OT SURVEY, PT 24:
ESTHER
A COMPARISON OF THE BOOKS OF RUTH AND ESTHER
Ruth and Esther are the only two books in the Bible named for women.
The providence of God is an important theme in both books.
Ruth is read by Jews at the feast of Pentecost; Esther is read at the Feast of Purim.
Relatives play an important role in each book.
Death is essential to the plot of both stories.
There are many contrasts between the two women:
Ruth was a Gentile woman from a pagan country who married a Hebrew
Esther was a young Jewish girl who married a pagan Gentile King
Ruth was a widow; Esther an orphan
Ruth came to Israel; Esther was an exile from Israel
Ruth was a Gentile living among Jews; Esther a Jew living among Gentiles
Ruth was a proselyte; Esther influenced many proselytes
Ruth gleaned in a field; Esther ruled in a palace
Ruth was poor; Esther was rich
Ruth was the grandmother of a king; Esther married a king (and was related to King Saul)
Ruth gave life; Esther ordered death
Both were foreigners living in a land other than their own
Both found favor in the eyes of those who saw them
Both were taken into the homes of relatives
God redeemed Ruth to perpetuate the line of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ
God saved Esther to protect the nation through whom the Redeemer would be born
(From, Esther: A Story of the Providence of God in a Pagan Land, 17).
Historical Background
Esther occurred during the Persian period of world
history, ca. 539 B.C. to ca. 331 B.C.
Ahasuerus ruled from ca. 486 to 465 B.C.
Esther covers the 483473 B.C. portion of his reign
Ahasuerus represents the Hebrew transliteration of
his Persian name
Xerxes is his Greek name.
Historical Background
Artaxerxes
1043 110 Years 931 605
B.C. B.C. B.C.
Historical Background
Esther and Exodus parallels
God was faithful to His covenant to Abraham ca.
21002075 B.C. (Genesis 12:1-3)
As a result, Esther 9-10 records the beginning of
Purim
Still celebrated along with Hanukkah (John 10:22)
Title
Esther in Hebrew and Septuagint
Like Song of Solomon, Obadiah, and Nahum, the NT
does not quote or allude to Esther
Hadassah (2:7), meaning myrtle, Hebrew Name
Esther means star
But Mordecai is the main character and the main
plot is Mordecai vs. Haman
The summary of the book is all about Mordecai
Author
Unknown
Mordecai, Ezra, and Nehemiah have been suggested
Possibly a Persian Jew
Canonicity
All 167 verses of Esther have been recognized as
canonical
Lack of Gods mention cast doubt initially
Greek Septuagint (LXX) added an extra 107
apocryphal verses
Date of Events
From c. 483 BC (1:3) to c. 473 BC
Only Ezra 710, Nehemiah, and Malachi report later
OT history than Esther
5 major Persian kings
Cyrus-539-510,
Cambyses (not mentioned OT)
Darius 522-486,
Xerxes (in Ezra)/Ahasuerus (in Esther) 486-465
Artaxerxes464-424
Canonical Position
Between Lamentations and Daniel
Major Themes
The Providence of God.
In Esther, there is no Mention of Gods Name
MacArthur says, Esther is the classic illustration
of Gods providence as He, the unseen power,
controls everything for His purpose. There are no
miracles in Esther, but the preservation of Israel
through providential control of every event and
person reveals the omniscience and omnipotence of
Jehovah. Whether He is named is not the issue. He is
clearly the main character in the drama.
Major Themes
No mention of Israel, Jerusalem, Temple, Torah (the
life of Jews outside the land?)
Major Themes
Reversal of Human plans
Chapter 2, Esther is safe as QueenChapter 4, Esther is not
safe because shes a Jew
Chapter 6: Hamans means to get honored is how Mordecai
gets honored
Chapter 5: Haman is honored to come to a banquet, Chapter 7:
a Banquet is Hamans downfall
Chapter 3: A decree to kill the Jews, Chapter 8: A decree to kill
Jewish enemies
Chapter 2: Mordecai is no one, Chapter 8: Mordecai is honored
Chapter 9: When Jews were to be put to deathdestruction of
Jewish enemies
Major Themes
Haman begins the book as the empowered destroyer
of the Jews, but ends up as a powerless man killed by
the Jews.
Mordecai begins as a nameless victim of Hamans
attack, but ends up as an honored protector of Israel.
The day appointed for Jewish genocide ironically
ends up as the day of victory for the Jews and the
defeat of Israels enemies.
Esther begins as a selfish, unspiritual woman but
ends as a courageously selfless and spiritual Jew
Major Themes
The Jews
Haman represents Gentiles who hate and fear Jews
But Esther is just an outworking of Genesis 12:3:
And I will bless those who bless you and the one
who curses you I will curse.
Major Themes
Historical Conflict between Mordecai (a Benjamite
descendant of Saul) and Haman (an Agagite)
Began when the Jews exited from Egypt (ca. 1445
B.C.) and were attacked by the Amalekites
God pronounced His curse on the Amalekites (Ex.
17)
Saul (ca. 1030 B.C.) received orders to kill all the
Amalekites, including their king Agag but he
disobeyed (1 Sam 15)
Because of his lineage from Agag, Haman carried
deep hostility toward the Jews.
Major Themes
Explains why Mordecai refused to bow down to
Haman (3:2, 3) and why Haman so tried to
exterminate the Jewish race
But Gods prophecy to eliminate the Amalekites and
preserve the Jews prevailed
Major Themes
The Feast of Purim
Because of Gods faithfulness to save His people
named after the Akkadian word for lot
Celebrated by Jews since this day
Purpose
Purpose: While the physical seed of Abraham was
not faithful to Yahweh, they were still protected by
God from Gentile attack, an event commemorated by
the Feast of Purim.
The Nature of Esther
Five major positions on the spiritual and moral
state of Esther. These views include:
1. Esther was a spiritual woman,
2. Esther was an unspiritual woman,
3. Esther was both a spiritual and unspiritual
woman,
4. Esther started as an unspiritual woman but
became a spiritual woman,
5. Esthers moral state cannot be deciphered.
The Nature of Esther
Omission of Spirituality
Esthers Concealment of Jewishness (2:10,20) 2:10,
Esther did not make known her people or her
kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she
should not make them known.
The Nature of Esther
Winning the Favor and Love of the King (2:15-20)
Swindoll: no driving ambition to be queen. Her life
did not revolve around her physical appearance or
making a king happy. She was there for one reason:
because she knew that the hand of God was on her
life.
But Esther a part of the harem
She went into the king for a night
Esther becomes a part of the concubines after the
night
The Nature of Esther
Reluctance about Approaching the King
The news of the Genocide initially gets no reaction
from the Queen
She does not want to jeopardize her safety until
Mordecai says in 4:13: Do not imagine that you in
the kings palace can escape any more than all the
Jewsand who knows whether you have not attained
royalty for such a time as this?
The Nature of Esther
The turning point: if I perish, I perish (4:16)
4:16-17: Go assemble all the Jews who are found in
Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three
days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in
the same way. And thus I will go in to the king,
which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I
perish.
The Nature of Esther
The Second Banquet (7:1-4)Esther finally reveals her Jewish
nature, identifies with her people, and identifies with their
fate
Esthers Vengeance upon Her enemies
Esther 9:1: Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month
Adar), on the thirteenth day when the kings command and
edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies
of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was
turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the
mastery over those who hated them. Esther 9:16: Now the
rest of the Jews who were in the kings provinces assembled,
to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and
kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not lay their
hands on the plunder.
Esther fulfills Gods original decree for the blotting out of all
the Amalekites
The Nature of Esther
Esthers Establishment of the Feast of Purim
(9:29-32)9:32: The command of Esther
established these customs for Purim, and it was
written in the book.
Esther was never intended to be held up as a paragon
of virtue
Esther is not a supreme example of virtue, but rather
a supreme example of redemption
