Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought

Aaron Koller

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781107048355
• eBook ISBN:
  9781107723412
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The book of Esther was a conscious reaction to much of the conventional wisdom of its day, challenging beliefs regarding the Jerusalem Temple, the land of Israel, Jewish law, and even God. Aaron Koller identifies Esther as primarily a political work, and shows that early reactions ranged from ignoring the book to 'rewriting' Esther in order to correct its perceived flaws. But few biblical books have been read in such different ways, and the vast quantity of Esther-interpretation in rabbinic literature indicates a conscious effort by the Rabbis to present Esther as a story of faith and traditionalism, and bring it into the fold of the grand biblical narrative. Koller situates Esther, and its many interpretations, within the intellectual and political contexts of Ancient Judaism, and discusses its controversial themes. His innovative line of enquiry will be of great interest to students and scholars of Bible and Jewish studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Figure
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part 1 The provocation Conventional wisdom in early Second Temple Judaism
• Chapter 1 Setting the stage The theological challenge of political stability
• Chapter 2 The movement of Ezra and Nehemiah
• Chapter 3 Authoring/editing
• Chapter 4 Identity of a hero Mordecai the yehudi, scion of the House of Saul
• Part 2 Entering the fray Esther as a political book
• Chapter 5 Persian law and Persian king in the book of Esther
• Chapter 6 Modeling heroes
• Chapter 7 Hero models
• Chapter 8 Diaspora revisions Rethinking the Exodus and rethinking God
• Part 3 Early reactions Rejection, subversion, correction
• Chapter 9 A tense embrace The reception of Esther in Hellenistic Alexandria
• Chapter 10 Subvert or ignore Canonical re-contextualization and outright rejection of Esther
• Chapter 11 Criticism by adaptation Rewriting Esther in Hellenistic and Roman times
• Chapter 12 Adoption Esther in the eastern Diaspora and in the canon
• Part 4 Rabbinic readings Moving Esther from the periphery to the center
• Chapter 13 Introduction to the rabbinic literature on Esther
• Chapter 14 Biblicizing Esther
• Chapter 15 Restoring God and Torah
• Bibliography
• Index