Notes on Esther

A couple of notes on Esther, following up on suggestions made by student papers.

First, one student pointed to the chronology of Esther, which I’d never paid much attention to. The story takes place over a number of years, from the third-year feast (1:3) to the seventh-year exaltation of Esther (2:16) to the twelfth-year attack on the Jews (3:7) and victory at Purim, in the twelfth month (9:1). The fall in the third year is overcome in the Sabbatical enthronement of Esther, which leads to the victory of the Twelve Tribes in the twelfth month of the twelfth year.

Second, another student pointed to the rather jarring sequence from 2:21-23 to 3:1: Mordecai saves the king’s life and . . . Haman gets exalted! Mordecai deserves that honor, and so from the first Haman is an interloper, popping in between Mordecai and his reward. When the king tells Haman to exalt Mordecai, he’s turning things right side up again. Psychologically, the fact that Haman is exalted when Mordecai should have been is one of the reasons for Mordecai’s resentment and refusal to bow.