Esther Overview Notes I. Esther a. Setting: Persian Empire (as with Ezra/Nehemiah) i. Diaspora Jews (those that did not return to the land) gives a unique glimpse into their life. ii. During the reign of Xerxes I who is called Ahasuerus –in the book. Vashti wants control refuses to obey and loses control Esther obeys and gains control. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman– the plot and– the deliverance. b. Title, Author, and– Date i. Esther (Hadassah – Jewish name: myrtle ) is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible ii. No author stated:– The Talmud says“ the men” of the Great Synagogue wrote it. Josephus says Mordecai wrote it. The author was intimately familiar with Persian customs and culture. iii. Date of composition: between 464 and 330 B.C. Probably closer to the 464 date. c. Canon i. The book is not cited anywhere else in the Bible (including NT) and was not present in the Qumran cache. ii. The Greek text (LXX) is considerably longer than the Hebrew text (almost 2x) but these verses are considered apocryphal with little historical value. d. Some have questioned the books canonical value since it does not mention God. e. Purim i. Only festival inaugurated outside of the Pentateuch. ii. From the word for lots : Haman cast lots to determine the best month for the destruction of the Jews. It also underscores the chance that is in“ the ”book. iii. Celebration of victory modern Mardi Gras for the Jews. Talmud“ encourages” drunkenness so that Blessed by Mordecai and cursed be Haman cannot– be distinguished. f. Theology “ i. God s providence ” 1. God s control of events is central. Many coincidental happenings’ (Mordecai overhears the plot on the king, the king s insomnia,’ etc.) are signs of God s providential control. History is divinely directed. ’ ’ 2. Human action is important: Mordecai and Esther have to act and God uses this. There is also the fasting an effort to appeal to God and have Him act. 3. Yet, God’s providence is not seen as dependent– on human action: 4:14 and 6:13. A knowledge of Israel’s past history and God’s salvation of the people in the past is present. ii. God’s hiddenness 1. God is not mentioned even once! Strong similarities with the Joseph narrative in which Yahweh basically remains concealed. 2. Delibrate? a. Affirming that God’s hand is present but also that this is sometimes difficult to perceive b. We end up reading the story carefully, knowing the history of the Jewish people, and look for God’s hand in events. This is exactly what the author intended. We are supposed to ponder God’s role. Compiled i. The book is not cited anywhere else in the Bible (including NT) and was not present in the Qumran cache. ii. The Greek text (LXX) is considerably longer than the Hebrew text (almost 2x) but these verses are considered apocryphal with little historical value. d. Some have questioned the books canonical value since it does not mention God. e. Purim i. Only festival inaugurated outside of the Pentateuch. ii. From the word for lots : Haman cast lots to determine the best month for the destruction of the Jews. It also underscores the chance“ ” that is in the book. iii. Celebration of victory modern Mardi Gras for the Jews. Talmud encourages“ drunkenness” so that Blessed by Mordecai and cursed be– Haman cannot be distinguished. f. Theology “ i. God s providence ” 1. God s control of events is central. Many coincidental ’ happenings (Mordecai overhears the plot on the king, the king’ s insomnia, etc.) are signs of God s providential control. History is divinely directed. 2. Human action’ is important: Mordecai and ’ Esther have to act and God uses this. There is also the fasting an effort to appeal to God and have Him act. 3. Yet, God s providence is not seen as dependent on human– action: 4:14 and 6:13. A knowledge of Israel s past history’ and God s salvation of the people in the past is present. ’ ii. God s hiddeness ’ 1. God is not mentioned even once! Strong similarities ’ with the Joseph narrative in which Yahweh basically remains concealed. 2. Delibrate? a. Affirming that God s hand is present but also that this is sometimes difficult to perceive b. We end up reading’ the story carefully, knowing the history of the Jewish people, and look for God s hand in events. This is exactly what the author intended. We are supposed to ponder God s’ role. ’ The Book of Esther ESTHER. according to Est. 2:7, Esther’s Jewish name was Hadassah (Myrtle). The name Esther may be the equivalent of the Persian stara (‘star’), though some find a link with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther married Ahasuerus (Xerxes, 486–465 BC). Herodotus and Ctesias say that the wife of Xerxes was Amestris (who is probably Vashti), and that she went with Xerxes on his expedition to Greece, which happened after the events of Est. 1. On the way home she incurred Xerxes’ anger by mutilating the mother of one of his mistresses and nearly starting a revolution (Her. 9. 108f.). Small wonder that Xerxes remembered his original plan to divorce her, and now looked for a successor, which he found in Esther. Amestris came into power again as queen mother during the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, and may indeed be the ‘queen’ of Ne. 2:6. If we assume that Esther died within a few years of the events recorded in the book that bears her name, there is no difficulty in harmonizing the two queens. Although Esther was a brave woman, who risked her life to save the Jews (4:11–17), the Bible does not commend her encouragement of the Jews to massacre their enemies in ch. 9. Here she was the child of her age. 1 ESTHER, BOOK OF. This book tells how *ESTHER, a Jewess, became the wife of a Persian king, and was able to prevent the wholesale massacre of the Jewish race within the Persian empire. I. Outline of contents a. 1:1–22. Ahasuerus deposes his wife, Vashti, for refusing to appear at his banquet. b. 2:1–18. Esther, the cousin of Mordecai, a Jew, is chosen in Vashti’s place. c. 2:19–23. Mordecai tells Esther of a plot to kill the king. d. 3:1–15. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, the king’s favourite, who thereupon plans to massacre the Jews on a fixed date. e. 4:1–17. Mordecai persuades Esther to intercede with the king. f. 5:1–14. Esther invites the king and Haman to a banquet. g. 6:1–14. The king makes Haman honour Mordecai publicly as a reward for revealing the plot against him. h. 7:1–10. At a second banquet Esther reveals Haman’s plan to massacre the Jews, and Haman is hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. i. 8:1–17. Since the edict for the massacre cannot be revoked, the king sends a second edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves. j. 9:1–19. The Jews take advantage of this to kill their enemies. k. 9:20–32. The deliverance is commemorated at the feast of Purim. l. 10:1–3. Mordecai is put in a position of authority. 2 II. Authorship and date The book was written some time after the death of Ahasuerus (1:1), which would be after 465 BC if Ahasuerus is identified as Xerxes. Some Jews regarded Mordecai as the author, and the references in 9:20, 32 could suggest this. Much of the contents may have been inserted in the annals of the king, as mentioned in 10:2 and perhaps 6:1, and this would account for the omission of the name of God, although the reference to fasting for Esther in 4:16 certainly implies prayer, and the doctrine of providence is stated in 4:14. It should be noted that the Gk. versions of Esther contain 107 extra verses, which do include references to God by name. These are collected together in the Apocrypha of our English Version, and are numbered as though they followed 10:3. In fact, their order in the Gk. is as follows: 9:2–12:6; 1:1–3:13; 13:1–7; 3:14–4:17; 13:8–15:16; 5:3–8:12; 16:1–24; 8:13–10:3; 10:4–11:1. The date given in 11:1 is 114 BC, and could be the date when the Gk. translation or expanded version was made. III. Authenticity The story as such has not been confirmed by any Persian records, and it is often supposed that it cannot be fitted into what is known of Persian history. King Ahasuerus is usually identified with Xerxes (486–465 BC). If he is Xerxes we have an explanation of the strange gap between the third 3 year in 1:3 and the seventh year of 2:16, since between 483 and 480 BC he was planning and carrying out his disastrous invasion of Greece. Herodotus (7. 114; 9. 108f.) gives the name of Xerxes’ wife as Amestris, but we do not know from secular historians whether or not he had more than one wife. Although, according to Herodotus (3. 84), the Persian king was supposed to choose his wife from one of seven noble families (cf. Est. 1:14), rules of this kind could generally be evaded. Xerxes had no scruples about taking any women that he chose.