Esther, Queen of the Jews: The Status and Position of Esther in the Old Testament

166 Pages·2013·5.219 MB·English

by  Tal Davidovich

Esther, Queen of the Jews
CB
C B
onieCtanea iBliCa
o t s
ld estament eries
59
ISSN 0069-8954
Editors:
Fredrik Lindström and Göran Eidevall
Esther, Queen of the Jews
The Status and Position of Esther
in the Old Testament
Tal Davidovich
Winona Lake, Indiana
eisenBrauns
2013
Copyright © 2013 by Eisenbrauns
Winona Lake, Indiana
All rights reserved.

www.eisenbrauns.com
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Davidovich, Tal, 1969–
Esther, Queen of the Jews : the status and position of Esther in the Old Testament /
Tal Davidovich.
pages cm. — (Coniectanea biblica. Old Testament series,
ISSN 0069-8954 ; 59)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57506-818-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Esther, Queen of Persia. 2. Bible. Esther—Criticism, interpretation, etc.
I. Title.
BS580.E8D295 2013
222′.906—dc23
2013012682
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.♾™
To my bright and beautiful queens,
Danielle and Katalin

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank those who helped me to bring this study to completion.

First, I would like to thank Professor Stig Norin, who read through the text
and offered many clever ideas and remarks.

I would also like to thank Professor Bo Isaksson and Dr. Torkel Lindquist
for reading some parts of the study and for their useful comments. Dr. Mehrdad
Fallahzade and Dr. Darius Kargar deserve thanks for their advice concerning the
Achaemenid Empire.

I am also indebted to the Linders, Sven stipendium, to Carlo Lamberg
Stiftelse and to the Swedish Research Council for financially supporting parts of
this study and the Department of Linguistics and Philology at Uppsala Universi-
ty for providing me with facilities.

And last but definitely not least, I would like to thank Dr. Adam Goldwyn
for his proofreading of the text.

Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 13
1.1 Background ............................................................................................. 13
1.2 Structure and Method ............................................................................. 16
1.3 Earlier Studies ........................................................................................ 19
1.4 Aim of investigation ............................................................................... 23
1.5 The Achaemenid Dynasty and the Status of Royal Women: The Socio-
Historical Background .................................................................................. 24
1.6 The Achaemenid Kings and Their Royal Women .................................. 27
1.7 The different Versions of the Book of Esther ......................................... 35
1.8 Queen Esther in Proof of History ........................................................... 37
2. “A Beautiful Orphan Queen,” or “To Be or Not To Be” ............................... 38
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 38
2.2 The Story ................................................................................................ 38
2.3 Direct Characterizations/Descriptions of the Status of Esther as
Described in the OT Book of Esther ............................................................. 39
2.3.1 Her Name .................................................................................. 39
2.3.2 Her Nickname and Other Direct Description ............................ 41
2.3.2.1 “Without father and mother” ............................................. 41
2.3.2.2 “Esther Bat Abihail”.......................................................... 41
2.3.2.3 “The young girl” ............................................................... 42
2.3.2.4 ראַֹּת-תפַ ְי and האֶ רְמַ תבַ וֹט ........................................................ 42
2.3.2.5 “Malkah” ........................................................................... 43
2.4 Indirect Characterizations for the Status of Esther as Described in the OT
Book of Esther .............................................................................................. 45
2.4.1 Her Actions .............................................................................. 45
2.4.2 Her relations with Other Characters .......................................... 48
2.4.2.1 Her relations with Mordecai .............................................. 49
2.4.2.2. The Scenes with Haman ................................................... 55
2.4.2.3 Esther and the Eunuch ....................................................... 61
2.4.2.4 Esther and Ahasuerus ........................................................ 63
2.4.3 The Description of the Other Women in the Text ..................... 67
2.4.3.1 Vashti ................................................................................ 68
2.4.3.2 Zeresh ................................................................................ 68
2.5 The Description of Her Life in the Palace as One of the Royal Women 71
2.5.1 The First Period......................................................................... 71
2.5.2 The Second Period .................................................................... 77
2.6 “In the Evening She Came” .................................................................... 81
2.6.1 The Process ............................................................................... 81
2.6.2 The Regulations ........................................................................ 83
2.7 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 85