jeremiah - Lamentations - Book of Ezekiel - Book of Daniel Minor Prophets: Minor Prophets

Deuterocanon (Catholic and Orthodox): - Tobit - Judith - 1 Maccabees - 2 Maccabees - Book of Wisdom - Sirach - Baruch - Letter of Jeremiah Deuterocanon (Orthodox): 1 Esdras - 3 Maccabees - Prayer of Manasseh - Psalm 151 Deuterocanon (Georgian Orthodox): 4 Maccabees - 2 Esdras Ethiopian Orthodox ("narrow" canon): Jubilees - Enoch - Rest of the Words of Baruch - 1-3 Meqabyan Syriac Peshitta: 2 Baruch Psalms 152-155


The Gospels: Gospel of Matthew - Gospel of Mark - Gospel of Luke - Gospel of John Acts: Acts of the Apostles Pauline Epistles: Romans - 1 & 2 Corinthians - Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians - First Thessalonians - Second Thessalonians - First Timothy - Second Timothy - Titus - Epistle to Philemon General Epistles: Epistle to the Hebrews - Epistle of James - First Peter - Second Peter - 1 John - 2 John - 3 John - Epistle of Jude Revelation: Book of Revelation


Selected pseudepigrapha: Gospel of Judas - Infancy Gospel of James - Gospel of Mary - Gospel of Philip - Gospel of Thomas - Nag Hammadi texts


Rational Wiki's Guide to the Protestant Bible

Guide to Bible translations

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Yes, boys and girls veiling stared with Jewish traditions, not Islam ones
  2. http://ebible.org/bible/kjv/Esther.htm 4:6
  3. By Persian royal tradition it was highly uncommon for the King or any high ranking male to dine with women. Wives filled two roles only, prostitute and incubator
  4. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/NurembergNews10_16_46.html
  5. http://www.aish.com/ho/i/48950431.html
  6. John Huehnergard, 2008
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