“The Hebrew Bible: Esther” (translated by Robert Alter)

Alter begins his introduction to the Book of Esther, “Of the several biblical books that test the limits of the canon, Esther may well be the most anomalous. It is the only scriptural text of which no scrap has been uncovered at Qumran…. The likely date of the book’s composition would be sometime late in the fifth century B.C.E. or perhaps slightly later…. In all likelihood, then, the book was written not long after the return to Zion authorized by the Persian emperor Artaxerxes and led by Ezra and Nehemiah.”

Alter alerts us to the uniqueness of Esther, “The most unusual aspect of Esther, for a book that made it into the biblical canon, is that it offers very strong evidence of having been written primarily for entertainment. It has variously been described as a farce, a burlesque, a satire, a fairy tale, and a carnivalesque narrative, and it is often quite funny, with sly sexual comedy.” One theme repeats itself, “Reversal is the key to the plot of Esther.”

In Esther 2:5, Alter gives us the history of the name, “Mordecai son of Jair. His father has a good Hebrew name, but his own name is derived from that of the Babylonian god Marduk…. Similarly, Esther (who also is given a Hebrew name, Hadassah) has a name deriving from that of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.” Alter continues with the derivation of words in Esther 3:7, “a pur. This is a Persian loanword, and thus it is immediately glossed by the Hebrew word for “lot,” goral. The Hebrew plural form of the word, Purim, becomes the name of the carnivalesque holiday for which the Book of Esther serves as rationale.”

Alter points out one striking aspect of the book in his comments on Esther 4:14, “relief and rescue will come to the Jews from elsewhere. The early rabbis understood this to be God, but the expression is quite vague, and as throughout the book, God is not mentioned.” Throughout the book, te theme of reversal returns again and again. In Esther 7:9, “Look, there is actually a stake that Haman has prepared for Mordecai…. In the fairy-tale logic of this narrative, that action is a neat reversal: the very instrument of the would-be executioner is used to execute him.”

Finally, in Esther 8:15, there is reference to earlier biblical canon, “And Mordecai came out before the king in royal garb…. Behind Mordecai’s being clothed in regal garments (earlier he was in sackcloth) lies the Joseph story, in which the former Hebrew prisoner is dressed by Pharaoh in regal clothing after he is invested with power as vice-regent.”