The Book of Esther
The Book of Esther
Esther is not a very popular book.
Not many people preach on Esther. Indeed, the lectionary, if you know how that works, only encourages us to read it once every three years. Unlike the gospel of Mark, for instance, from which we will read something like 50 times over the course of this year, we get only this one reading from Esther this year, after which the book retires to its quiet canonical spot until 2003.
It is an unpopular book. More – it is a controversial book. More – it is a book about which no less a character than Martin Luther said that he ‘hated’ it. That it was ‘perverse’ – ‘filled with much pagan impropriety’.
Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that never mentions the name of God. It shares this singular honour with the Song of Songs, which is also a controversial book.
It’s not just that the book doesn’t mention God by name. It’s that there is so little that is ‘godly’ going on in the book. There is no worship, no reading of the Bible, no persons of outstanding godly character in the book of Esther. There is no mention of the great Biblical themes of covenant and grace. There doesn’t even seem to be any love in Esther! Sex, yes, there’s plenty of sex in Esther – another point of similarity with the Song of Songs. Yet Esther goes one step beyond Songs by bringing in that other great Hollywood theme – violence.
Esther is a violent book. There is a lot of bloodshed in Esther. There seem to be a good hundred thousand people killed in the story of Esther – men, women, and children – and Esther herself does much of the killing.
This raises two questions: