[42], Although marriages between Jews and Gentiles are not permitted in orthodox Judaism, even in case of Pikuach nefesh, Esther is not regarded as a sinner, because she remained passive, and risked her life to save that of the entire Jewish people.[43]. And then there’s the language of the book. The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God. It’s as if the Book of Esther is saying that Mordechai’s family should be kings in place of the House of David. The massacre had been plotted by the king’s chief minister, Haman, and the date decided by casting lots (purim). Now She's Planning Her Own Funeral, Intel Bonanza: The Other Egyptian Spy That Saved Israel From Destruction, Jews Looted Arab Property en Masse. One theory holds that the elaborate story is based on a Babylonian legend that lay at the center of a Babylonian holiday commemorating the victory of the Babylonian gods over the Elamite gods. It is generally thought to have been Mordechaiwho wrote the book of Esther.Biblical scholars say that the Book of Esther was written as a novel in the second century BCE. For example, Coogan discusses an apparent inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther's cousin (or, according to others, uncle) Mordecai. The Book of Esther (hebrew: מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" (Megillah), is a book in the third section (Ketuvim, "Writings") of the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also Aršu, understood as a shortening of Aḫšiyaršu the Babylonian rendering of the Persian Xšayārša (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew ʔaḥašwērōš (Ahasuerus) is derived. Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene. Yamauchi wrote, "[Herodotus] was, however, the victim of unreliable informants and was not infallible. Orthodox Leadership Congratulated Biden, but Many in Community Stick to Trump, Elite Israeli Troops Went on a Rogue Op Inside Syria. The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the Septuagint – Martin Luther, being perhaps the most vocal Reformation-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value. The Book of Esther says Mordechai was exiled from Judah with King Jeconiah: "Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordechai Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away" (Esther 2:5-6). The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. 335–341, literary view, Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near East by, White, Sidnie Ann. A Latin version of Esther was produced by Jerome for the Vulgate. [27][28], As noted by biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan, the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. Not only did they once a long time ago save all the Jews (you weren’t there, it was awesome, just trust us on this! If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther. That one word “posterity” is the only reference to his family. In contrast, the additions are included in the Biblical apocrypha, usually printed in a separate section (if at all) in Protestant bibles. She finds favour in the King's eyes, and is crowned his new queen, but does not reveal her Jewish heritage (2:8–20). Among these women is a Jewish orphan named Esther, who was raised by her cousin or uncle, Mordecai (2:5–7). The names are indeed unattested in Persian texts as gods, however the Talmud (Sanhedrin 61b) and Rashi both record a practice of deifying Haman and Josephus speaks of him being worshipped. God, in fact, is not mentioned, Esther is portrayed as assimilated to Persian culture, and Jewish identity in the book is an ethnic category rather than a religious one. [46] Luther's complaints against the book carried past the point of scholarly critique and may reflect Luther's antisemitism. According to the Talmud, it was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai. Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation (7:7). On the seventh day of the latter banquet, Ahasuerus orders the queen, Vashti, to display her beauty before the guests by coming before them wearing her crown (1:10–11). The Name of Jehovah in the Book of Esther. In literary criticism such a reversal is termed "peripety", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author's theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.[11]. [10], The plot is structured around banquets (mishteh), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. 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Alarming Exodus at Israel's Health Ministry: Seven Top Officials Quit, None Replaced, Massive 3,000-year-old Fortified Complex Found in Israeli Golan Heights, Biden Will Soon Choose a Secretary of State. The Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. [9], The Book of Esther consists of an introduction (or exposition) in chapters 1 and 2; the main action (complication and resolution) in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion in 9:20–10:3. By the time the Greek version of Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the Macedonians of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a "Bougaion" (βουγαῖον)[incomprehensible] where the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite.
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