Esther Through the Centuries

• Unearths a wealth of neglected rewritings inspired by the story’s relevance to themes of nationhood, rebellion, providence, revenge, female heroism, Jewish identity, exile, genocide and ‘multiculturalism’
• Reveals the various struggles and strategies used by religious commentators to make sense of this only biblical book that does not mention God
• Asks why Esther is underestimated by contemporary feminist scholars despite a long history of subversive rewritings
• Compares the most influential Jewish and Christian interpretations and interpreters
• Includes an introduction to the book’s myriad representations in literature, music, and art
• Published in the reception-history series, Blackwell Bible Commentaries

Jo Carruthers teaches at Lancaster University, UK, and works across the disciplines of literary and religious studies. Her books include The Politics of Purim: Law, Sovereignty and Hospitality in the Aesthetic Afterlives of Esther (2020); England's Secular Scripture: Islamophobia and the Protestant Aesthetic (2011); and Literature and the Bible: A Reader (with Mark Knight and Andrew Tate, 2013).

List of Plates xi

Series Editors’ Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xv

Introduction 1

Why Reception? 2

An Irredeemable Book? 7

Jewish Tradition 10

Christian Tradition 12

Summary of Works 13

Godless Scripture 21

Allegory 28

Providence, Chosenness, Nationhood 32

Political Application 46

Esther as Literature 49

Esther 1:1–9 52

1:1 The King and Empire 53

1:3 The King’s Feast 57

1:4 Display of Wealth 58

1:8 No Compulsion to Drink 59

1:9 Women’s Feast 60

Vashti 61

Esther 1:10–22 68

1:12 Disobedience 68

1:13–22 The Empire Strikes Back 83

1:19 Vashti’s Punishment 88

1:22 The Decree 89

Esther 2:1–7 93

2:1 The King Remembers Vashti 93

2:2–4 To the Harem 95

2:5–6 Mordecai 98

2:7 Hadassah- Esther 103

Esther 2:8–23 109

2:8–14 Esther in the Harem 109

2:15 Esther’s Beauty 121

2:16–18 Esther Becomes Queen 125

Esther 3 133

3:1 Haman 134

3:2 ‘But Mordecai did not bow down’ 139

3:7 Casting Lots 143

3:8 (Mis)Representing Jews: A People Set Apart 145

3:8 Evil Counsellors 151

3:12–15 Genocidal Edicts 155

3:15 ‘The King and Haman sat down to drink’ 157

Esther 4:1–14 160

4:1–3 ‘Great mourning among the Jews’ 160

4:4–14 Esther and Mordecai Confer 163

4:14 ‘From another quarter’ 174

Esther 4:15–17 176

4:15 ‘Fast ye for me’ 176

4:16 ‘If I perish, I perish’ 180

Esther as Exemplar of Resolve 184

4:17 ‘Mordecai [. . .] did everything as Esther had ordered him’ 191

Esther 5 192

Esther before Ahasuerus 192

5:4–8 Esther’s First Banquet 215

5:9–14 Haman’s Wrath 218

Esther 6 221

The King’s Sleeplessness 222

6:11 The Triumph of Mordecai 227

Esther 7 and 8 233

7:1–6 Esther’s Second Banquet 233

7:7–8 Haman’s Fate 238

8:1–6 ‘How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?’ 244

8:7–14 The Irreversible Decree 244

8:15–17 ‘The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour’ 249

Esther 9 and 10 254

9:2 Scenes of Slaughter 256

9:7–10 Ten Sons of Haman 265

9:26 Purim 267

9:29 & 32 ‘Then Esther the Queen . . . wrote with all authority’ 275

10 The Greatness of Mordecai 277

Bibliography 280

Primary Sources

Pre- 1500 280

1500–1800 281

Post- 1800 284

Esther Secondary Sources 289

Other Secondary Sources 293

Index 296

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