Why is the Book of Esther used at Purim?

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faithful437

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Saw this referenced on another thread. And for that matter, why is it in the Catholic Canon? Seems to have some adulterous themes in it. 🤷
 
It shows that, no matter how dark the future seems, that if one remains faithful to God, then God will remain faithful to you. Esther is a wonderful book!
 
NotWorthy said:
Esther is a wonderful book!
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Esther herself prefigures Mary as she risks death to enter the king’s throne room unannounce and without being summoned. To do so was punishable by death, even for the wife of the king, but she does so and intercedes on behalf of her people.

Go and assemble all the Jews who are in Susa; fast on my behalf, all of you, not eating or drinking night or day for three days. I and my maids will also fast in the same way. Thus prepared, I will go to the king, contrary to the law. If I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16)

But instead of perishing, she is granted her request in a glorious way…

…the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask for shall be granted, and whatever request you make shall be honored, even if it is for half my kingdom.” (Esther 5:6)

And the ultimate result is that not only is the entire Jewish race spared death, but they are permitted to kill those who were going to put them to death.

In these letters the king authorized the Jews in each and every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every armed group of any nation or province that might attack them, along with their wives and children, and to seize their goods as spoil on a single day throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar. (Esther 8:11-12)

And the icing on the cake is that her uncle is made the most powerful man in all of the kingdom with the exception of the king himself.

So Haman took the robe and horse, clothed Mordecai, had him ride in the public square of the city, and cried out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!” (Esther 6:11)

It’s a summary of the entire story of Jesus our King, His Mother the Queen, intercession and the salvation of their people. Wonderful indeed!

-Tim-
 
faithful437 said:
Saw this referenced on another thread. And for that matter, why is it in the Catholic Canon? Seems to have some adulterous themes in it. 🤷
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One could say 2nd Samuel (with Bathsheba-Gate) has adulterous themes. Genesis (Lot and his girls, just to name one of many) would also be included.

IOW, the OP is using faulty reasoning.
 
I have a Jewish commentary on Esther from the Jewish Publicatioin Society – so this is a mainline commentary.

That author and the author of the Jewish Study Bible “spin” the Book of Esther as a rollicking comedy. In the Jewish Masoretic version, God is not mentioned, presumably not to be sullied with all the bawdy stuff that goes on there.

The experts looking at Esther from a historical criticism point of view give up quickly, because the type of things said there are not verifiable. For example, in Esther, it says that the king could not retract a decree, but no such prohibition existed in the Middle East when that book was written.

The humorous elements consist of all these sudden twists when the plot quickly shifts from disaster to victory. Hamon (is that his name, I haven’t read this for a year), wants to exterminate the Jews, but he ends up on the gallows, eetc.

they figure the book was put into the Jewish canon for two reasons. 1) to explain the origin of the feast of Purim. 2) to set a precedent for establishing a non-Biblical feast in the Jewish calendar.

The saying goes, among the Jews, that if you’re not having a good time on Purim, you’re not drinking enough.
 
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Crumpy said:
I have a Jewish commentary on Esther from the Jewish Publicatioin Society – so this is a mainline commentary.

That author and the author of the Jewish Study Bible “spin” the Book of Esther as a rollicking comedy. In the Jewish Masoretic version, God is not mentioned, presumably not to be sullied with all the bawdy stuff that goes on there.

The experts looking at Esther from a historical criticism point of view give up quickly, because the type of things said there are not verifiable. For example, in Esther, it says that the king could not retract a decree, but no such prohibition existed in the Middle East when that book was written.

The humorous elements consist of all these sudden twists when the plot quickly shifts from disaster to victory. Hamon (is that his name, I haven’t read this for a year), wants to exterminate the Jews, but he ends up on the gallows, eetc.

they figure the book was put into the Jewish canon for two reasons. 1) to explain the origin of the feast of Purim. 2) to set a precedent for establishing a non-Biblical feast in the Jewish calendar.

The saying goes, among the Jews, that if you’re not having a good time on Purim, you’re not drinking enough.
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two correctiions: to set a precedent for establishing a non-Torah feast in the Jewish calendar, and …not drinking enough wine.

Yeah, the Vatican Council, in Dei Verbum, said we’re supposed to understand the purpose of the write of the biblical text. So, what was it? to do what the Jewish commentaries say, or did God, who is the Author of scripture, have it in mind to allegorize Jesus and Mary? or, both?

Or, was this an attempt, intentionally, to upgrade the status of Jewish women? to show a Jewish woman in a positive role? ultimately, to rehabilitate the stigma of women as a result of the sin of Eve? There may well be other purposes in the text.
 
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