1. “Gunman Slays 20 at Site of Mosque, Israel Reports Say,” New York Times (late edition) (Feb 25, 1994), 1 (the final body count was larger than first reported); Russell Walter, “Massacre in a Mosque,” Newsweek 123 (March 7, 1994): 34–37.
2. See Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981), esp. ch. 6, “Characterization and the Art of Reticence.”
3. Martin Luther, The Table Talk of Martin Luther, trans. William Hazlitt (Philadelphia: United Lutheran Publication House, n.d.), 13.
4. Quoted in T. Witton Davies, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, NCB (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1909), 294.
5. For a history of the Persian empire see A. T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948). For Persian history as a background to the Bible see Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990).
6. For a photograph and further details about the Cyrus Cylinder, see Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 87.
7. Ibid., 91.
8. Herodotus, trans. A. D. Godley, LCL (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1922). Modern historians of ancient Persia are skeptical about the historical reliability of Herodotus and the sources he used (see H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg and A. Kuhrt, eds. Achaemenid History II: The Greek Sources [Leiden: Nederlands Instituut Voor Het Nabije Oosten, 1987]). Because Herodotus was Greek, he tells the history of the Graeco-Persian wars from the viewpoint of the victorious side, with perhaps a tendency to misrepresent the Persians. Nevertheless, Herodotus lived during the late Persian period and provides a wealth of information about the Persian empire that would otherwise have been lost. It is prudent to be cautious, but it is unwarranted to discount his writing completely.
9. For the story of this military campaign, see Charles Hignett, Xerxes’ Invasion of Greece (Oxford: Clarendon, 1963).
11. Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther, TOTC (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1984), 49.
12. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther (Columbia, S.C.: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1991), 140.
13. Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1997), 26.
14. Frederic W. Bush, Ruth/Esther, WBC (Dallas: Word, 1996), 297.
15. For a discussion of the relationship between these texts see Karen H. Jobes, The Alpha-Text of Esther: Its Character and Relationship to the Masoretic Text (Atlanta: Scholars, 1996), 223–33.
16. The issue of the historicity of the book and its historical problems is discussed in the introductions of most commentaries (see the annotated bibliography, below). In this commentary the historical problems will be discussed in the Original Meaning section of the relevant passages.
17. For a cogent and thorough discussion of the relationship between history and literature see V. Philips Long, The Art of Biblical History (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994).
18. Quoted in Narrative in Teaching, Learning, and Research, Hunter McEwan and Kieran Egan, eds. (New York: Teacher’s College Press, 1995), vii.
19. John Goldingay, “Witness in the Form of Story,” in Models for Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 61.
20. Ibid., 55.
21. See Carey A. Moore, Esther, AB (New York: Doubleday, 1971), 8; L. B. Paton, Esther, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1908; repr. 1976), 66.
22. According to Yehuda T. Radday, “Esther With Humor,” in On Humour and the Comic in the Hebrew Bible, JSOTSup 92 (Sheffield: Almond, 1990), 296.
23. The other is Hanukkah, whose historical basis is recorded in the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees.
24. For a discussion of possible sources see David J. A. Clines, The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story (Sheffield: JSOT, 1984), 115ff.; Michael V. Fox, The Redaction of the Books of Esther (Atlanta: Scholars, 1991), 96ff.
25. A literary motif is a subject, idea, or referent that recurs throughout a work as a literary device.
26. Purim falls between mid-February and mid-March.
27. The term was first used by Aristotle; see Harry Shaw, ed., A Dictionary of Literary Terms (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972).
28. Robert Gordis, Megillat Esther (New York: Ktav, 1974), 13–14.
1. See Yehuda T. Radday, “Esther With Humor,” On Humour and the Comic in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield: Almond, 1990), 296.
3. Note, however, that Dan. 6:1 does refer to the leaders of the 120 regions as “satraps.”
4. L. B. Paton, Esther, 124.
5. F. Bush, Ruth/Esther, 345.
7. Ibid., 7.66.
8. Excavations of Susa by the French archaeologist M. A. Dieulafoy between 1884 and 1886 have produced many treasures from the palace built by Darius I and occupied by Xerxes. Sculptures, colorfully glazed bricks, jewelry, and other treasures from Susa can be viewed today in the Louvre in Paris.
1. LCL: Herodotus 7.114; 9.110–13.
2. See Carey A. Moore, Esther, 8; L. B. Paton, Esther, 66.
4. As a general principle of biblical hermeneutics, interpreters must be cautious about taking an exemplary approach to any biblical character. As Christians our ethical and moral standard is exemplified by Jesus, to whose likeness the Holy Spirit conforms us in the process of sanctification (Rom. 8:29). While we may learn much from reflecting on the examples of biblical characters, the biblical writers may have included episodes from their lives as events relevant to the unfolding of redemptive history, and not as ethical models for us to imitate directly.
6. Walther I. Brandt, ed., Luther’s Works: The Christian in Society, vol. 45 (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1962), 33–34.
7. Abraham Kuyper, Women of the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1936), 143.
8. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Woman’s Bible, part II (1895; repr. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press, 1993), 92.
9. Alice A. Laffey, An Introduction to the Old Testament: A Feminist Perspective (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 216.
10. Itumeleng J. Mosala, “The Implications of the Text of Esther for African Women’s Struggle for Liberation in South Africa,” Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, R. S. Sugirtharajah, ed. (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995), 176.
1. LCL: Herodotus 1.99; 3.77, 84.
2. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 22.
3. See, e.g., Jon D. Levenson, Esther, 52.
4. As in 1:5, the phrase “the peoples of all provinces” refers to all the men, because the women are referred to separately in both 1:9 and 1:17.
5. Adele Berlin, “The Place of the Book of Esther in the Religion of Israel,” in a lecture delivered at the Center for Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, November 19, 1997, communicated this to this author by personal correspondence. See her forthcoming commentary on Esther from the Jewish Publication Society.
6. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 253.
7. Berlin quoted this definition from the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2d ed. (1987) in “The Place of Esther in the Religion of Israel.”
8. Perhaps this is an example of God’s using the “foolish” to shame the “wise” and the “weak” to shame the “strong,” as recorded by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 1:27.
9. Itumeleng J. Mosala, “Implications of the Text of Esther for African Women’s Struggle for Liberation in South Africa,” in Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, R. S. Sugirtharajah, ed. (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995), 176.
10. Alice A. Laffey, An Introduction to the Old Testament: A Feminist Perspective (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 216.
11. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 207.
12. Ibid., 209.
13. Ibid., 210.
14. Scot McKnight, 1 Peter, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 191–92.
15. Congressional Record, v. 142, no. 141 (October 3, 1996), p. S12341.
16. Congressional Record, v. 143, no. 22 (February 26, 1997), p. S1659–81.
2. Ibid., 3.8.
3. LCL: Plutarch’s Lives: Artaxerxes 23.3.
5. Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 235.
6. A targum is an ancient translation of a book of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, a Semitic language spoken by the Jewish people from the time of the Exile on. See the English translation of the targums in The Two Targums of Esther, trans. Bernard Grossfeld (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1991), 42–43.
7. Ronald W. Pierce, “The Politics of Esther and Mordecai: Courage or Compromise?” BBR 2 (1992): 77.
8. Leland Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 118.
9. Quoted in Barry D. Walfish, Esther in Medieval Garb: Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Esther in the Middle Ages (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1993), 122–23.
10. Pierce, “The Politics of Esther and Mordeci,” 84.
11. This is the translation known as the Septuagint (LXX). A modern English translation of this ancient Greek version of Esther, including the six additional chapters, is found in the NRSV; see The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1994), AP 41–56.
12. Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, 15 (italics in original).
13. Ibid., 16.
14. The hermeneutical and theological debate continues over how Jewish people in general, and the modern nation of Israel in particular, are related to the ancient promises of God after the coming of Christ.
15. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Memories and Perspectives, videocassette produced by Trinity Films, 1983.
1. W. F. Albright, “The Lachish Cosmetic Burner and Esther 2:12,” reprinted in Studies in the Book of Esther, ed. Carey A. Moore (New York: Ktav, 1982), 361–68.
2. Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, 62.
3. For a discussion of Esther’s moral culpability as understood by medieval Jewish interpreters see Barry Dov Walfish, Esther in Medieval Garb (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1993), 122–26.
1. Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 299.
2. Prudence O. Harper et al., eds., The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992), 216.
3. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 300.
5. A modern English translation of this ancient Greek version of Esther, including the six additional chapters, is found in the NRSV; see The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1994), AP 41–56.
6. “An Ideology Takes Up Arms Against Peace,” New York Times (Feb 27, 1994), sec. 4, 1.
8. For photographs of the lots used in the ancient Near East, see William W. Hallo, “The First Purim,” BA 46/1 (1983): 19–29.
9. One way to take the wording of the Greek version suggests that Mordecai was raising Esther to one day be his own wife.
10. World Christian Encyclopedia, ed. David Barrett (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1982), quoted by Timothy K. Jones in “Dying for Jesus,” CT (March 19, 1990), 12.
11. See the “Theological Postscript” at the end of this commentary for a brief discussion of the significance of prayer in relation to divine providence.
2. Ibid., 1.99; 3.77, 84.
3. This reading is found in 4:9 of a Greek version of Esther known as the Alpha-text; the LXX of Esther, also a Greek version, follows the Hebrew and therefore reads as the NIV. An English translation of the Greek Alpha-text of Esther may be found as an appendix in David J. A. Clines, The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984).
4. Ronald W. Pierce, “The Politics of Esther and Mordecai,” BBR 2 (1992): 87.
5. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1989), 20.
6. However, in Joel 2:12 the NIV translates this phrase “with fasting and weeping and mourning.” It may have been true that the original readers of the Esther story would have recognized this Hebrew phrase as alluding to Joel’s prophecy, but most modern readers will not make the connection.
7. Because metalepsis is a literary phenomenon, the allusive echoes of Joel 2 in Esther would be further evidence for dating the book of Joel. Some scholars date Joel as early as the ninth century B.C.; others not until the postexilic period, when Esther itself was being written. At first glance, metalepsis of Joel in Esther may be taken to support the earlier dating of Joel. However, the book of Esther was written after the reign of Xerxes, so even given a late date, Joel could be postexilic and still precede the book of Esther. Furthermore, if Joel was a postexilic prophet, his words may have been well known among the Jewish people even before the book of Joel was inscripturated. Therefore, while possibly supporting an early date for Joel, metalepsis in Esther does not demand it.
8. The Greek translators of the LXX, and modern interpreters such as Joyce Baldwin, Fredric Bush, Carey A. Moore, and Lewis B. Paton, hold this view.
9. R. Pierce, “The Politics of Esther and Mordecai,” 88.
10. Leland Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, 116–20.
11. Ibid., 119.
12. Wilma McClarty, “Esther,” in A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible, Leland Ryken and Tremper Longman III, eds., 216–29.
1. For a photo of this relief see Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 360.
2. Leland Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, 118.
3. Midrash Rabbah Esther, Maurice Simon, trans. (London: Soncino, 1939), 112. A midrash is a commentary on biblical passages that has accumulated through the centuries among the Jewish rabbis.
4. Ibid.
5. Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., Luther’s Works, vol. 14 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1958), 336.
2. Ibid., 9.107.
3. “Banquet” in 1:3, 5, 9; 2:18; 5:4, 5, 8, 12; 6:14; 7:8; “dinner” in 5:14; “feasting” in 8:17; 9:17, 18, 19, 22.
4. See Sandra Berg, The Book of Esther: Motifs, Themes and Structure (SBLDS 44: Missoula, Mont.: Scholars, 1979).
5. For one cogent explanation of how this is so, see O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants (Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980).
1. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 86.
2. Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 262.
3. LCL: Herodotus 3.125, 129; 4.43.
4. L. B. Paton, The Book of Esther, 264.
5. See Tremper Longman III and Daniel Reid, God Is a Warrior (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), for a full discussion of holy war as a biblical-theological motif.
6. Quoted in Paton, The Book of Esther, 265.
7. Interestingly, Paton, who criticizes Esther for her lack of pity on Haman, says not a word about Mordecai’s similar hardness of heart when he discusses this scene from the targum.
8. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, in The Works of Josephus, trans. W. Whiston (Lynn, Mass.: Hendrickson, repr. 1980), 241.
9. Quoted in R. C. Sproul and Jerry Bridges, The Providence of God Study Guide (Orlando, Fla.: Ligonier, 1990), 69.
1. The dynamics of honor and shame in biblical cultures (and in the Middle East today) operated in ways unfamiliar to readers in modern Western culture. See L. R. Klein, “Honor and Shame in Esther,” in A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, ed. A. Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995); Honor and Shame in the World of the Bible, ed. V. H. Matthews and D. C. Benjamin, Semeia 6 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1996).
3. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 202.
4. Frederic Bush, Ruth/Esther, 449.
5. Ibid., 449.
6. Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther, 97; Robert Gordis, “Studies in the Esther Narrative,” JBL 95 (1976): 49–53.
7. Commentators who read permission for the Jews to kill the women and children of their attackers include F. Bush, Ruth/Esther, 443, 447; M. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 99–100; Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, 110–11; Carey A. Moore, Esther, 76, 80; L. B. Paton, The Book of Esther, 274. Major English translations that support this view include the NRSV, NASB, NKJV, NCV, and NAB. The NLT agrees with the NIV translation.
8. Baldwin, Esther, 97.
9. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 99–100.
10. Bush, Ruth/Esther, 447.
11. Stan Goldman, “Narrative and Ethical Ironies in Esther,” JSOT 47 (1990): 15–31.
12. Ibid., 24–25.
13. This is probably why Americans have difficulty understanding Middle Eastern politics, such as the intransigent position of Saddam Hussein, when they read headlines such as “Iraqis Are Told to Prepare for ‘Holy War’ on UN Sanctions,” (January 19, 1998), A3.
14. Baldwin, Esther, 97.
15. Tremper Longman III, “Our Divine Warrior,” in Bold Love, Dan B. Allendar and Tremper Longman III (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1992).
16. For an in-depth treatment of the biblical theme of holy war, see Tremper Longman III and Daniel Reid, God Is a Warrior (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).
17. Remember that a monarchy is not a democracy.
18. Daniel G. Reid and Tremper Longman III, “When God Declares War” CT (Oct. 28, 1996), 14–21. For a fuller treatment of the subject see their God Is a Warrior.
19. “When God Declares War,” 20.
1. Edwin M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 237–38.
2. The late Prof. Raymond Dillard, Westminster Theological Seminary, in classroom conversation.
3. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 238.
4. L. B. Paton, Esther, 66–71.
5. Ibid., 287.
6. Carey A. Moore, Esther, 88.
7. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 112.
8. Ibid., 203.
9. Quoted in Samuel Lipman’s review of the opera Esther in Commentary, 97 (January 1994): 55.
10. David J. A. Clines, The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story, 158.
11. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 113.
12. Ibid., 247.
13. Ibid., 205.
14. Miracles are another way God governs history, but by definition miracles are supernatural (“above nature”) events that are distinct from the ways God usually controls history through the established order of nature.
15. Barry Dov Walfish, Esther in Medieval Garb (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1993), 93.
16. Note that some Christians today seem to have a similar understanding of God. They come to Christ on the basis of what he can do for them and their loved ones right now, rather than on the basis of who he is as Sovereign God and King of the universe.
17. With thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Schloss, professor of biology at Westmont College, for his permission to use this personal anecdote.
18. A full discussion of the relationship between prayers of petition and divine providence is beyond the scope of this commentary, especially since there are no prayers offered in the book of Esther. For a brief discussion of this topic, see the “Theological Postscript” at the end of this work.
1. With thanks to Prof. Michael Fox, University of Wisconsin in Madison, for this information in personal communication. Adar roughly corresponds to March.
2. Karen Armstrong, A History of God (New York: Ballantine, 1993), 376.
3. Robert Gordis, Megillat Esther (New York: Ktav, 1974), 93–97. Used by permission.
4. Heb. for Susa.
5. Notice that Mordecai is credited with “ordaining” a fast, although in Est. 4:16 Esther initiates the fast, and v. 17 reports that Mordecai carried out her instructions.
6. Notice the idea of personal solidarity with one’s ancestors. Haman sought to destroy “me” because had his decree succeeded “I” would not have been born. Similarly, Esther was a shield for “me.”
7. Frederic Bush, Ruth/Esther, 328.
1. David J. A. Clines, The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story, 22.
2. There are four other additional chapters, referred to as B–E, inserted throughout the book.
3. Michael V. Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, 210.
4. In fact, the number of occurrences of the names of both Esther and Vashti are reduced significantly in the Greek version, but the number of occurrences of the names of Haman and Xerxes, as well as that of Mordecai, are increased. See Karen H. Jobes, The Alpha-Text of Esther: Its Character and Relationship to the Masoretic Text, 120.
5. The Greek version of Esther including the six additional chapters can be found in English translation in the New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).
6. Jobes, The Alpha-Text of Esther, 176–83.
1. Quoted in Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, 19.
2. For a collection of provocative articles on this subject, see Chaos and Complexity: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, R. J. Russell, N. Murphy, and A. Peacocke, eds. (Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, 1995).
3. See the annotated bibliography at the end of the Introduction for writings of Christian theologians and biblical scholars on the topic of divine providence.
4. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941; repr. 1986), 171.
5. Notice the allusion to God’s word, i.e., “mouth,” as determining both calamities and good things.
6. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 174–75.
7. Quoted in R. C. Sproul, The Providence of God Study Guide, for the video or audio series, written by Jerry Bridges (Orlando: Ligonier Ministries, 1990), 105.
8. Quoted by Jack A. Keller, in “On Providence and Prayer,” The Christian Century, 104 (Nov. 4, 1987): 967.
9. This is an approach popularly taken, for instance, in Rabbi Harold Kushner’s When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: G. K. Hall and Co., 1982).
10. Keller, “On Providence and Prayer,” 968.
11. Quoted in R. C. Sproul’s, The Providence of God Study Guide, 100.