Based on the Book of Esther (Est)...Read more there (N1)
The book Esther is named for a
young Jewish woman who rises to become queen of Persia & saves
the Hebrews from a holocaust. Strangely YHWH God doesn't get a
mention! The context is entirely power-plays in & around the
Persian court of the time, supposedly in or about the 300's B.C.
Cultural & racial tensions between Jews & others feed the
story. There are enough things about Est that don't seem
to fit to make many think the book was told into being as a Good
Jewish Woman defeats Bad Foreign Guy story to provide a basis for
celebrating Jewish identity & separateness in the festival
Jews came to know as Purim. Like some other Hebrew Bible books
we'll come across, Est's real value, for Jewish people at
least, may be as a kind of parable of the importance of
keeping Jewish identity & separateness at the heart of their
culture & religion &, despite overwhelming odds, winning
out in the end! We might note, too, that Esther connects with
Joseph, whom we've met back in the days of the Patriarchs &
Matriarchs in Palestine & then in Egypt (N2) &
Daniel, whom we'll meet later in Babylon. Together they form a
trio of exemplary & influential Jewish heroes in the midst of
powerful foreign empires.
In a nutshell the story goes like this: The Persian King, Ahasuerus (N3) rids himself of his queen for disobeying him & this in itself leads to a proclamation that 'wives must obey their husbands in all respects'. (An order conservative male Jews would say, 'Amen' to!) In the former queen's place (Ch.2) the king marries Esther, a young Jewish woman introduced into the court by her adoptive father, Mordecai, a distant relative of King Saul. Apparently neither Mordecai nor Esther disclose her racial background. One day Mordecai overhears a plot to assassinate the king, passes the information to Esther who informs the king, & the plotters are hanged. (Hanging features prominently in this book!) In Ch.3 we meet Haman whom Ahasuerus has promoted to be his C.E.O. Haman is a proto-type for future anti-Semites & actually pays the king a bribe to gain a royal order to wipe out these different & threatening people. A date is fixed for this outrage to take place. Ch.4 sees Mordecai get wind of all this & warn Esther that being queen will not save her from the fate her fellow Hebrews are facing. In response, in Ch.5 Esther prepares to throw a banquet for the king & Haman, while Haman prepares a gallows to hang Mordecai! Meanwhile, Ch.6 has the king going over records in the archive & discovers the service Mordecai has rendered in saving his life. The plot thickens! Haman is chuffed at being invited to dinner with the royals! When Ahasuerus aks him for advice on how to reward someone who has served him well, Haman mistakenly believes the king is speaking of him, & suggests great honours be conferred on him. However, the king reveals it's Mordecai who's to be honoured with high office & orders Haman to see to it! Haman's nose is very much out of joint! Worse is to come! Esther tells the king of the tragedy she's discovered is about to befall her people (Ch.7) & that Haman is behind this. Pleading with Esther for mercy, Haman is caught in what appears to be a compromising position, & in no time at all the king has him publicly hanged on the gallows he's had built to hang Mordecai! But there remains a big problem! The famous 'law of the Medes & Persians' means that once promulgated a law cannot be repealed, therefore the decree for the killing of the Hebrews on the date set still stands. In Ch.8 the king - & the story- get round this by a new decree. By that, Jews may defend themselves forcibly against anyone attacking them. On the basis of this, in Ch.9 the Jewish population rises up & makes a pre-emptive strike against their known enemies, killing many in the process. They then celebrate the festival of triumph & survival known as Purim - kept to this day by Jewish families. Ch.10, a short post-script, winds up the story with praise for Ahasuerus & Mordecai for their part in all this. Then comes another story... 45...When Bad Things Happen To People.
(N1) There are additions to Esther in the Apocrypha. NJB prints them as part of the text of Est, though NRSV prints them separately. (N2) See episodes 19-21. (N3) Xerxes in Greek
In a nutshell the story goes like this: The Persian King, Ahasuerus (N3) rids himself of his queen for disobeying him & this in itself leads to a proclamation that 'wives must obey their husbands in all respects'. (An order conservative male Jews would say, 'Amen' to!) In the former queen's place (Ch.2) the king marries Esther, a young Jewish woman introduced into the court by her adoptive father, Mordecai, a distant relative of King Saul. Apparently neither Mordecai nor Esther disclose her racial background. One day Mordecai overhears a plot to assassinate the king, passes the information to Esther who informs the king, & the plotters are hanged. (Hanging features prominently in this book!) In Ch.3 we meet Haman whom Ahasuerus has promoted to be his C.E.O. Haman is a proto-type for future anti-Semites & actually pays the king a bribe to gain a royal order to wipe out these different & threatening people. A date is fixed for this outrage to take place. Ch.4 sees Mordecai get wind of all this & warn Esther that being queen will not save her from the fate her fellow Hebrews are facing. In response, in Ch.5 Esther prepares to throw a banquet for the king & Haman, while Haman prepares a gallows to hang Mordecai! Meanwhile, Ch.6 has the king going over records in the archive & discovers the service Mordecai has rendered in saving his life. The plot thickens! Haman is chuffed at being invited to dinner with the royals! When Ahasuerus aks him for advice on how to reward someone who has served him well, Haman mistakenly believes the king is speaking of him, & suggests great honours be conferred on him. However, the king reveals it's Mordecai who's to be honoured with high office & orders Haman to see to it! Haman's nose is very much out of joint! Worse is to come! Esther tells the king of the tragedy she's discovered is about to befall her people (Ch.7) & that Haman is behind this. Pleading with Esther for mercy, Haman is caught in what appears to be a compromising position, & in no time at all the king has him publicly hanged on the gallows he's had built to hang Mordecai! But there remains a big problem! The famous 'law of the Medes & Persians' means that once promulgated a law cannot be repealed, therefore the decree for the killing of the Hebrews on the date set still stands. In Ch.8 the king - & the story- get round this by a new decree. By that, Jews may defend themselves forcibly against anyone attacking them. On the basis of this, in Ch.9 the Jewish population rises up & makes a pre-emptive strike against their known enemies, killing many in the process. They then celebrate the festival of triumph & survival known as Purim - kept to this day by Jewish families. Ch.10, a short post-script, winds up the story with praise for Ahasuerus & Mordecai for their part in all this. Then comes another story... 45...When Bad Things Happen To People.
(N1) There are additions to Esther in the Apocrypha. NJB prints them as part of the text of Est, though NRSV prints them separately. (N2) See episodes 19-21. (N3) Xerxes in Greek
Q: Where does God come into all this - if
at all?
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