Literary Allusions in Esther

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Walsh’s Communicative Diagram

Figure 1.2 Walsh’s Communicative Diagram (Modified)

Figure 1.3 The Communicative Act in Communicative Shapes

Figure 5.1 Overlapping and Interlocking of Intertexts in MT Esther

List of Tables

Table 1.1 Hermeneutical Lenses for Reading Esther

Table 2.1 The Story of Pseudo- Smerdis and MT Esther

Table 2.2 MT Esther and Jonah 3

Table 2.3 MT Esther 4 and Joel 2:12– 16

Table 2.4 MT Elements of the Apology Type- Scene in MT Esther and Exodus

Table 2.5 MT Esther and the Samuel Corpus

Table 2.6 1 Kings 1– 2 and MT Esther

Table 2.7 MT Esther and the Joseph Narratives

Table 4.1 The Letter of Haman and Mordecai’s Counter- Letter

Table 4.2 Thematic Recurrence in MT Esther

Table 5.1 Parallels Between Joash and Ahasuerus

Table 5.2 Citation of Jeremiah’s Letter

Table 5.3 Seeking Peace in MT Esther and Jeremiah

Table 5.4 Deuteronomic Wisdom in Jeremiah’s Letter

Table 5.5 Cross Associative Influence and The Structure of MT Esther

Table 5.6 Ancient Arrangements of the Writings

Acknowledgments

Various individuals have embedded in me a passion for the Megilloth. I remember my early days studying the Hebrew Bible with Michael B. Shepherd. He taught me about John Sailhamer’s canonical approach, which I still enjoy learning more about as I pursue my research. I soon began a detailed study of the Song of Songs, which became the main topic of my Master’s thesis.

While I was writing this thesis, I became aware of various connections that existed within the Megilloth. Initially, I was determined to continue my research on the Song (which I did in part), but this changed when I took my first doctoral seminar. Under the direction of Harold R. Mosley, I began studying Jeremiah. Because of the hard work of Shepherd, Charles Quarles, and Jason Hiles, I was more than prepared for doctoral work. However, I was timid and unsure of myself. This led me to take one seminar during my first semester of the doctoral program. Because of this, I translated most of Jeremiah that semester and landed upon the literary connection between Jeremiah 29 and Esther that led to this current book (a revised version of my doctoral dissertation).

From there, I began to refine my work as a scholar. I would not have done this without the input of Dennis Cole and Archie England. They mentored me and taught me more about writing, research, and being a part of the scholarly guild. Near the end of my doctoral studies, John Screnock came along and contributed in more ways than can be listed here.

My academic career has been crafted as carefully as the scribes who embedded the various intertexts into MT Esther. I look forward to seeing how my doctoral training will converge with my academic experiences. I have also enjoyed investigating how the multiple intertexts of MT Esther converge with its central narrative.

I am thankful for everyone who has helped me to complete this work. I am grateful to Peter Lang Publishing for providing me with a platform for my work. I am thankful to my family for allowing me to write during vacations and other inconvenient times. I am grateful to Jackson Theological Seminary for providing me with my first professorship. I wish to thank my students, who always push me to be excellent and to provide them with outstanding learning experiences. Finally, I am thankful for every mentor I have yet to meet or will never meet. I pray that God will bless each of you as you all have blessed me!

·1· Introduction

Almost from the day of its composition to the present, the Book of Esther has received mixed reviews from equally bright and God-fearing men. In general, the division of opinion has followed largely religious party lines, with Jews highly praising the book and Christians tending either to denigrate or to ignore it.¹

The book of Esther has presented academic scholarship with an intriguing enigma.² On the one hand, all versions of the book present readers with a simple plot: two Judahians³ seek to preserve their populace in a diasporic setting by utilizing their political wit and influence over a seemingly absent-minded king.⁴ Because this “common narrative” can be easily identified, many scholars assume that every extant version of the Esther story has expanded a common source.⁵

On the other hand, scholars also acknowledge that Esther contains a secondarily hidden or cryptically meaningful message.⁶ The words of Timothy K. Beal are representative of many scholars, “On first reading it [Esther] appears so simple, so whole, and its meaning so completely self-evident. Yet, the closer one gets to this text, the more perplexing it becomes. Questions lead not to answers but more profound questions, and a certain distance begins to open between reader and text.”⁷ Stated differently, Esther scholarship generally acknowledges that the Masoretic version of Esther (henceforth MT Esther) includes a literary design purposed to present readers with a multilayered narrative. This narrative contains two parallel stories, which are intended to complement one another.