Movement magazine issue 154

A SPOTLIGHT ON
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
The book of Esther deserves more attention than it often receives: for many
Christians it is suspect. However, included in our canon, it stands with every
other biblical book as ‘the word of God’.
Origins and historical context
Although the book can be dated anywhere between
465 BCE (the death of ‘Ahasuerus’) and 70CE, recent
scholarship has narrowed its composition down to
the late 5th or early 4th century, which is not long
after the events it purports to describe.
Its setting is the Persian Empire, after Cyrus (whom
Deutero-Isaiah heralded as God’s servant - Isaiah
45. 1-7) had allowed the captive Israelites to return
home. Many, however, had become assimilated into
Persian society and prospered, so remained there in
the Diaspora. The policy of the Assyrian empire that
had defeated and deported them (before they in turn
were overrun by the Persians), was to encourage
integration between its subject peoples to cement
loyalty to the state rather than to particular lands.
This was especially problematic for Israel for whom
not only nationhood but faith was founded on God’s
promise of the land, so they developed strategies
both outward (e.g. the synagogue) and inward
(e.g. collecting their oral and written traditions) for
maintaining their identity away from ‘home’. Although
Esther contains no mention of God, nor does it reflect
Jewish faith practices, attentive reading reveals
resonances throughout with Israel’s historic faith
story. ,The story also recounts the origin of one of
the most popular Jewish festivals, Purim, the only
festival not ordained in the Pentateuch .
Is Esther fact or fiction?
The reality, as in all scripture, is nuanced: it depends
what we mean by ‘true’. If we’re asking whether
it is an historical account of something that really
happened, then almost certainly it isn’t. Xerxes 1
(Ahasuerus) was away at war when these events are
supposed to have happened, and his wife Amestris
was a member of a prominent Persian family. There
are many other historical inaccuracies. It does
broadly reflect its time and location, though, so its
setting appears authentic.
However tenuous its relation to historical events, it
is best understood as a comic tale told from a faith
perspective, a literary work of great skill, unique in
the Bible. Beneath its ‘burlesque’ the story reveals
universal truths about God and all humankind.
Importantly for us its themes, seen through the
life of Christ, both connect with our own faith and
resonate with social and political structures of our
contemporary world.
Characterisation
Analysis of Esther as a literary work is fruitful.
Characterisation through direct speech and narration
is, with the exception of Esther, static: once we’ve
established that Haman (evil) and Mordecai (good)
are stereotypes, and Ahasuerus is weak and selfindulgent,
we know what to expect and can laugh in
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