The Esther Series of the “Women of the Bible” Section presents another interpretation of the story of Esther
Review of the previous post.
The previous post, post number 1 of 6, presented an introduction to the story for this series.
Preview of this post.
This post, post number 2 of 6, presents a general overview of the story.
General overview of the story
- Historical context
The Esther story seems to be generally set in the context of the Jewish Diaspora in Persia after the Persians under Cyrus defeated the Babylonians in 539 B. C.E. and many Jews had returned to Judah with Cyrus’s support[1].
Ahasuerus has been identified as the literary representation of Xerxes I, son of Darius, and who ruled Persia from 485-465 B.C.E.
- Dates
It seems that the text was written several hundred years after the time of the setting, perhaps during the fourth of fifth century B.C.E. which is well after the dates of 483-475 B.C.E. when the events seem to be depicted as happening.
- Accuracy of the events depicted in the story
In many ways, the story seems to be historically accurate. For example, many of the practices and features of Persian government related in the story seem to be correct based on what is known from archeology and other sources. For example, the king relies on royal advisors, he honors those who help him, the members of the parties feast while lounging on couches and there was a well-organized and efficient postal network.
Furthermore, Xerxes’s reign ended when he was assassinated by his own palace officials (which seems to parallel Haman’s attempted coup d’etat)
- Literary license
The story takes considerable literary license with events and practices. For example, Ahasuerus appoints two non-Persians, Haman the Agagite and Mordecai the Jew, to positions of prime minister. Furthermore, it is quite unlikely that a non-Persian, and a Jew, would have been raised to the level of queen. It is unlikely that royal decrees would have been issued in multiple languages and multiple scripts. Furthermore, it is unlikely that there would have been decrees announcing the dethronement of a queen for refusing to come when called or a decree calling for the annihilation of all those who would have annihilated all Jews. A months-long drinking party is also quite unbelievable, as is a year-ling beauty pageant to select a queen. Still further, the deaths of seventy-five thousand people would certainly have found its way into some history of that period, yet none is found.
- The absence of God from the story
This story has a noticeable lack of God. Once cannot fail to notice this lack of God. Perhaps this is one reason it is not included in the basic canon (but based on the theory of this essay, there is another cogent reason). It is quite surprising that God is not mentioned in a story in which the Jews are faced with destruction.
Another explanation for God’s absence might be that the story is meant to show that God helps those that help themselves. The Jews in the story of Esther survive because they take matters into their own hands and work out the problem themselves. The Jews of this story did not assimilate, were faced with destruction because they remained Jews, yet survived because they defended themselves. All these events seem to fit the basic lessons and overarching themes of the Bible and emphasize another strong lesson: Jews can resist assimilation and still survive – without relying on God – if they help themselves.
Preview of the next post
The next post, post number 3 of 6, presents a summary of the story.
[1] See Ezra 1-3. Also, note that this story may be our only surviving text from the eastern Diaspora during the early Second Temple period.