In relation to the other canonical books of the Old Testament, the book of Esther of the Hebrew version contains unique theological figure, which involves the removal of the name of God and the direct absences of various important religious elements essential to a Jewish or Hebrew religious writings. The book of Esther is never referred to either in the New Testament nor the Dead Sea Scrolls, neither did the early church fathers rarely even referred to it in their writings. The book of Esther seems to be “anthropocentric,” and other than fasting there does not seem to any references or any implied points to the religious perspectives on God, Law, covenants and many other important themes that play central role in the Bible as a whole. Due to the lack or deliberate omission of God and various other religious references from the book, scholars have approached and viewed the book as doubtful and question the validity and the canonicity of the book. The book is supposed to contain some theological references and objectives therefore the book is understood by Biblical scholars in light of the commencement of the festival of Purim. Biblical scholars have approached the book with hesitance and have not given a clear and concise understanding on the much neglected and misunderstood theology of the book of Esther. Biblical scholars throughout the ages have regarded the book of Esther as questionable in moral, religious, ethical and cultural values.
Different approaches are required in order to get to the theology of the book. Unreserved evidences from the text itself provide the clear set of evidence that God is in fact behind the scenes preserving and sheltering His people. Several other definite items such as literary structure, writi...
... middle of paper ...
...tector, guardian and saviour. The absence of the name of God’s name and the non-religious character of the book daunts many scholars in collaborating theological connection of the text with the rest of the Old Testament books. The absence of God’s name from the text should not raise a question on the authenticity of the text’s canonicity. Even though early Jewish scholars, Christian church fathers and various Biblical and theological scholars have questioned the validity of the book it still creates dilemma for the contemporary scholars. The theological though expressed in the book is compatible with the rest of the Old Testament teachings. The canonicity given to the book of Esther presents a status that it is the Word of God and that Esther therefore is a writing which has its own theological framework which requires different approaches and in-depth study on it.
The finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Qumran Documents is the single most important religious find of the twentieth century. These manuscripts have revolutionized the entire field of biblical study and have the ability to destabilize the mass of western religious thought as we know it today. For the information contained in these scrolls, include books of the Hebrew Bible that predate the next earlier example by one thousand years. The data found in these scrolls enable us to form a historically accurate reconstruction of the time period formative of Rabbinic Judaism and of Christianity. By studying the customs and the religious practices of the Essene people we can put together a snapshot of the religious and political times that were in place at the start of Christianity.
Reed, Annette Y. "The Five Books of Moses." Thesis. McMaster University: Department of Religious Studies, Fall 2004. AnnetteReed.Com. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. .
Robinson, B. A. (2008, March 30). Books of the Hebrew Scripture . Retrieved May 7, 2011, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_otb3.htm
... Print. The. 2003 Hartman, Louis F. & Lella, Alexander A. The Anchor Bible, The Book Of Daniel. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. Print, 1978 Cook, Stephen L. Apocalyptic Literature.
D.A. Carson introduces the essay by explaining the overall difficulty of interpreting the Bible in honesty and truth. Because the Bible is the Word of Truth, Carson informs the reader of the importance in understanding the Word of God before accepting the difficult task of interpreting it. He continues by focusing on the idea of hermeneutics and three primary ways that the interpretation of text has changed in the past few years.
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
Similarly, Esther was queen of Persia, however she was married into the royal family by marrying King Xerxes. Aside from these two women being risen from rags to riches, they each play a crucial part in saving they’re people from the dangers of their times. While Mary was pregnant, and even after Jesus had been born, word was spread to those in power that a king would be born. Feeling threatened by this, Herod ordered that every baby boy in Bethlehem be killed. Joseph and Mary then took Jesus and escaped to Egypt to protect Him. Had they not left, Jesus would have been killed and we wouldn’t have received our salvation. Esther was much more direct in her approach and solution to the problem of her time. Her cousin had heard of a declaration stating that the Jews were to be slaughtered at a specific day and told Esther about it. Because she was the queen, she was closest to King Xerxes and was able to inform him of who the Jews really were, leading him to allow the Jew to fight back during the time of the
It is easy to regard the ending of Megillat Esther only as an exaggerated parody not meant to be taken at face value. However, this dismissal negates the extent to which this story has sometimes been understood as a justification of violence against other enemies or supposed enemies of the Jews. The ending of the Purim story can certainly be read as a legitimate battle of self-defense in which the Jews kill those who were instructed to destroy them; indeed, this is the way that most traditional Bible commentators have understood the episode. This understanding eases concerns about the nature of the violence, but does not fully respond either to the bloodiness of the battle or to the textual ambiguity about the identity of the
The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a background for the book of Amos. The author, audience, date, place of writing, occasion and purpose, and the literary genre of the book of Amos will be explored. The study is conducted using internal evidence from the book of Amos and other respected external sources.
... beginning with Hegai and ending with Ahasuerus, to achieve her goals. As a Jew, a member of a minority community within a foreign empire, she has succeeded beyond all expectations, bringing her cousin Mordecai to power and achieving safety and security for the Jews. She has played her part with wisdom and skill throughout and has chosen to act according to what the author assumes, but does not state, is the will of God. As such, she is a role model for Hews living in dispersion and, indeed, for any oppressed minority. Esther is wholly admirable. She should be embraced as a heroine working to further God’s will in the world.
The image of life as we see it through our eyes tells the story of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed it’s the Historical, Literary, and Contemporary way of life in the world. God who is never once mentioned in the book of Esther brings forth new decrees and brings victory to the Jews which take place in the book of Esther.
...ther realization of the sovereignty and providential care of our almighty God. What stood out to me above all in this study was the relationship of Mordecai and Esther. The communication and courage that these two had throughout the book was, in my opinion, phenomenal. These two cousins recognized their positions in relation to each other during the different dispensations of their lives, and thus submitted to one another; and because of this, they triumphed (2:10, 20; 4:17). What I gleamed from them was an example of how Christians ought to relate to each other (Eph 5:21).
Collins, John J. A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
The story I read is the story of Esther, and the courage she had. Esther realized that she’s the Queen, and she’s the only one to save her people, the Jews from Haman. She tells her husband King Xerxes, that Haman, his second in command, ordered a law to kill all Jews, because Esther’s cousin, Mordecai wouldn’t bow to him, but to only God. Mordecai taught Esther, “Never to be afraid to do what’s right.” Before she told her husband, she prayed to God to give her courage, and she told her husband about her being a Jew, and what Haman is doing. The King was furious at Haman and he hanged him where Haman wanted to hang Mordecai at, and Mordecai took Haman’s position as the King’s second in command.
Esther is character that was just recently introduced. She delivers love letters and is sometimes considered a matchmaker. She is also a giaour because she is a Jewish peddler. Her character is important to the book because she delivers Shekure’s letter to Black about how she doesn't want him to come to her house anymore. Succumbing to her curiosity to know what the letter said, Esther uses her other abilities to understand that content of the letter because of her unableness to read or write. Her understanding of the letter’s contents proves Shekure’s thoughts wrong. Shekure thought that Esther was an illiterate Jew so her letter would stay a secret. Now, because she understands the contents of the letter, it could get brought up anywhere or to anyone, which would make Shekure look terrible. So because of her knowledge of this letter she is important to the storyline.