Information Literacy Assignment:
Esther

David Laylock

Humanities 102
Dr. Meng
April 16, 2014

Intro Esther is about the girl who came to be the queen of Persia. It is a book that gives her story of how she became sovereign, starting out during a banquet that lasted one hundred and eighty days. This banquet was put on by the wealthy King Xerxes to show off to people the power and fortune that he held. The queen, at the time, denied to appear at this banquet and was ordered to be put to death, because of how angry the King was at this. The pursuit for a new queen is now on. This is where Esther comes into play. Esther was in a Beauty pageant put on by King Xerxes, and the king chose her to be queen. During this time, Mordecai stops an attempt to murder King Xerxes. Recorded in the kings’ book of chronicles is Mordecai’s endeavor, but does not get compensated though. Haman becomes the kings’ viceroy, and Haman is a very selfish individual, always putting himself first. Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman when all inhabitants of Shushan have to, and this enrages Haman so he issues a decree to execute all Jews, including Mordecai. After all this, Haman then misleads the king into issuing an edict to sentence all Jews. Mordecai tells Esther about the edict, and convinces her to put her life in jeopardy so that she may protect all her people from this. Esther develops a strategy to get the job done. She prepared a fancy banquet for King Xerxes and Haman. The king tells Esther that she may have whatever she wants, and she just says she wants the king and Haman to come to a second banquet with her. One night, King Xerxes could not sleep whatsoever, so he chooses to read his book of chronicles while he was up. When he passes the instant when Mordecai stopped the assassination attempt to the king, he realizes he never rewarded him for it. He then talked to Haman and was asking what he should do for someone who has done great things for the king, a hero in the kings’ eyes. Haman thought he was talking about him, so he came up with an incredible reward that he wanted to get. Little did he know the reward was not for him, it was for Mordecai. When Haman finds this out he is livid that it was not for him, and especially because it was for Mordecai. The second banquet comes now, and the king tells Esther that she can whatever, asking her what she wants again. She tells King Xerxes about Haman’s plans to kill the Jews. She announces that she is Jewish, so they must kill her also. The king is furious and orders Haman to be put to death at the spot Haman had made for Mordecai to be killed. Mordecai becomes the new viceroy and takes Haman’s spot. The Jews then receive full security. Esther, with this single act, saves all of her Jewish people. This tells us that Esther was very daring in doing this, and served her God in a great way.
1. Information: The events described in the Book of Esther primarily occurred in Susa, the stronghold and principal capital of King Xerxes’s empire. Susa was located in an area known as Elam, which is now known as modern-day Iran. It was set 65 miles northeast of the Tigris River, north of the Persian Sea, and south of the Caspian Sea.
Source: Rasmussen, Carl G. Zondervan Atlas of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. Print.
2. Information: I. The Jews of Persia Are Threatened (1:1-5:14) a. Life in Persia Is Dangerous (1:1-22) i. Xerxes Is a Powerful and Dangerous King (1:1-8) ii. Queen Vashti Defies Xerxes (1:9-12) iii. The King and Nobles React to Vashti’s Disobedience (1:13-22) b. Esther, Mordecai and Haman (2:1-3:15) iv. Esther Is Made Queen of Persia (2:1-18) v. Mordecai Foils an Assassination Attempt (2:19-23) vi. Haman Issues a Decree of Death Against the Jews (3-1-15) c. Esther’s Defining Moment (4:1-17) vii. Mordecai Mourns Over Haman’s Decree (4:1-5) viii. Mordecai Begs Esther to Intercede (4:6-14) ix. Esther Call for a Three-Day Fast (4:15-17) d. Esther’s Intervention (5:1-14) x. Esther Appears Uninvited Before the King (5:1-5) xi. Esther Prepares a Banquet for the King and Haman (5:5-7) xii. Haman Builds a Gallows to Kill Mordecai (5:8-14) II. The Reversal of Destiny (6:1-9:19) e. The Reversal Begins (6:1-14) xiii. The King Has a Sleepless Night (6:1-3) xiv. Haman Seeks the King’s Permission to Kill Mordecai Immediately (6:4-9) xv. Mordecai Is Honored Instead (6:10-14) f. Haman Is Executed (7:1-10) xvi. Esther Prepares a Second Banquet for the King and Haman (7:1-2) xvii. Esther Reveals Her Jewish Identity and Accuses Haman (7:3-7) xviii. The King Orders Haman to be Executed (7:8-10) g. The Counter-Edict Is Issued (8:1-17) xix. Esther Introduces Mordecai to the King (8:1) xx. Mordecai Receives the Signet Ring Previously Worn By Haman (8:2) xxi. Esther Gives Haman’s Property to Mordecai (8:3-8) xxii. Mordecai Writes the Counter-Edict (8:9-17) h. The Day of Conflict Arrives (9:1-19) xxiii. The Jews Kill Many, Including Haman’s Ten Sons (9:1-10) xxiv. Esther Asks for Their Bodies to Be Displayed and for a Second Day of Killing in Susa (9:11;19) III. Purim Is Established (9:20-32) i. Mordecai Writes to the Jews of Persia (9:20-28) j. Esther Writes to Confirm Mordecai’s Letter (9:29-32) IV. Epilogue: Mordecai Is Esteemed As National Hero (10:1-3)
Source: Jobes, Karen H. Esther. Ed. Terry Muck. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988. Print. The NIV Application Commentary Ser.
3. Information: Esther 1:10-12 (New International Version) “On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.”
Source: New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Esther 1:10-12 (English Standard Version) “On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown,[a] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.”
Source: The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Esther 1:10-12 (New King James Version) “On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.”
Source: The Holy Bible: New King James Version (NKJV). Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005. Print.
4. Information: The reign of King Ahasuerus (most likely Xerxes I) lasted from 486 to 465 B.C.
Source: Bromiley, Geoffrey W. “Esther.” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. 1979. Print.
5. Information: In the context of the book of Esther, the most intuitive interpretation holds that Hadassah is Esther’s Hebrew name. In this case, Hadassah is the feminine form of the word hadas, which means “myrtle.” However, an alternative view suggests that the book of Esther derives from Babylonian mythology, in which case “Esther” is actually a representation of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love. Under this interpretation, “Hadassah” is the Hebrew form of the Akkadian word hadassatu, which means “bride,” an epithet of Ishtar.
Source: “Hadassah.” The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. David Noel Freedman. 1992. Print.
6. Information: In response to doubts raised regarding the historicity of the Biblical figure Mordecai, scholar Edwin M. Yamauchi points to the Persepolis Fortification Texts as possible evidence. He notes that the names Marduka and Marduku appear in over thirty of the Persepolis Texts. The Persepolis Texts also parallel names found in their writings and Persian names found in Esther. Yamauchi concludes by stating that while proving the historicity of Mordecai is largely contingent upon other considerations, the Persepolis Fortification Texts are valid indicators of historicity and should thus be seriously considered.
Source: Yamauchi, Edwin M. “Mordecai, the Persepolis Tablets, and the Susa Excavations.” Vetus Testamentum. 42.2 (1992): 272-275. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
7. Information: “A Jewish festival celebrated in the spring. It commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from massacre under the Persian Empire (473 BC), as related in the Book of Esther. The ‘feast of the Jews’ mentioned in Jn. 5: 1 was formerly thought to have been the Feast of Purim.”
Source: “Purim.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Ed. E.A. Livingstone. Oxford UP, 2013. Oxford Reference Online. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
8. Information: The first extra-biblical reference to the book of Esther is found in 2 Maccabees 15:36. 2 Maccabees 15:36 dates from late 2nd century B.C. Thus, it can be known that it was composed prior to the book of Esther.
Source: Constable, Thomas L. “Notes on Esther.” SonicLight.com. SonicLight, 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
9. Information: The four Biblical scholars who conclude that the Book of Esther is fictional are Lewis Bayle Paton, Carey A. Moore, Michael V. Fox, and Jon D. Levenson.
Source: Berlin, Adele. “The book of Esther and ancient storytelling.” Journal of Biblical Literature 120.1 (2001): 3-14. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
10. Information: Adar is also mentioned in Ezra 6:15, when the temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem.
Source: Kohlberger, John R., III. “Adar.” The NIV Compact Concordance. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993. Print.
11. Information: Haman, son of Hammedatha, was a descendent from the house of Agag. Agag was an ancient king of the Amalekites, mortal enemies of the Israelites. Mordecai was also a kinsman of King Saul, who was a direct enemy of Agag. Consequently, the conflict between Mordecai and Haman was symbolically significant, because it more broadly represented the long-standing conflict between the nations of Israel and Amalek.
Source: “Haman.” The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. David Noel Freedman. 1992. Print.
12. Information: King Xerxes was highly ambitious, attempting and failing to conquer Greece in 480-479 B.C. He was also conceited, hosting a six-month festivity with the sole purpose of displaying his prodigious wealth and glory. Additionally, Xerxes was also superstitious, consulting astrologers and magicians before he acted on almost all matters. However, perhaps most importantly, Xerxes character can be summarized as “cruel, sensual and capricious.” Xerxes was an exceptionally capricious king. This was displayed in his conduct towards his first wife, Vashti; this was also seen in his conduct toward the Jews, in which he quickly agreed to commit genocide against an entire nation. Sensuality was also one of Xerxes’s defining characteristics. He was a king that lived to satiate his physical desires through feasting, sexual acts and extravagant debauchery of all kinds. Finally, Xerxes was remarkably cruel. Not only was he quickly willing to commit genocide against an entire nation of people, but he was also eager to exile his wife Vashti and brutally execute his long-time advisor and servant, Haman.
Source: Huey, F.B., Jr. “Esther.” Old Testament. Abridged ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. 726-741. Print. Vol. 1 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Kenneth L. Barker and John R. Kohlenberger III, gen. eds. 2 vols.
13. Information: According to John Wesley, the author of the Book of Esther is Mordecai.
Source: Wesley, John. Wesley’s Notes on the Bible. Ccel.org. Christian Classics Ethereal Library, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
14. Information: The majority of commentaries state that while the book of Esther indirectly exhibits God’s providence throughout the book, it fails to explicitly mention it. However, many scholars believe that there is an indirect reference to Esther’s faith in God in Chapter 4, when she states in regards to fasting that “relief and deliverance… will come from another place.”
Source: Huey, F.B., Jr. “Esther.” Old Testament. Abridged ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. 726-741. Print. Vol. 1 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Kenneth L. Barker and John R. Kohlenberger III, gen. eds. 2 vols.
15. Information: Many mainstream scholars insist on hailing Mordecai rather than Esther as the primary hero of the book of Esther. Alternatively, other feminist scholars prefer the deposed ex-queen Vashti, who “refused to be men’s sexual object and her husband’s toy.” They argue that in contrast, “Esther is the stereotypical woman in a man’s world.” Neither of these positions do proper justice to the character of Esther when the context of her surrounding culture is properly considered. In the male-dominated and patriarchal “Western” culture from Esther’s time, women were severely marginalized and oppressed. Consequently, women could only achieve power by exploiting the patriarchal power structure, which Esther successfully accomplished through her acts. Her actions served as a powerful model to the Jews then living in diaspora, who were also marginalized members of Persian society. Additionally, because no divine intervention was present (unlike many other Biblical tales), Esther was an authentic human heroine that connected with and inspired marginalized people through the ages.
Source: Crawford, Sidnie White. “The Book of Esther.” Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon, 1999. 853-942. Print. Vol. 3 of The New Interpreter’s Bible. Leander E. Keck, gen. ed. 12 vols.