Second, the Book of Esther differs from other biblical diaspora stories by the marked absence of God or any overt religious elements. Esther becomes the model for the Jew living in diaspora or exile. By astutely using her beauty, charm, and political intelligence, and by taking one well-placed risk, Esther saves her people, brings about the downfall of their enemy, and elevates her kinsman to the highest position in the kingdom. But, as the actions of Esther demonstrate, this can be done. In this sense the Jew living in a foreign land could identify with the woman: he or she too was essentially powerless and marginalized, and power could be obtained only through one’s wits and talents. Even if they belonged to the dominant culture, they could not simply reach out and grasp power, as a man could whatever power they could obtain was earned through the manipulation of the public holders of power, men.
Women were, in the world of the Persian diaspora as in many other cultures, essentially powerless and marginalized members of society. This choice of a female hero serves an important function in the story. First, although Mordecai has an important role and finishes the story at a very high rank, it is ultimately Esther, a woman, who saves her people. However, the Book of Esther is unique in two important respects.
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Like the books of Daniel or Tobit, the Book of Esther raises questions about how to live as a Jew in diaspora. The book ends with Mordecai elevated to the office of grand vizier and power now concentrated in the hands of Esther. The volatile king springs to the defense of the woman to whom he was indifferent three days earlier, Haman is executed, and the Jews receive permission to defend themselves from their enemies, which they do with great success (Esther 7–9). She reveals, for the first time, her identity as a Jew and accuses Haman of the plot to destroy her and her people. Only at the second dinner party, when the king is sufficiently beguiled by her charms, does she reveal her true purpose: the unmasking of Haman and his plot. The king, accompanied by Haman, attends Esther’s banquet and again seeks to discover her request, which she once more deflects with an invitation to another dinner party. In a superb moment of understatement, Esther asks the king to a dinner party (Esth 5:4). The pliant and obedient Esther has become a woman of action.Įsther appears unsummoned before King Ahasuerus, who not only does not kill her but promises to grant her as-yet unarticulated request. However, following Mordecai’s insistent prodding, she resolves to do what she can to save her people, ending with the ringing declaration “After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law and if I perish, I perish” (Esth 4:16). On pain of death she cannot approach the king without being summoned, and the king has not summoned her in thirty days, implying that she has fallen out of favor (Esth 4:11). When she first learns of Haman’s plot and the threat to the Jews, her reaction is one of helplessness. When Mordecai learns of Haman’s plot, he rushes to the palace to inform Esther, weeping and clothed in sackcloth (Esth 4:1–3).Īt this point in the story, Esther’s character comes to the fore.
He secures the king’s permission to do this, and a date is set, Adar 13 (this episode determines the date of the festival of Holiday held on the 14 th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (on the 15 th day in Jerusalem) to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people in the Persian empire from a plot to eradicate them. Mordecai refuses to bow before Haman, and this so infuriates Haman that he resolves not only to put Mordecai to death, but also to slaughter his entire people. All this takes place while Esther keeps her Jewish identity secret (Esth 2:10, 20).Īfter Esther becomes queen, her cousin Mordecai becomes involved in a power struggle with the grand vizier Haman the Agagite, a descendant of an Amalekite king who was an enemy of Israel during the time of King Saul (1 Sam 15:32). She quickly wins the favor of the chief eunuch, Hegai, and, when her turn comes to spend the night with the king, Ahasuerus falls in love with her and makes her his queen. Not much is revealed about her character, but she is described as beautiful (2:7) and obedient (2:10), and she appears to be pliant and cooperative. She is identified as the daughter of Avihail (Esth 2:15) and the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin (Esth 2:5–7). Esther first appears in the story as one of the young virgins collected into the king’s harem as possible replacements for Vashti, the banished wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, reigned 485-465 B.C.E.).