This interdisciplinary commentary ranges from early midrashic
interpretation to contemporary rewritings introducing
interpretations of the only biblical book not to mention God.
* Unearths a wealth of neglected rewritings inspired by the
story's relevance to themes of nationhood, rebellion,
providence, revenge, female heroism, Jewish identity, exile,
genocide and 'multiculturalism'
* Reveals the various struggles and strategies used by religious
commentators to make sense of this only biblical book that does not
mention God
* Asks why Esther is underestimated by contemporary feminist
scholars despite a long history of subversive rewritings
* Compares the most influential Jewish and Christian
interpretations and interpreters
* Includes an introduction to the book's myriad
representations in literature, music, and art
* Published in the reception-history series, Blackwell Bible
Commentaries
Autorentext
Jo Carruthers teaches at Lancaster University, UK, and works across the disciplines of literary and religious studies. Her books include The Politics of Purim: Law, Sovereignty and Hospitality in the Aesthetic Afterlives of Esther (2020); England's Secular Scripture: Islamophobia and the Protestant Aesthetic (2011); and Literature and the Bible: A Reader (with Mark Knight and Andrew Tate, 2013).
Klappentext
Esther Through the Centuries traces Jewish, Christian and secular reception of the only biblical book not to mention God. Author Jo Carruthers introduces the most significant adaptations of this story of Jewish life in the Persian Empire; a tale about averted genocide, a heroic queen and the machinations of court politics. Prominent in the Jewish tradition because of the festival of Purim, Esther has also provoked and inspired Christian and secular writers, artists, musicians and commentators for two millennia.
This commentary unearths a wealth of neglected rewritings inspired by the story's engagement with themes of nationhood, rebellion, providence, revenge, female heroism, Jewish identity, exile and genocide. Ranging from early rabbinic interpretation to contemporary rewritings, the book discusses the significance of Esther for artists such as George Eliot, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Handel and Michelangelo, who are drawn to the cosmic drama of good versus evil and its authoritative yet transgressive queen. The book examines Esther chapter by chapter, revealing a surprising afterlife remarkably resonant with contemporary preoccupations.
Esther Through the Centuries is published within the Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries series. Further information about this innovative reception history series is available at www.bbibcomm.info.
Zusammenfassung
This interdisciplinary commentary ranges from early midrashic interpretation to contemporary rewritings introducing interpretations of the only biblical book not to mention God.
- Unearths a wealth of neglected rewritings inspired by the story's relevance to themes of nationhood, rebellion, providence, revenge, female heroism, Jewish identity, exile, genocide and 'multiculturalism'
- Reveals the various struggles and strategies used by religious commentators to make sense of this only biblical book that does not mention God
- Asks why Esther is underestimated by contemporary feminist scholars despite a long history of subversive rewritings
- Compares the most influential Jewish and Christian interpretations and interpreters
- Includes an introduction to the book's myriad representations in literature, music, and art
- Published in the reception-history series, Blackwell Bible Commentaries
Inhalt
List of Plates xi
Series Editors' Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction 1
Why Reception? 2
An Irredeemable Book? 7
Jewish Tradition 10
Christian Tradition 12
Summary of Works 13
Godless Scripture 21
Allegory 28
Providence, Chosenness, Nationhood 32
Political Application 46
Esther as Literature 49
Esther 1:19 52
1:1 The King and Empire 53
1:3 The King's Feast 57
1:4 Display of Wealth 58
1:8 No Compulsion to Drink 59
1:9 Women's Feast 60
Vashti 61
Esther 1:1022 68
1:12 Disobedience 68
1:1322 The Empire Strikes Back 83
1:19 Vashti's Punishment 88
1:22 The Decree 89
Esther 2:17 93
2:1 The King Remembers Vashti 93
2:24 To the Harem 95
2:56 Mordecai 98
2:7 Hadassah- Esther 103
Esther 2:823 109
2:814 Esther in the Harem 109
2:15 Esther's Beauty 121
2:1618 Esther Becomes Queen 125
Esther 3 133
3:1 Haman 134
3:2 'But Mordecai did not bow down' 139
3:7 Casting Lots 143
3:8 (Mis)Representing Jews: A People Set Apart 145
3:8 Evil Counsellors 151
3:1215 Genocidal Edicts 155
3:15 'The King and Haman sat down to drink' 157
Esther 4:114 160
4:13 'Great mourning among the Jews' 160
4:414 Esther and Mordecai Confer 163
4:14 'From another quarter' 174
Esther 4:1517 176
4:15 'Fast ye for me' 176
4:16 'If I perish, I perish' 180
Esther as Exemplar of Resolve 184
4:17 'Mordecai [. . .] did everything as Esther had ordered him' 191
Esther 5 192
Esther before Ahasuerus 192
5:48 Esther's First Banquet 215
5:914 Haman's Wrath 218
Esther 6 221
The King's Sleeplessness 222
6:11 The Triumph of Mordecai 227
Esther 7 and 8 233
7:16 Esther's Second Banquet 233
7:78 Haman's Fate 238
8:16 'How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?' 244
8:714 The Irreversible Decree 244
8:1517 'The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour' 249
Esther 9 and 10 254
9:2 Scenes of Slaughter 256
9:710 Ten Sons of Haman 265
9:26 Purim 267
9:29 & 32 'Then Esther the Queen . . . wrote with all authority' 275
10 The Greatness of Mordecai 277
Bibliography 280
Primary Sources
Pre- 1500 280
15001800 281
Post- 1800 284
Esther Secondary Sources 289
Other Secondary Sources 293
Index 296