Esther's Revenge at Susa

Esther's Revenge at Susa PDF Author: Stephanie Dalley
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191527122
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Why are the names of the chief characters in the biblical Book of Esther those of Mesopotamian deities? Stephanie Dalley argues that the narrative reflects real happenings in seventh-century Assyria, where the widespread belief that revenge belongs to the gods explains why Assyrian kings described punitive campaigns as divine acts, leading to the mythologizing of certain historical events. Ashurbanipal's sack of Susa, led by the deities Ishtar and Marduk, underlies the Hebrew story of Esther, and that story contains traces of the cultic calendar of Ishtar-of-Nineveh. Dalley traces the way in which the long-term settlement of `lost tribes' in Assyria, revealed by the fruits of excavation in Iraq and Syria, inspired a blend of pagan and Jewish traditions.

Esther's Revenge at Susa

Esther's Revenge at Susa PDF Author: Stephanie Dalley
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191527122
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why are the names of the chief characters in the biblical Book of Esther those of Mesopotamian deities? Stephanie Dalley argues that the narrative reflects real happenings in seventh-century Assyria, where the widespread belief that revenge belongs to the gods explains why Assyrian kings described punitive campaigns as divine acts, leading to the mythologizing of certain historical events. Ashurbanipal's sack of Susa, led by the deities Ishtar and Marduk, underlies the Hebrew story of Esther, and that story contains traces of the cultic calendar of Ishtar-of-Nineveh. Dalley traces the way in which the long-term settlement of `lost tribes' in Assyria, revealed by the fruits of excavation in Iraq and Syria, inspired a blend of pagan and Jewish traditions.

Esther's Revenge at Susa

Esther's Revenge at Susa PDF Author: Stephanie Dalley
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199216630
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
The names of the chief characters in the biblical Book of Esther are those of Mesopotamian deities. Stephanie Dalley argues that the narrative reflects real events in seventh-century Assyria which were `explained' soon after they occurred in a mythologizing cuneiform text and linked to religious festivals comparable to the Jewish rites of Purim.

Esther

Esther PDF Author: Jean-Daniel Macchi
Publisher: Kohlhammer Verlag
ISBN: 3170310283
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 477

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Book Description
The Book of Esther is one of the five Megillot. It tells the story of a Jewish girl in Persia, who becomes queen and saves her people from a genocide. The story of Esther forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim. The commentary presents a literary analysis of the text, taking into account the inclusion and arrangement of different pericopes, and an analysis of the narration. Likewise, it will discuss the style, the syntax, and the vocabulary. The examination of the intellectual context of the book, biblical and extrabiblical textual traditions on which the book is based and with which it is in intertextual dialogue, leads to a discussion of the redactional process and the historical and social contexts in which the authors and redactors worked.

Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story

Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story PDF Author: Adam J. Silverstein
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198797222
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This book examines the ways in which the Biblical Book of Esther was read, understood, and used in Muslim lands, from ancient to modern times. It features case-studies covering works from various periods and regions of the Muslim world.

Esther in Diaspora

Esther in Diaspora PDF Author: Tsaurayi Kudakwashe Mapfeka
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004406565
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
In Esther in Diaspora, Tsaurayi Kudakwashe Mapfeka presents a new approach to the book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He argues that, whereas previous interpretations have emphasised an association with the Jewish festival of Purim, a theory-nuanced concept of diaspora offers the key for reading Esther. Alongside the relatively new approach of Diaspora Studies, the author makes use of the more traditional analogical reasoning, seeing parallels between the community behind Esther and the Zimbabwean diaspora community in the United Kingdom, of which he is a member. The two-fold methodological application results in an innovative and stimulating reading of the book. Overall, the book reflects a deep awareness not only of issues surrounding Esther but of the broader fields of the study of the Bible and of the ancient Near East.

Ruth, Esther

Ruth, Esther PDF Author: Marion Ann Taylor
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310490901
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story. EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting. LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students. —Ruth, Esther— The book of Ruth presents a compelling account of how most of us experience God in our everyday lives. We see God working indirectly behind the scenes, giving us a theology of divine and human cooperation, as those who pray for God’s blessings participate in answering their own petitions as well as the prayers of others. In Esther’s story, we recognize our own world today, often experiencing it as a place where God seems hidden. Her book challenges us in unique ways. Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.

Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought

Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought PDF Author: Aaron Koller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107048354
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
This book situates the book of Esther in the intellectual history of Ancient Judaism and provides a new understanding of its purpose.

Early Jewish Writings

Early Jewish Writings PDF Author: Eileen Schuller
Publisher: SBL Press
ISBN: 0884142329
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
New from the Bible and Women Series This collection of essays deals with aspects of women and gender relations in early Judaism (during the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires). Some essays focus on specific writings: the Greek (Septuagint) version of Esther, Judith, Joseph and Aseneth, and the Letter of Jeremiah. Others explore how certain biblical texts are reinterpreted: Eve in the Life of Adam and Eve, the mixing of the sons of God with the daughters of men from Genesis 6:1–4, the Egyptian princess at the birth of Moses, and how Josephus retells biblical stories. The third group of essays explore specific social contexts: Philo's views of women in the Roman empire, the Sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, and women philosophers of the Therapeutae in Egyptian Alexandria. Features An International team of contributors from Europe and North America A breadth of materials covered, including many lesser-known early Jewish writings Focus is on a gendered perspective and gender specific questions

Esther and the Politics of Negotiation

Esther and the Politics of Negotiation PDF Author: Rebecca S. Hancock
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1451465629
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
Was Esther unique—an anomaly in patriarchal society? Conventionally, scholars see ancient Israelite and Jewish women as excluded from the public world, their power concentrated instead in the domestic realm and exercised through familial structures. Rebecca S. Hancock demonstrates, in contrast, that because of the patrimonial character of ancient Jewish society, the state was often organized along familial lines. The presence of women in roles of queen consort or queen is therefore a key political, and not simply domestic, feature.

On Her Account

On Her Account PDF Author: Anne-Mareike Wetter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567664317
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Anne-Mareike Wetter investigates how the books of Ruth, Esther and Judith contribute to the discussion about Israel's ethnic and religious identity in the formative period following the Babylonian Exile. Although each of these narratives deals with variations of the theme of survival in a hostile world, the question underlying them is a different one: “Who are we, and who is our 'other'?” The narratives are presented as sequels to Israel's history as put forward in other (now biblical) texts, and presuppose God's continuing involvement with his people. However, they subtly modify the way in which Israel can or should relate to her God by suggesting alternatives for official Temple worship or bypassing the latter altogether. While older prophetic texts make use of metaphoric language portraying Israel as YHWH's unfaithful wife, grieving widow, or ravaged virgin, Ruth, Esther and Judith can be construed as embodiments of Israel of a different kind. Wetter argues for a revisioning of Israel in and through the bodies of the three female characters, as a community which is simultaneously vulnerable and inviolable, marginalized and empowered. Their tricksterism, in all its comicality, underlines the precarious situation in which the women and the community they represent are caught. Yet it also has the power to both defeat threats from outside and amend Israel's self-perception on the inside. Israel no longer has to perceive of itself as a battered wife but as one who can deploy her qualities – seductive and otherwise – for the survival of the community.