BEMA Episode Link: 70: Esther — Purim
Episode Length: 34:43
Published Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:00:00 -0700
Session 2
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings discuss the book of Esther and the story that lies behind the celebration of Purim.

Discussion Video for BEMA 70

The Queen You Thought You Knew by Rabbi David Fohrman

The Story #20: The Queen of Beauty and Courage sermon — YouTube

Transcript for BEMA 70

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 70: Esther — Purim

Title & Source Summary

This episode explores the Book of Esther and the Jewish festival of Purim, examining how this unique biblical narrative teaches God’s people to navigate empire with wisdom and courage. The hosts analyze the hidden story within Esther’s account, focusing on themes of divine providence, strategic wisdom, and moral courage in the face of injustice. The episode draws heavily from Rabbi David Fohrman’s work The Queen You Thought You Knew: Unmasking Esther’s Hidden Story.

Key Takeaways

• Purim celebrates the rescue of the Jewish people from Haman’s genocidal plot, as recorded in the Book of Esther
• The Book of Esther is unique: the only biblical book not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the only one that never explicitly mentions God’s name
• Esther was written for the Jewish remnant who stayed in Persia rather than returning to rebuild Jerusalem
• The narrative intentionally parallels the Joseph story, teaching wisdom for living faithfully within empire
• Esther demonstrates “shrewd as serpents, innocent as doves” wisdom in how she navigates power structures to save her people
• The festival’s name “Purim” (lots) ultimately refers not to Haman’s lots cast for destruction, but to Esther’s decision to “cast her lot” before God in faithful obedience
• The central ethical teaching: to remain silent in the face of injustice is to condone it

Main Concepts & Theories

Purim as a Non-Levitical Festival

Unlike the festivals ordained in Torah at Sinai (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah, Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, and Sukkot/Festival of Tabernacles), Purim arose later in Jewish history. It’s a “biblical festival” in that it’s based on biblical narrative, but it’s not one of the Levitical festivals commanded in the Law of Moses. Like Hanukkah, it represents a later addition to the Jewish calendar commemorating God’s faithfulness in a specific historical moment.

The Festival’s Unique Characteristics

Purim is celebrated similarly to a Jewish Halloween, with participants wearing costumes. This practice reflects a core theological truth embedded in the narrative: God is present throughout the entire story but remains “in disguise” - never explicitly mentioned yet unmistakably active. The costumes symbolize this theme of hiddenness and revelation, of seeing beyond surface appearances to recognize divine providence at work.

Historical Context: The Remnant in Persia

The Book of Esther addresses a specific audience: the Jewish community that remained in Persia after the Babylonian exile ended. While books like Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah focus on the remnant who returned to rebuild Jerusalem (estimated at around 250,000 out of 5-6 million Jews), Esther speaks to the larger population who chose to remain in diaspora. This context is crucial for understanding the book’s themes of navigating foreign power, maintaining identity while assimilated, and exercising wisdom within imperial structures.

Two Perspectives on Esther’s Character

The episode presents two interpretive traditions regarding how Esther became queen:

Perspective A (Critical Reading): Esther enters the royal contest through morally compromising means. The name “Esther” derives from Ishtar (the Persian goddess of fertility, related to Asherah/Astarte in Canaanite religion). The contest itself was explicitly sexual in nature - a year-long training in “the art of lovemaking” where each woman had one night to impress the king. This reading suggests Esther won through sexual prowess but was then providentially positioned to save her people. The theological message: God can use anyone regardless of their past, and what matters is whether we’re willing to be used “for such a time as this” when the moment arrives.

Perspective B (Dominant Jewish Tradition): Esther impresses the king not through sexual exploits but through her intellect, wisdom, and knowledge of Torah. The Midrash suggests she told him stories from Torah, winning his favor through her wit and artistic ability. This interpretation emphasizes moral integrity and sees Esther as righteous from the beginning.

The Joseph Parallels

The narrative intentionally echoes the Joseph story through specific linguistic and structural parallels:

• Both enter a place of confinement (Joseph in prison/house of Potiphar, Esther in the harem)
• Both “win favor” with those in charge (identical Hebrew phrasing)
• Both are placed in positions of authority within that confined space
• Both are eventually brought before the king
• Both win the king’s favor and are elevated to positions of power
• Both receive royal garments and symbols of authority (robes, rings, crowns)
• Both demonstrate exceptional wisdom in navigating foreign power structures
• Both save God’s people through their strategic positioning

These parallels teach the remnant in Persia how to follow Joseph’s and Esther’s example: maintaining faithfulness while exercising shrewd wisdom within empire.

The Nature of Esther’s Wisdom

Esther demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of power dynamics and human psychology. When given access to the king, she doesn’t immediately make her request. Instead, she:

1. Invites the king to a banquet - creating suspense and controlling the narrative timeline
2. Includes Haman in the invitation - deliberately creating anxiety in the king’s mind about potential betrayal or conspiracy
3. Delays her actual request to a second banquet - allowing the king’s imagination to work, softening him for her eventual appeal
4. Frames herself as the victim needing rescue - positioning the king as hero rather than as the one who authorized the genocidal edict
5. Focuses attention on Haman rather than her Jewish identity - deflecting from questions of divided loyalty

This strategy embodies Jesus’ later teaching to be “innocent as doves but shrewd as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). Esther understands that direct confrontation would fail because the king cannot simply reverse an edict without losing face. She must create conditions where he can save his people while maintaining his imperial authority.

Divine Providence and “Coincidence”

Though God is never mentioned, the narrative is saturated with “coincidences” that reveal divine orchestration:

• Mordecai happens to overhear an assassination plot, creating a debt the king owes him
• The king happens to have insomnia the night before Esther’s second banquet
• The court reader happens to read the account of Mordecai’s loyalty that very night
• Haman happens to arrive at court at that moment to ask permission to execute Mordecai
• The king’s question (“What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”) happens to align perfectly with Haman’s narcissism

These “coincidences” invite the reader to see God’s hidden hand guiding events toward redemption.

The King’s Political Dilemma

When the plot is revealed, the king faces a complex political problem. He cannot simply reverse his edict because:

• It would make him appear weak and indecisive
• Persian law held that royal edicts were irrevocable (see Daniel 6)
• Reversing course would undermine his authority and credibility

Instead, he gives his signet ring to Esther and Mordecai, granting them authority to issue a counter-edict. This brilliant move shifts responsibility to them: if they make him look bad, he can execute them; if they save face, everyone wins. The solution they devise creates intentional confusion about “what the king really wants,” forcing subjects to navigate competing edicts and ultimately allowing the Jewish people to defend themselves.

The Meaning of “Purim”

While the surface reading suggests the name comes from Haman casting “purim” (lots) to determine when to execute the Jews (Esther 3:7), the deeper meaning points to Esther’s decision. When Mordecai challenges her to act, she responds: “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). She “casts her lot” before God, surrendering to divine providence regardless of personal cost. The festival celebrates this act of faithful risk-taking, not Haman’s murderous plot.

The Ethics of Standing Against Injustice

Mordecai’s challenge to Esther contains a crucial ethical principle. Using language that echoes Numbers (as Fohrman demonstrates), Mordecai essentially argues: “You can act or remain silent, but understand that silence equals complicity. If you do nothing while your people are slaughtered, it’s the same as agreeing with the king’s edict.”

This teaching became foundational for Jewish ethics: neutrality in the face of injustice is itself unjust. The book calls readers to “do something” rather than passively accepting evil, even when action requires tremendous risk.

Navigating Empire with Wisdom

The Book of Esther teaches that surviving and thriving within empire requires more than mere moral righteousness or obedience. It demands strategic wisdom, cultural competence, understanding of power dynamics, and shrewd engagement with imperial structures. This wisdom doesn’t compromise core identity (Esther remains committed to her people), but it does require sophisticated navigation of complex political realities.

The episode suggests this has contemporary relevance for how God’s people engage systems of power today - not through naive direct confrontation or passive acceptance, but through wise, strategic engagement that can cause empire to “crumble in light of goodness.”

Examples & Applications

Historical Application: Living in Diaspora

For the Jewish community scattered throughout the Persian Empire, Esther provided a roadmap for maintaining identity while living as minorities within pagan imperial systems. Unlike the returnees who could rebuild temple and Torah-centered community life in Jerusalem, diaspora Jews had to negotiate competing loyalties, navigate foreign power structures, and find ways to be faithful while culturally embedded in non-Jewish society.

The Joseph-Esther Connection

Just as Joseph saved his family through wise administration in Egypt, Esther saves her people through strategic action in Persia. Both stories teach that God’s providence can place His people in positions of influence within foreign empires precisely “for such a time as this.” The faithful response is to exercise wisdom and courage when that moment arrives, regardless of how we arrived at that position.

Modern Parallels: Holocaust and Beyond

The story of a planned genocide of the Jewish people takes on haunting resonance throughout history, particularly in light of the Holocaust. The ethical principle - that silence equals complicity - became crucial in post-Holocaust moral philosophy. The question “Where were the righteous who should have spoken?” echoes Mordecai’s challenge to Esther.

Contemporary Application: Shrewd Engagement with Power

The episode suggests Esther’s wisdom offers a model for contemporary believers engaging political and social power structures. Rather than either completely withdrawing from “worldly” systems or naively trusting in direct moral appeals, Esther’s example suggests:

• Understanding how power actually works
• Strategic timing and patience
• Creating conditions for change rather than demanding immediate reversal
• Helping those in power save face while doing the right thing
• Wise negotiation of complex political realities

Personal Application: “For Such a Time as This”

Regardless of how we’ve arrived at our current positions - through wise choices or through “sketchy means,” through righteousness or through complicated pasts - God can position us to make a difference. The question is whether we’ll exercise courage and wisdom when the moment arrives, or whether we’ll remain silent and safe.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

The Absence of God’s Name: Theological Significance

Why is Esther the only biblical book that never mentions God? What theological or literary purpose does this serve? How does this relate to the experience of God’s hiddenness in exile and diaspora? Does this absence actually heighten awareness of God’s presence through “coincidence” and providence?

Esther in Canonical Context

How does Esther fit within the broader Writings (Ketuvim) section of the Tanakh? What conversations does it have with other Wisdom literature like Proverbs (which emphasizes shrewd wisdom) or Job (which deals with God’s hiddenness)? How does its placement in the Jewish canon shape its interpretation?

The Ethics of Deception and Manipulation

Is Esther’s strategy properly called “deception” or “manipulation”? How do we distinguish between sinful deception and righteous shrewdness? What are the ethical boundaries for believers engaging in complex political realities? How does this relate to Rahab’s deception, the Hebrew midwives’ deception of Pharaoh, or other biblical examples?

The Violence at the End of Esther

The book concludes with Jews killing 75,000 enemies (Esther 9:16). How should modern readers understand this violence? Is it defensive? Excessive? How does it fit with broader biblical ethics regarding violence and enemies? What’s the difference between this and genocide?

Esther and Women’s Agency

How does Esther function as a narrative about women’s power and agency within patriarchal structures? What does she model about working within oppressive systems while subverting them? How has this story functioned for women throughout history?

Purim and Christian Practice

Why don’t most Christians celebrate Purim? Should they? What would it look like to recover this festival as part of Christian practice? How does Esther point forward to Christ and the gospel?

The Megillah Tradition

In Jewish practice, the Scroll of Esther (Megillah Esther) is read aloud during Purim with audience participation - booing at Haman’s name, cheering for Mordecai and Esther. How does this participatory reading shape interpretation? What does it teach about communal engagement with Scripture?

Esther and Empire in Acts

How does the Book of Acts function as a similar “empire navigation” manual for early Christians? What parallels exist between Esther’s wisdom in Persia and Paul’s navigation of Roman power? How does Peter’s encounter with Cornelius or Paul’s Roman citizenship function similarly?

The Dead Sea Scrolls Absence

Why is Esther the only biblical book absent from the Dead Sea Scrolls? Did the Qumran community reject it? Had it not yet achieved canonical status? Does this tell us something about different Jewish communities’ views of diaspora versus return?

Rabbi Fohrman’s Methodology

What is Fohrman’s interpretive approach? How does he read biblical texts for “hidden stories”? What assumptions undergird his methodology? How does his approach compare to historical-critical, literary, or traditional rabbinic methods?

Comprehension Questions

1. What makes Purim unique among Jewish festivals, and how does the Book of Esther itself reflect this uniqueness (particularly regarding the mention of God’s name)?

2. Explain the significance of the Joseph-Esther parallels. What specific echoes appear in the text, and what message would these parallels communicate to the original audience of Jews living in Persia?

3. Why doesn’t Esther immediately make her request when she first approaches King Xerxes? Describe her strategy and explain how it demonstrates “shrewd as serpents” wisdom.

4. What is Mordecai’s central ethical argument to Esther about why she must act, and how does this principle extend beyond this specific story to become a broader moral teaching?

5. How does the deeper meaning of “Purim” (lots) differ from the surface meaning? Explain whose “lots” the festival truly commemorates and what theological point this makes.

Personalized Summary

The Book of Esther emerges as a masterclass in faithful wisdom within empire. Though God’s name appears nowhere in the text, His presence saturates every “coincidence” and turn of events, teaching us to recognize providence even when heaven seems silent. The story addresses a specific historical community - Jews who remained in Persian diaspora rather than returning to rebuild Jerusalem - but its lessons resonate across centuries.

Esther herself embodies a complex faithfulness that our simplified readings often miss. Whether she entered the royal contest through compromising means or through intellectual prowess (both interpretations exist in Jewish tradition), the crucial moment comes when Mordecai challenges her to act. His argument cuts to the heart of ethical responsibility: silence in the face of injustice equals complicity with injustice. There is no neutral ground.

What makes Esther remarkable is not just her courage to risk death by approaching the king uninvited, but her sophisticated wisdom in how she navigates that approach. She understands what many modern believers miss: effective engagement with power requires strategic thinking. She doesn’t naively appeal to the king’s better nature or demand immediate reversal of his genocidal edict. Instead, she creates psychological conditions, manages timing, frames narratives, and helps the king save face while saving her people. She is, as Jesus would later teach, “innocent as a dove but shrewd as a serpent.”

The intentional parallels to Joseph’s story remind us that this kind of wisdom has deep biblical roots. Like Joseph, Esther finds herself positioned within empire through circumstances beyond her control. Like Joseph, she exercises faithful wisdom that saves God’s people. Both stories teach diaspora communities how to maintain identity and faithfulness while embedded in foreign power structures - not through withdrawal or assimilation, but through engaged wisdom.

The festival name itself contains the key insight. “Purim” ostensibly refers to the lots Haman cast to select a date for Jewish destruction. But the deeper meaning points to Esther’s declaration: “If I perish, I perish.” She casts her lot before God, surrendering to providence regardless of personal cost. This act of faithful risk-taking - not Haman’s evil plot - is what we celebrate. We commemorate not the threat but the courage to act despite the threat.

For contemporary readers, Esther challenges our categories. We want clear moral heroes who never compromise, who confront evil directly, who trust God naively. Esther gives us something more complex and perhaps more useful: a woman who understands how power actually works, who exercises strategy alongside faithfulness, who achieves righteous ends through sophisticated means. She teaches us that engaging empire faithfully doesn’t mean staying pure by remaining powerless. Sometimes it means entering the halls of power and exercising wisdom sophisticated enough to cause empire to crumble from within.

The call remains: recognize the moments when we’re positioned “for such a time as this,” understand that silence equals complicity, and exercise both courage and wisdom to act. Esther’s lots, cast in faith, invite us to do the same.

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