Narrative and Other Readings in the Book of Esther

Description

This collection of essays considers the Book of Esther from a literary and sociological perspective. In part one, Else Holt outlines the main questions of historical-critical research in the Book of Esther. She also discusses the theological meaning of a biblical book without God, and examines how the book was transmitted through the last centuries BCE. She also explores how the Hebrew and Greek variants of the Book of Esther picture its main character, Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia. In part two, Holt offers deconstructive reading of themes hidden under the surface-levels of the book. Chapters include discussions of Esther’s initiation into her role as Persian queen; the inter-textual conversation with two much later texts, The Arabian Nights and The Story of O; and the relationship between Mordecai, the Jew, and his opponent Haman, the Agagite, as a matter of mimetic doublings. The last part of the book introduces the sociological concept of ethnicity-construction as the backdrop for perceiving the instigation of the Jewish festival Purim and the violence connected to it, and looks at the Book of Esther as an example of trauma literature. The concluding chapter analyses the moral quality of the book of Esther, asking the question: Is it a bedtime story? Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Theology and Religion 1. Placing Esther in Theology—An Introduction Excursus: Luther and Esther 2. God and Religion in the Book of Esther 3. Concluding Remarks of Introduction Part I Background Chapter 2 Date, Composition, Reception 1. The Transmission of Esther 2. Dating the Biblical Books of Esther 3. The Composition and Ideology of the Books of Esther 3.1. The Hebrew Esther 3.2. The Greek Esthers Chapter 3 Character, Gender, and Power Play 1. Exscription and Inscription 2. The Hebrew Esther 3. The Greek Esthers 4. Conclusion Part II Readings Chapter 4 Now Esther Was Admired by All Who Saw Her — Or: How to Understand Esther 2/Too? 1. Intertextuality 2. The Story of Esther 3. Exscribing the Queen 4. Preparing the Bride 4.1. The Male Gaze 4.2. Initiation 4.3. The Perfume Excursus: Made-up Jezebel 5. Conclusion Chapter 5 Dressing Up Esther: The Function of Clothes in the Esther Narrative 2. Exegesis 2.1. Vashti’s Crown and Esther’s: Esther 1:10-12; 2:17 2.2. Haman and the King’s Signet Ring, Esther 3:10; 8:2 2.3. Mordecai in Sackcloth and Ashes, Esther 4:1-17 2.4. Esther Meets the King, Esther 5:1 2.5. Dressing Up Mordecai, Esther 6:6-11 3. Conclusion and Outlook Chapter 6 Haman, the Scapegoat 1. Rivals and Brothers, Scapegoats and Violence 2. The Shared Object—Power in Persia 3. Violence and Society 4. The Individual and the Collective Scapegoat 5. Conclusion: Of Scapegoats and Carnivals Part III Ideologies Chapter 7 There Is a Certain People — Or: How the Judeans Became the Jews 1. The Use of yehûdîm in Esther 2. Are the Judeans in Esther Jewish? Or: How to Define Ethnicity? 3. There Is a Certain People 4. Purim and Tradition 5. Purim and Genocide Chapter 8 The Small Spring and the Dragons: Reading the Book of Esther as Chosen Trauma 1. Chosen Trauma 2. Trauma and Collective Memory 3. We Shall Overcome 4. The Final Battle 5. Concluding Outlook Chapter 9 Genocide in Esther? A Concluding Discussion 1. Violence in the Hebrew Bible: The Example of 1 Samuel 15 2. The Problem of Violence in Esther 3. Violence and Old Testament Theology 4. The Authority of the Bible 5. Is Esther a Bedtime Story? Bibliography Index of References Index of Authors