80. The Book of Esther

The Most Beautiful Queen

We covered the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in one post each.  Now we are starting with The Book of Esther and it looks like it might require six posts to finish it.

The validity of The Book of Esther is questioned more than any book in the Bible.  Some, of course, argue that the Bible is perfect and that it must be accepted as it is.  Others have their studied reasons why this book cannot be accepted as ever having happened.   

Note their reasons:

1. It is very doubtful whether the haughty Persian aristocracy, always highly influential with the monarch, would have tolerated the choice of a Jewish queen and a Jewish prime minister (Mordecai), to the exclusion of their own class.

2. Perhaps the most striking point against the historical value of the Book of Esther is the remarkable decree permitting the Jews to massacre their enemies and fellow subjects during a period of two days. If such an extraordinary event had actually taken place, should not some confirmation of the Biblical account have been found in other records? Again, could the king have withstood the attitude of the native nobles, who would hardly have looked upon such an occurrence without offering armed resistance to their feeble and capricious sovereign? A similar objection may be made against the probability of the first edict permitting Haman the Amalekite to massacre all the Jews. Would there not be some confirmation of it in parallel records? This whole section bears the stamp of free invention.

3. Extraordinary also is the statement that Esther did not reveal her Jewish origin when she was chosen queen (ii. 10), although it was known that she came from the house of Mordecai, who was a professing Jew (iii. 4), and that she maintained a constant communication with him from the harem (iv. 4-17).

4. Hardly less striking is the description of the Jews by Haman as being "dispersed among the people in all provinces (The division of the empire into 127 provinces (in the Book of Esther) contrasts strangely with the twenty historical Persian satrapies of thy kingdom".  Haman describes the Jews as disobedient "to the king's laws"  but there is no record of rebellious tendencies on the part of the Jews against the royal (Persian) authority.

5. The chief conflicting points are as follows: 

• (a) Mordecai was permitted free access to his cousin in the harem, a state of affairs wholly at variance with Oriental usage, both ancient and modern. 
• (b) The queen could not send a message to her own husband (!).  
• (d) The fact that Haman tolerated for a long time Mordecai's refusal to do obeisance is hardly in accordance with the customs of the East. Any native venturing to stand in the presence of a Turkish grand vizier would certainly be severely dealt with without delay. 
• (f) Most of the proper names in Esther which are given as Persian appear to be rather of Semitic than of Iranian origin. 
• (g) It is the only book in the Bible which does not mention God.

The canonical Book of Esther undoubtedly presents the oldest extant form of the Esther story. ... Naturally, the Jews' well-known skill in transforming and enriching traditional narratives was applied especially to those incidents which were touched but lightly in the Biblical Book of Esther. Such variations and additions have been preserved in the Greek version, but the assumption that they were based on a Hebrew original has been proved erroneous. The Jewish Encyclopedia compiled in 1906.

The Feast of Purim

Whether, or not, this book is actually history is not the main point.  At the very least this is one person's explanation of why the Jews began to celebrate The Feast of Purim.  

However, there is a lot more to this book than that; 

• it teaches the value of high moral standards; 
• the value of maintaining faith in the darkest days of life and the
• value of earnest, meaningful prayer. 

Now a note about the name of, the feast of Purim.  

Ever since the beginning of the nation of Israel, the priests using the Urim and Thummim made some decisions by "casting the lot".    I presented a theory on how that might have been accomplished in

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If there is no logical explanation, as I suggest, it seems very arbitrary, like making a decision based on the tossing of a coin; but this was a very common practice in those early days, and the Persians also practised it.

By "casting the lot" Haman decided which would be the best day to eradicate the Jewish people from the Persian empire. The Persians, however, did not call it "the lot", they called it "pur". Therefore, they (the Jews) called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Esther 9:26.

The Book of Esther has one basic plot; it is an intriguing crime drama.  The story has all the requirements for a money making movie; racial hatred, political power, beautiful women, prestige, sex, subterfuge, scandal and lies.  Let's take a textual look at this "movie".

The main characters: 

1. Harbonah, 
2. Mordecai and his exquisitely beautiful cousin 
3. Esther, 
4. King Xerxes, who is also called Ahasuerus, 
5. Haman and 
6. Vashti, the Queen, who is the king's wife.

The background: The Jewish people had been captives in Babylon for about 123 years when the story of Esther began and some of them did not return to Judah when Cyrus gave them permission to go, because, after so many years, they felt at home in Babylon.

Next, we go into the book.