Examples Of Hypocrisy In Esther

Tatyana Barlow Ms. Roth/Period 1 Bible as Literature 10 March 2016 Esther Courage, irony and hypocrisy are traits that are each expressed in the book of Esther. In fact, it is partially what makes the book so interesting to its readers. People like Mordecai and Haman have brought irony and courage to the book through their various actions. There were also individuals like Xerxes who exhibited hypocrisy in the story. However, Esther expressed courage as well. The people in the book of Esther each expressed either courage, irony, or hypocrisy and made for an interesting text. Courage is an act well respected in life. In the book of Esther, their are many individuals that make courageous choices. For example, one could definitely consider Mordecai

He made the courageous choice to say no and respect his beliefs. Another great act of courage was when Esther made the decision to speak to the King about Haman's choices and actions. The king had trust and respect for Haman, so for Esther to say anything to the king about him was a risk in itself. She was basically "tattling" on him and explaining to the king how Haman was abusing his power by trying to execute the Jewish people. His desire to kill the Jewish people started with his dislike for Mordecai (remember how he would not bow to him?). He originally just wished to kill Mordecai but then realized how unsuccessful that would turn out, and made the plan to kill all Jews. Haman made his own scaffold by hand that was big and for everyone to see; he wanted to hang Mordecai on it for everyone to see. The ironic thing here, is that everything turned out

Then, not only was he embarrassed by honoring a Jew, but he ended up being hung on his own scaffold! Right in front of everyone there lied the execution of Haman for trying to kill an entire race. What was also crazy about this, is how early this could have been prevented if only the king had cared. Xerxes payed no attention to what was going on. He even gave Haman his signet ring with basically no questions asked. The king also took a bribe from Haman. Haman said "I will pay 10,000 talents of silver" (Est 3:9) basically saying, I will pay you this amount of money for your ring so that I may end an entire culture. Here is the king, someone who claims to care so much about his people and his nation, giving their lives away for money, and doing so almost without even knowing it. That is rather hypocritical. In fact, the king did not really care at all until Ester came to him and explained what was going on. These were not appropriate actions of the king. Each person brought great character to the book of Ester in their own way. Together they exhibited courage, irony, and hypocrisy and made for a great