Year 2, Day 61: Esther 1

Background

Esther is a unique book in that it is one of two books of the Bible that has no direct mention of God (The other being Song of Solomon).  Some – myself included – are known to lift this up as evidence that something need not always specifically name God in order to be Christian (or holy) and present a holy message.  However, the second century B.C. Jewish translators were so concerned with this fact that when they were coming up with the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures they added the word “God” over 100 times to the Greek text!  Traditionally, because of this fact, Protestants only subscribe to the Hebrew version of this book of the Bible and largely discount the Greek text as it is highly modified.  But it does certainly give the book an interesting origin!  The events of this book occur under the Persian king Ahasuerus (his name in Hebrew) or Xerxes (his name in Greek) or Khshayarsha (his name in Persian) which would date the book to about 483 – 473 B.C.

Confrontation

The book opens with a passive aggressive confrontation between Vashti (The queen) and Ahasuerus (Xerxes, the king).  Not wanting to get too deep in the history, the name Vashti is never mentioned in any historical source outside of the book of Esther.  In the Persian texts, Ahasuerus’ wife is named Amestris.  The name difference may be attributed to the fact that several of the linguistic sounds in her name are simply not a part of the Hebrew dialect, so she may have had a Hebrew name, a Greek name, and a Persian name as we know was true of King Ahasueras/Xerxes/Khshayarsha.  In any case, historically we know that Amestris was known for her particular brand of cruelty and self-reliant independence.  Certainly this fits the Vashti that we see presented in the Bible.

If we can make the historical leap that Vashti is Ahasueras’ wife (and historically we know that Ahasueras did have but one wife, so it has to be her), then the points in Esther 1 make a lot more sense.  Given what we historically know about Vashti/Amestris we can get an idea that she was perpetually causing trouble for Ahasueras.  She was cruel and many of her public servants loathed her presence.  She was self-interested, so she didn’t “play nice with others.”  Imagine a royal figure who only cared about themselves and didn’t care what image she presented to the rest of the world – especially to people who might actually look up to her as a role model.  {Sounds a lot like our pop-culture sensations of today, doesn’t it?}  That is the image of Vashti/Amestris that we have according to the historical record.

Genuine Concern, Not Chauvinism

Given that fact, the fear presented by the nobility at the end of this chapter is far more understandable.  So often people only read this chapter in terms of a “male-chauvinistic mindset.”  They read it and think that it is a bunch of men who are sitting around angry that Vashti is showing some kind of backbone.  So often the nobility and the king are painted in a negative light because it seems like they are angry that Vashti won’t bow to their will as a woman.

But this is just not the case historically.  This is one event in a long line of events that display her self-centered and cruel nature.  The nobles and the king are genuinely concerned that if she is allowed to continue as queen that the general public will begin to think that it is okay to be self-interested and think of nothing other than your own desires.

How many parents, teachers, pastors, and mentors have had to fight the battle to make sure that young people pick good role models?  How many times have we had to pick up the pieces when some young person learns a bad habit or a selfish way of thinking from some celebrity?  That is precisely what is going on among the nobility here in this chapter.  The nobility aren’t interested in some kind of male-chauvinistic domination of their culture.  They are interesting in promoting a culture where people think of more things than themselves!  This opening chapter is not about women’s rights as much as it is about the communal danger of self-mongerism.

Community, not Women’s Rights

So where does it leave us?  It leaves us with the understanding that this book is going to revolve around communal issues.  There is fear about the image that Vashti presents to the people, so we can expect to learn a lot about the image that Esther will bring to the people in contrast to Vashti.  We should anticipate that many of the lessons as we go through this book will center on putting other people and their needs before our own.  This will be a book that we can expect to learn a fair amount with respect to humility and God’s ability to use the servant-nature.  That is what we get to anticipate for the next week or so.  I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am!

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