Esther

Esther answers the question of what happened to the Jews who didn’t return from the exile (with Ezra and Nehemiah). It shows God’s sovereign protection over the evil enemies who try to destroy God’s people. J.G. McConville writes, “In a world from which God appears to be absent he is nonetheless present.”^[1]

Authorship

It is difficult to know who wrote the book of Esther. The author must’ve had access to the chronicles of Xerxes in the royal palace (Esth. 10:2). This means it would need to be Esther, Mordecai, or someone close to them:

Esther? This is certainly possible. However, Huey writes, “No one has seriously argued that Esther herself was the author.”^[2] We aren’t exactly sure why this isn’t seriously considered. She was a Persian Queen—presumably with a high level of wealth and education.

Mordecai? Josephus and Clement of Alexandria believed that Mordecai was the author.^[3] Commentators argue that Mordecai cannot be the author because of Esther 10:3 (“For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen”).^[4]

Men of the Great Synagogue? The Baba Bathra (15a) holds that “the men of the Great Synagogue” wrote Esther. Jobes writes that these men were “believed to be anonymous teachers who lived in the period between the last prophets and the later rabbinical scholars.”^[5]

Anonymous authorship? Because the author never identifies him or herself, most commentators remain agnostic in regards to Esther’s authorship. Archer holds to anonymous authorship,^[6] as does Huey,^[7] Jobes,^[8] as well as Hill and Walton.^[9] We agree that it isn’t possible to know who wrote this book. R. Laird Harris writes, “We do not know the author of Esther, Chronicles, or Job, but they are found among the Prophets, and there is no reason to object to claiming their authors also as prophets.”^[10]

Date

The events in the book take place during the reign of Xerxes (486-465 BC), and the internal evidence of the book favors this general dating. The Hebrew of the book is unlike late Palestinian writing, and it is most similar to the Hebrew found in “Ezekiel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and other compositions of the sixth and fifth centuries.”^[11] While the book contains many Persian terms, we should expect this because it takes place in Persia. By contrast, the book contains no Greek words, which implies an early date—not a late one.^[12] Baldwin writes, “The absence of words of Greek origin also argues against a date in the Greek empire, whereas the frequent occurrence of Persian words suggests a date during the Persian empire.”^[13] Breneman^[14] gives a tentative date of 350 BC. Jobes^[15] dates the book “between the late fifth through third centuries BC.”

Canonicity of Esther

Many notable Jewish and Christian commentators rejected or strongly questioned Esther’s canonicity. Jobes writes, “As far as we know, John Calvin never preached from Esther nor did he include it among his commentaries. Martin Luther denounced this book together with the apocryphal 2 Maccabees, saying of them, ‘I am so great an enemy to the second book of the Maccabees, and to Esther, that I wish they had not come to us at all, for they have too many heathen unnaturalities.’”^[16]

First, the apocryphal additions to Esther could explain why its canonicity wasn’t widely accepted. Since the Septuagint included apocryphal additions to Esther (see “Non-Canonical Additions to Esther”), this could’ve thrown the book into disrepute. Harris writes,

The best explanation is that since in the Septuagint, Esther begins with apocryphal additions, Melito, probably reading only the first verses of each book, could not recognize it among the books which the Jews told him were canonical—Jewish books were named by their first words.^[17]

Athanasius gives the clue to the difficulty about Esther which was mentioned above. He says, ‘Esther is noncanonical and begins with Mordecai’s dream.’ He refers, thus, to the Apocryphal addition with which Esther begins in the Septuagint copies. But, he continues, ‘Esther is canonical among the Hebrews; and as Ruth is reckoned as one book with Judges, so Esther with some other book.’ Perhaps Athanasius is wrong about details, but he probably gives the reason for Esther’s curious omission from a few of these lists. We may add the testimony of Basil the Great of Cappadocia, who speaks of the twenty-two Old Testament books, and the great Chrysostom, who declares himself for the Hebrew canon.^[18]

Beckwith believes that Esther was accepted in the Western Christian church from the beginning. But because of Melito’s rejection, this could’ve resulted in “mixed reception for it in Eastern Christendom.”^[19]

Furthermore, Baldwin^[20] argues that since Christians didn’t celebrate Purim, this could explain why the book was marginalized by the Church. This could also explain why the book wasn’t found in Qumran, because the Essenes didn’t celebrate this festival either.

Second, Josephus includes Esther in his canonical list. Beckwith writes, “Josephus’s attestation of Esther is direct. He tells us that the 22 canonical books trace the course of history from the Creation to the time of Artaxerxes the successor of Xerxes, whom he identifies with the Ahasuerus who married Esther.”^[21] Josephus also refers to the events in Esther as a work of God: “God hath made that day a day of salvation, instead of a day of destruction to them” (The Antiquities of the Jews, 11.282, cf. 11.247, 259, 268, 280).

Third, Aquila (~AD 135) includes Esther in his canonical list. According to Jerome (Commentary on Isaiah, on 8:11ff), Aquila was a Jewish proselyte and a pupil of Rabbi Akiba. Epiphanius claims that Aquila made a literal translation of the Hebrew Scriptures around AD 128 (De Mensuris et Ponderibus, 113-16).^[22] In the surviving fragments, there is “no hint of it including any apocryphal book” and it “included all five of the disputed books.”^[23] He cites Esther in Greek which is found in a midrash of Esther (Rabbah 2.7). Beckwith claims that Aquila’s “rabbinical credentials are unimpeachable.”^[24]

Fourth, the Mishnah includes Esther as canonical. Beckwith writes, “It is quoted in the Mishnah and the other tannaitic literature, in the latter case with standard formulas for citing Scripture, in the former case only to mark the extent of the reading of Esther at Purim (M. Megillah 2.3). However, there is no doubt that the Mishnah also regards Esther as Scripture, since it includes a whole tractate (Megillah) on the duty of reading the book at Purim. By contrast, the similar minor festival of the Rededication of the Temple has no tractate devoted to it, and there was no duty to read any of the books of Maccabees at it.”^[25]

Fifth, the rabbis at Jamnia (~AD 90) include Esther as canonical. While the rabbis at Jamnia originally disputed Esther, they eventually held that it was, in fact, inspired (see “The Council of Jamnia”).

Sixth, multiple early Christian theologians considered the book to be canonical. The Council of Carthage (AD 397) officially canonized the book, but it was used and affirmed long before then. Clement of Rome cites the book as early as AD 95 (1 Clement 55). Clement of Alexandria cites Esther by AD 250 (Pedagogue 3.12.5; Stromata 1.21). Hippolytus includes the book in the canon by AD 231, when he wrote his Commentary on the Psalms 1-25.^[26] Beckwith comments, “Clearly Esther was used from the earliest times at Rome, and if in the capital city, then probably elsewhere in the western world.”^[27]

Historicity

Critics claim that many features of the account are improbable (Esth. 1:4; 2:12; 5:14; 9:16). But we address these charges in the commentary below. Positively, many features support the historical reliability of this book. We address these throughout the commentary below. Breneman writes, “Today few would take the extreme position of completely denying a historical basis for the story.”^[28] He concludes, “Instead of doubting the details of the Book of Esther until they are confirmed by external sources, we will proceed on the assumption that Esther is a trustworthy witness to history… The genre of the Book of Esther is historical narrative.”^[29]

Why doesn’t Esther mention God’s name?

It’s odd, but Esther never mentions God’s name. Later authors solved this problem by adding and interpolating many references to God, prayer, and angels, but these additions are apocryphal and not in the original book (see Non-canonical Additions to Esther). There are a number of observations that can be made regarding this difficulty:

First, Esther isn’t the only book to omit the term “God.” Song of Songs also does not use the term God, though it does use the name “Yahweh” in 8:6. So this isn’t strictly analogous. Moreover, Song of Songs is also criticized for its canonicity, so this doesn’t help answer the question very much.

Second, the author may have omitted God’s name for stylistic reasons. The Jews in Persia were not inheriting the covenant God made with his people. The Jews who returned with Ezra and Nehemiah inherited the covenant, but the Jews of the Persian exile “were no longer in the Theocratic line, so to speak, the Name of the covenant God is not associated with them.”^[30] Because the Jews were in Persia—not the Promised Land—the author could be showing that God appears to be absent to them—even though he is still sovereign in all nations (Esth. 4:14).

Third, the author may have omitted God’s name because this document was written for the Persian records. The mention of Persian annals and documents resounds throughout the book, and the author may have intended this book to enter into their records. Geisler and Nix speculate, “[Some have] thought the omission of God’s name to be an intentional one, to protect the book from pagan plagiarization and the substitution of the name of a heathen god.”^[31]

Fourth, God’s name might exist in a hidden acronym in the book. In Esther 5:4, we read, “Let the king… come today.” Breneman states the letter of each word spells “Yahweh” (YHWH). He writes, “A few codices even have these letters written large to call attention to this fact. If this was the author’s intent, then the divine name is used in Esther in a coded form.”^[32] Other scholars reject this explanation.^[33]

Is this an etiology to explain the festival of Purim?

The term etiology (or aetiology) comes from the Greek word aitia, which means “cause” or “reason.” Thus, etiologies are a “study of causes,” explaining “why things are the way they are now.” Properly understood, Esther is an etiology.

However, this doesn’t make it non-historical. As we have argued elsewhere (see “Genesis as Mytho-History: A Critical Evaluation of William Lane Craig’s Genre Analysis”), the presence of an etiology doesn’t preclude a historical event.

Commentators of Esther concur. Breneman writes, “This entire narrative has the sense of being an etiological story, that is, a story that explains the origin of an event (see 9:26). In this case the narrative recounts the origins of the celebration of Purim. This does not imply that the story is in any way false, and actually the contrary is the most likely.”^[34]

Likewise, Jobes writes, “An etiological reading of the story need not exclude the historical basis of the events it describes… If this episode in Israel’s story has no basis in history, and if the author could have invented any reason to explain a second day of Purim, one wonders why he invented one that seems to impugn Esther and suggests that the Jews held their power as ruthlessly as did the pagan rulers. On the other hand, if it was widely known that Queen Esther was in fact responsible for the second day of killing in Susa, the author could not have easily avoided including it.”^[35]

Historical Setting

King Xerxes. This Persian king reigned from 486-465 BC, and he was the grandson of Cyrus (550-530 BC) and the son of Darius I (520-486 BC). Xerxes referred to himself as “the great King, the King of Kings, the King of the lands occupied by many races, the King of this great world.”^[36] His vizier Artabanus assassinated him and installed Artaxerxes on the throne after him.

Chronology. This entire account takes place years after the Exile ended in 517 BC. Mordecai—as well as the rest of the Jews in Persia—was still marooned in Exile during this time (Esth. 2:5-6). Baldwin writes, “Sixty years later large numbers of Jews remained in the eastern half of the Persian empire, many in the great imperial cities of Persia itself.”^[37]

Themes of Esther

God’s Sovereignty. This book demonstrates the sovereignty of God, as he works through horrible circumstances. While God’s name is never mentioned, he appears behind the scenes to protect his people. Modern people who look at the despair of their future can’t always see God moving. But the message of Esther is that God is on his throne—being in charge of human history. Jobes writes, “Is God present or is he absent? From reading just Esther alone, we cannot be sure. Nor could the Jews of Susa who first experienced these events. This uncertainty aptly reflects the big question facing the Jews in the postexilic period: “Are we still the people of the covenant? Is God still with us or has he abandoned us to our sin and the judgment of exile? Looking back into history, we now know the answer, but those who lived through that time did not. The uncertainty can be resolved only by reading Esther within its larger canonical context. No amount of exegesis of the text apart from the rest of the canon can resolve the uncertainty since it is a deliberate part of what the author was trying to communicate.”^[38]

Anti-Semitism. Ever since God chose the Jewish people, Satan has worked to oppose and persecute them—just as he did with Jesus and Christian believers. The Abrahamic covenant, however, is still in effect (Gen. 12:1-3). God will curse anyone who hates the Jewish people.

Irony. Haman goes in to ask the king how to kill Mordecai, and the king asks Haman how he should honor Mordecai instead. Haman seeks to kill the Jews, but he ends up begging for his life from Esther—a Jewish woman. At the beginning of the account, it’s dangerous to be a Jew—by the end, it’s dangerous to not be a Jew!

Purim. This annual festival of the Jewish people originates from this book (Esth. 3:7; 9:26). Jewish people still read Esther every year at the Feast of Purim (pûr or “the lot”).^[39]

Consulted Commentaries

Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999).

Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993).

F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988).

Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 12, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984).

[1] J. G. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, DSB (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985), 193. Cited in Breneman, p.358.

^[2] F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 776.

[3] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 29.

^[4] F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 776.

[5] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 29.

^[6] Gleason Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 464.

^[7] F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 776.

[8] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 28.

[9] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 282.

[10] R. Laird Harris, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Scriptures (Greenville, SC, 1995), 169.

[11] Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 358.

[12] Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 358.

^[13] Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 12, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 48-49.

^[14] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 291.

^[15] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 30.

[17] R. Laird Harris, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Scriptures (Greenville, SC, 1995), 184.

[18] R. Laird Harris, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Scriptures (Greenville, SC, 1995), 184.

[19] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 322-23.

^[20] Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 12, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 32, 50.

[21] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 322.

[22] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 277.

[23] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 277.

[24] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 277.

[25] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 322-23.

[26] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 296.

[27] Roger T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1986), 296.

^[28] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 281.

^[29] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 285, 287.

^[30] Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, rev. and expanded ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 260.

^[31] Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, rev. and expanded ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 260.

^[32] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 339.

^[33] F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 784-785.

^[34] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 363.

^[35] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 199, 201.

^[36] F. B. Huey Jr., “Esther,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 797.

^[37] Joyce G. Baldwin, Esther: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 12, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 17.

^[38] Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 44.

[39] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 285.