The Book of Esther Between Judaism and Christianity

Through the ages, Esther has gained overall a great popularity and has long been (with a few exceptions) one of the most beloved biblical books across Jewish communities. The Talmudic rabbis rank it nearly as highly as the holiest scripture of Judaism — the Torah — and even before all the prophetic and other hagiographic books. Esther has received enormous attention among Jewish scholars, who have devoted a significant number of diverse studies, translations, and interpretations to the book. All these have inspired Jewish thoughts, legends and folklore, art (such as painting), music, plays and humoristic theater pieces, as well as prose and poetic literature in many languages in almost in all Jewish communities around the globe.

The Feast of Esther by Jan Lievens (ca. 1625). North Carolina Museum of Art.

In antiquity, Esther’s story was translated into Greek, and six “Additions” were attached to it. Josephus Flavius dedicated an extensive section of his work to rewriting the story, and the book was probably included in his “canon” of twenty-two Jewish scriptures. A special tractate was dedicated to it not only in the Mishnah, but also in the Tosefta, the Jerusalem Talmud, and the Babylonian Talmud. Esther was the subject of several special homiletic collections (e.g., Midrash Esther Rabbah), and two Aramaic translations (Targum Rishon and Targum Sheni). The rabbis integrated it into their halachic system, midrashic methodologies of interpretation, and unique theologies. In the medieval period, different commentaries were written on the Megillah, both by the Rabbanite and Karaite exegetes, by Sephardi as well as Ashkenazi scholars.This trend has continued also up to modern times.

The book was also used by the Jews in their disputes with Christians. Jews have made connection between the story of Esther and their own situation in different lands. They have regularly associated their contemporary enemies with those whose anti-Jewish policies have been overcome within the book, seeing them all as repeated manifestations of the same anti-Jewish oppression shown by “Haman.” They considered Esther as a model for understanding their ongoing experiences of exile and have frequently anticipated salvation through the downfall of their opponents, while comparing them to Haman and other enemies as is told at the end of Esther. The story of the evil Haman was usually utilized to describe later Jews’ oppressors as “new Haman(s)” almost everywhere. Jews who have faced their own contemporary oppressors and foes have often looked to Esther for models to describe their own experiences. They have celebrated the day of release and deliverance from the hands of those enemies, and called it a “Second Purim,” while sending presents to each other and assisting the poor and weak members of society, writing the stories of their own “Hamans” and the great miracles of their time as “new Megillot” and reading them publicly.

This centrality of the book within Jewish reception history may be attributed to several factors. First and foremost is the central theological message of the book that implicitly emphasizes the eternal covenant between God and Israel in any place and time, and under any circumstances. Added to this is the relevance of the story for almost every generation — including ours — and in every place, illustrating the extraordinary existence of the Jewish people despite all the hostilities, evil plans, and acts of Jew-haters. The book of Esther has been paradigmatic for Jewish confrontations with threats throughout the ages, including both during and after the Holocaust.