Special Saturday Bible Study: The Book of Esther

Esther requires a substantial introduction, worth a post to itself, so I figured I ' d get it out of the way. It was probably written in the 4th Century BCE.  It comes here because we ' re following the order of the protestant Old Testament, but in the Tanakh it comes near the end. The version in the Septuagint differs considerably from the Masoretic text, and is not really considered a translation but a retelling. Esther is notable for a few reasons, not least that it is one of two books of the Bible that does not mention God, the other being the Song of Songs or so-called Song of Solomon. (Although Solomon almost certainly had nothing to do with it.) Despite the complete absence of any religious content, it is important to contemporary Judaism as the basis for the festival of Purim, and it is read in the synagogue during the holiday. It has obvious resonance because it is the story of a planned holocaust of the Jews, which is averted. The Jews end up turning the tables on their would-be persecutors.It is also notable because it is probably explicitly a work of fiction. It was not meant to be taken as a historical narrative, but as what we would today call a novella. The setting is also unusual -- it takes place in the Persian capital of Shusha, during the reign of a fictitious emperor called Ahasuerus. There was no emperor of that name, so scholars and translators who were determined to conclude that this is historical fact have identified him with either Xerxes ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs