Historicity of the book esther

The scene is laid in shush an the palaee during the. Book of esther queen esther used her position as queen to rescue the jewish people from destruction. Recently, the historicity of the biblical book of esther whether the book is historically true has been called into question an a most bold and audacious manner. This examination will suggest that the case against esther s historicity is not as clear cut as some would assert.

During this time the enemies of israel hired counselors to bring false accusations to the ears of the different persian kings. The historical accuracy of the book of esther is disputed. The jews were at tacked in spite of the second decree, and the governors and other. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll, is a book in the third section of the jewish tanakh and in the christian old testament. They contained fragments of all the books of the old testament except the book of esther. A history of controversy the book of esther is a fascinating story that has a lot of stuff going on that isnt readily apparent to the reader. Because the challenger writes with such overstated confidence in this matter, i have been easily convinced to take up my pen once again and. The illfate of the book of estherthe greek versionthe apocr. The conjunction w waw and, with which it begins, is significant. Even the name of the book, esther, is significant because that name when translated from the persian means something hidden. According to recent research, the book of esther was written in the middle of the 4th century bce during the reign of artaxerxes iii 359338 bce.

All this agrees with the theory of a late origin for the book, as it is known, for example, from ecclesiastes, that the religious spirit had degenerated even in judea in the greek period, to which esther, like daniel, in all probability belongs. They are listed, at least as it seems, in chronological dating order. The megillah reads more like a political thriller than a historical record or even a religious. The story forms the core of the jewish festival of purim, during which it is read aloud twice. Critical scholars are bothered, however, by apparent exaggerations or suspected inaccuracies. Historians have long questioned the historicity of the events described in esther. Another amazing fact about the book of daniel is that in 1947 the first of the dead sea scrolls were discovered. If it is historical, then why dont ancient historians. The book of esther intrigues positively, too, one reason being its containing rationale for the celebration of the feast of purim, the popularity of which can be accounted for in part by the fact that it constitutes the only worldly holiday in the jewish calendar for the expression of the lighthearted side of life harrison 10951096. Their main argument against the historicity of esther is that the events recorded in it are not explicitly recorded in any other ancient source. T he book of esther presents itself to us as a true narrative of a momentous episode in the histor. The only allusion in esther to religion is the mention of fasting iv. The book of esther takes place in susa modern day iran in the court of a persian king, xerxes or ahasuerus. Esther, book of international standard bible encyclopedia.

Esthers hebrew name was haddassah, which means myrtle. The opening chapter of a handwritten scroll of the book of esther, with readers pointer. Childs notes the typology which the writer uses in identifying haman and mordecai through genealogies when he writes, haman, the enemy of the jews, is portrayed as the son of hammedatha, the agagite 3. However, it does appear throughout the book of esther in the niv and nasb. Kennedy archaeology and the book of esther carey a. This little gem, tucked away in an obscure corner of the old testament, is a very rich book, and it is historical. There are also signs that this book has a deeply comic undercurrent to it.

For one thing it is a book with several historical problems. The book of esther stands as unique among not only the historical books, but among the entire old testament as well. In the protestant canon, esther appears between nehemiah and job. Yet, as we read the megillah, some people ask whether the story is historically accurate. Finally, it has been noted that esther is never quoted in the nt, though one may rightly ask at what point in the nt any part of esther would have been useful. Neither its historicity, canonization or message need to be overly scrutinized, as the book of esther displays a depth of historical accuracy, the overt presence of god, and an inspirational message of an enduring faith under the threat of death, all wrapped up within a package of brilliant storytelling. It relates the story of a hebrew woman in persia, born as hadassah but known as esther, who becomes queen of persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.

Unlike daniel, there seems to be no concern on the part of esther to keep the dietary laws. A contemporary mormon view is that these civilizations rose and fell in mesoamerica. Although there are unfortunately those today who suggest that some of the stories in the old testament are legends, there is substantial evidence that the events of esther actually occurred. Confirmations of the book this book completes the historical books of the old testament. The key personalities are esther, mordecai, king ahasuerus or xerxes, and haman.

Many liberal scholars argue that the book of esther is a work of fiction like the apocryphal books of judith and tobit. The other king who some historians believe to be the ahasuerus of the book of esther is the persian king xerxes. While i dont believe that esther is a book of fiction, if it were, then it might still be properly cited as canonical. Often, resistors to the canonicity of esther view a lack of historicity as sufficient grounds for esther s dismissal from the canon. It belongs to the third section of the judaic canon, known as the ketuvim, or writings. In a twopart post, four characters from esther will be examined. Ernest wright early christians and the anchor, by charles a. Esther is a historical novella written to explain the origins of purim.

The book contains interesting and informative eyewitness accounts about the persian empire which were true to life in that period of history but which are difficult to verify from outside sources see comments under historicity. But as i read on, i then come to this passage for instance. King domestic architecture and the new testament, by h. Literary clues to gods providence in the book of esther. These critics typically point to the characters in the book as proof of the book s historical unreliability. The author of esther makes no mention of known historical events of xerexes career. Yet the story itself is recounted candidly, and there is nothing within it to suggest that it is fictional. The historicity of megillat esther recently, the historicity of the biblical book of esther whether the book is historically true has been called into question an a most bold and audacious manner. In this study of esther for the anchor bible series, c.

Was it realy feasible for mordecai or ester to return to. During the persian invasion of greece in which xerexes was most of the time in asia minor and in greece, the book of esther has the king in susa testing for queens. Ebscohost serves thousands of libraries with premium essays, articles and other content including religion, wisdom and history in the book of esther a new solution to an ancient crux. Despite the clear historical setting, historians have found no evidence of the people or the events. We now turn to specific places where the historicity of this book is in dispute. While esther is primarily theological history, at least one writer observed similarities with wisdom literature.

Even though the book of esther claims to be a strictly historical account, ever since j th. In the hebrew text, the kings name is ahasuerus preserved in the kjv and esv. Book of esther, book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Discussion regarding the historicity of the book of mormon often focuses on archaeological issues, some of which relate to the large size and the long time span of the civilizations mentioned in the book.

The book of esther and ancient storytelling society of biblical. According to the talmud, it was a redaction by the great assembly of an original text by mordecai. One therefore approaches problems with a bias favoring the historicity of the book. Very few bible scholars believe now in the historicity of the book of esther, but what is really incomprehensible is that their conclusion is based only on the following prejudice. Archaeological evidence for the bibles book of daniel. In the story of esther, youll meet a beautiful, young queen who risked her life to serve god and save her people. Moore archaeology at the albrigh institutet by phili, p j.

Pdf version the book of esther is viewed today by a majority of scholars as nonhistorical. Esther was originally written in hebrew, which is represented by ch. The genre of the book of esther is narrative history. Af, which most scholars regard as later additions to the book. In academic circles this question is described as a question of historicity and for more than a. The book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. Esther is encouraged by mordicai to conceal her jewishness. See list under precept ministries inductive study on esther the book of esther is unusual gods name is not mentioned once, yet gods hand is clearly present and active throughout the book, to the extent that many see the book of esther as a veritable treatise on the doctrine of divine providence see separate study. The first character that will examined is ahasuerus. The book of esther would also encourage them to worship the god of israel, though he is not mentioned by name in it ibid. The megillah reads more like a political thriller than a historical record or even a religious tale. Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish festival purim.

Archaeology and the book of esther andrews university. The ill fate of the book of estherthe greek versionthe apocr additionstalmudic. Book of esther, in the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Did the events described in the book of esther really happen. Critics on esther canon position objections to historicity. The story of esther forms the origin of the jewish festival of purim. It is entirely possible that the writer of the book of esther is playing with the idea of theomachy war between gods, a racy theme for a late biblical book. In the jewish bible, esther follows ecclesiastes and lamentations and is read on the festival of purim, which commemorates the rescue of the jews from hamans plottings. Moore divided the arguments against the historicity of the book into three groups. The point is that the whole book of jonah has to me the air of being a moral romance, a quite different kind of thing from, say, the account of king david or the new testament narratives, not pegged, like them. The holiday of purim celebrates the story told in the biblical book of esther. Scope the events of the book of esther took place during the persian period of. Shea in this study of esther for the anchor bible series, c. Historicity, genre, and narrative design in the book of esther.