Esther: a Four-Fold Interpretation

In some of my earlier posts I have talked about the four fold method of interpretation.  Just as a reminder, this it is a method developed by Jewish scholars that follows an acronym for the word that means paradise. דספר 

פ= Peshat =פשט =literal

ר=Remez= רמז=symbolic

ד=Drash= דרש=context

ס=Sod =סוד =secret or sacred

As I studied the story of Esther, I thought it might lend itself well to this kind of an approach.

Literal: 

There aren't many biblical scholars who believe the story of Esther is historical. There isn't any evidence that Ahasuerus, who is associated with the Persian ruler, Xerxes, ever had a Jewish wife and high court official that saved the Jews from extermination.  It is possible that a similar story happened on a smaller, more localized level, and that, over time, the story was exaggerated, much like the stories of King Arthur may have been based on a historical medieval king, but have been exaggerated over time. The way the story is written, with a clear chiastic structure, type characters, and ironic reversal of fortune, suggests it is more of a parable than a history.

Symbolic: 

The value of the story of Esther is in its symbolism. Esther represents how a woman in captivity can gain and wield power while maintaining her devotion to her God.  Just as the story of Rachel represents the ideal pre-Exodus Israelite maiden, Esther is the ideal maiden in captivity. She is the female equivalent of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  She is beautiful and dutiful.  She follows the direction of her near kinsman and sacrifices herself for the good of her people.  Her beauty, courage, modesty and humility win the day, saving her family and all Jews from destruction. 

Context: 

Why is this story included in the cannon? Why is it so important that Jews still have a holiday commemorating it? As most of the Hebrew Bible was compiled during or slightly after the Babylonian captivity, this story would have been a kind of wish fulfillment, "Cinderella" type tale. Babylonian captives would have felt powerless and vulnerable.  They understood that their very lives depended on the whim of their rulers who didn't understand their beliefs or culture. Women would have felt even more vulnerable because of societal norms that put all power into the hands of men. A story that shows a young woman rising to a position of power and influence, while staying true to her heritage and religion could have significant appeal.  Of course, the Babylonian captivity was not the last act of oppression Jews experienced.  Through their long history, Jews were often at the whim of oppressive rulers.  It is possible that with each captivity or aggression that threatened to destroy Jewish identity, the story of Esther and the celebration of Purim gained importance as a beacon of hope and as a rare chance to rejoice and have fun. 

Secret or Sacred

Some scholars have seen the figure of Esther as related to the Babylonian female goddess, Ishtar. The Babylonians had a 10-day carnival-like celebration/fertility festival dedicated to Ishtar, a goddess of love and war. Some scholars believe that Hebrew leaders created the celebration of Purim to draw people away from participating in the celebration of Ishtar. Purim has many of the same elements as the festival of Ishtar; costumes, drinking, and eating little fertility cakes (e.g. Jewish Hamantaschen). The main way the two celebrations differ is that the festival of Ishtar involved profligate sex, while the Purim does not. It is much like when Medieval priests created the celebration of St. Valentine's Day to draw people away from pagan fertility rite, Lupercalia. By creating the story of Esther and the celebration of Purim, Hebrew leaders during the exile not only sought to keep Jews from pagan worship, but also to give them an example of faithfulness, courage, and hope for better days to come.

The Return to Jerusalem

This week's reading in Ezra and Nehemiah recounts the return of a few members of the tribe of Judah to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city walls. Some things happened in this time period that ended up influencing the culture of the Jews from that time forward.  To understand the social structure at the time of the New Testament, you have to understand the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Prophets vs Scribes: 

Many scholars believe that it was during the Babylonian captivity that the traditions and stories of the Jews were written down and compiled into book of scripture. The leaders of the Jews knew that it would be easy for the people, while they were living in Babylon, to give into social pressure and be absorbed into Babylonian culture.  To resist this influence, someone or ones compiled a book of scripture that was focused on confirming Jewish identity and giving hope for a life of freedom after captivity. Once this scripture was compiled, people began to rely on it to inform them on the will of God instead of relying on contemporary prophets for guidance.  Of course, not many people could read the new scripture because they were illiterate. Moreover, the book was written in the language of the ancient religion, Hebrew, while most of the people switched to speaking Aramaic as their common tongue during their captivity.  This gave rise to a new class of religious leaders that were to become the "Scribes" mentioned in the New Testament.  Their role was read and study the written law and then interpret it for the unlearned masses. From this period on, people tended to look to the Scribes as the source for the word of God instead of to prophets.

Insuring Clan Purity

After the Jews returned to Jerusalem, they were a bit shell shocked.  Before their capture they had believed that Jerusalem and the Temple could never be destroyed because of the Lord's covenant with David.  After their captivity they began to realize that the safety of the city and the Temple was dependent on their obedience to the commandments of the Torah. As a result, they went a little overboard in their efforts to ensure that certain rules about clan purity were observed. In Deuteronomy 3:7 the House of Israel is commanded not to intermarry into non-Israelite tribes. The rules for priests were even more strict (Lev 21:15).  It was at this time that the Jews began to require people to present a genealogy to become a priest, or even work on the temple. They needed their mother's genealogy, because status as a Jew was passed through the mother.  Priests also needed their father's genealogy because eligibility to serve as a priest came through a patriarchal line. This requirement of clan purity led to the alienation of the Samaritans who had been left behind when the northern tribes where carried away by the Assyrians, but who intermarried with people the Assyrians had transplanted into the region.  During the Babylonian captivity, the Samarians, (later Samaritan) continued to worship the Lord with sacrifices in local shrines, but when the Jews returned from captivity they condemned the way the Samaritans were worshiping.  Because they did not have pure bloodlines they were rejected and despised. 

Zerubbabel's Temple

The temple that Zerubbabel built was smaller and less ornate than Solomon's temple. The Temple was defiled and then rededicated after the Maccabean revolt of 167 BCE,  but when the Herod family came into power, they expanded the temple complex to the state that existed in Jesus' day. Although the temple was rebuilt, and many of the implements of the temple were returned from Babylon, there is no evidence that the Ark of the Covenant was ever recovered or rebuilt. Evidence is that the interior of the Holy of Holies was empty from this time forward.

The End of the Biblical History

The stories found in Ezra and Nehemiah stand at the end of the timeline covered by the Old Testament.  All the stories and wisdom writings that follow these books occurred before or (a few) during this period.  The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt around 440 Century BCE and the last recorded prophet was Malachi who wrote in about 430 BCE.  It would be interesting to read a version of the Bible where the books were all arranged chronologically. 

The Last of the Kings

The end of the book of Kings depicts how first the northern tribes of Israel and then the southern tribes were eventually captured and taken to Assyria and Babylon. Here are just a few observations I have about the reading this week.  

Josiah? Good or not so good?

The writers of the Book of Kings depict Josiah as one of the greatest kings Jerusalem ever had.  He is famous for finding the "Book of the Law" and then devoting the rest of his life in bringing the Jews back into conformity with it.  He tore down sites of idol worship and rebuilt the temple.  But was he really that great?  Some of the podcasters I listened to took the text at face value and said, yes, Josiah was one of the good guys.  Other podcasts, notably Talking Scripture and Book of Mormon Central, claim that Josiah took his reforms too far.  He focused too much on the Temple, denying the right to worship locally.  He also focused on the Temple as the place of the "name of the Lord" instead of his actual presence.  They claimed that Lehi was probably preaching against the reforms of Josiah. I think they made a good point.  In support of this idea, there is no account of how the lord or prophets helped Josiah out of difficulty.  There is really no miracle associated with them.  Also, his "reforms" did not prevent Judah from being brought into captivity just two generations later.  My thought is that a group is waxed great in iniquity when even the reformers don't get it right. 

Musings on the Scattering of Israel

I don't think I internalized that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the dominate tribes in the current church, were part of the 10 tribes that were "lost".  When I was little there were a bunch of folk tales about what happened to the 10 tribes.  They were hidden under polar ice caps, they were in a vast cave systems under the Andes mountains, and that they would emerge, intact, at the second coming.  That is not what is taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today.  Now it is understood that they were lost only in that they lost their cultural identity and intermixed with other populations.  So, why are almost all Latter-Day Saints identified as being from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh?  One reason, is undoubtedly, that those tribes are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Also, Joseph, the father of both Ephraim and Manasseh, was given a special blessing from Jacob, and I think early church leaders wanted the new church to be associated with that. 

My grandfather, in his patriarchal blessing, was told he was the literal descendant of Ephraim.  I always thought of the statement as symbolic, meaning he was faithful as the Ephraimites are supposed to be. But this week I began to wonder, is it possible the descendants of the tribes of Ephraim migrated to Northern Europe where my ancestors are from, and intermixed with local tribes people?  

I did a google search about early people of Great Britain.  At the time of the diaspora, the people in Great Britain were still pretty primitive.  They were building the stone monolith sites of worship and living in small towns as farmers and hunter/gatherers.  Only a short time later, they discovered the way to create bronze, and the Druids arose, who worshiped in "groves" just like the pagans at the time of the diaspora.  It seemed unlikely to me, at first, that members of the tribe of Ephraim might have wandered that far north, but then I looked at how far it was from Jerusalem to Paris.  It is just over 3000 miles.  That seems like a long way, but not when you consider that the distance from New York to San Francisco is about 2900 miles.  Pioneers were able to make that trek in only a year or two, so it is totally possible that some of the tribe of Ephraim ended up in Northern Europe, the home of my ancestors. It is an interesting thought.

The Real Miracle

The real miracle is that there still exists a group of people who identify themselves as the descendants of the ancient tribe of Judah.  What other group has maintained a cultural integrity for that long?  Do I have any idea what primitive tribe my ancestors were a part of 2600 years ago?  Does anyone put the historical religious observances of my ancestral tribes on their calendar each year along with Christmas and the 4th of July.?  Does any other group of people still associate with the socio-political group their ancestors were in that many generations back?  It is miraculous that, even though the Babylonian captivity, the Jews maintained a cultural identity.  The reason they did, of course, is because they had a written record and a tradition of teaching their priesthood how to read it, even when they no longer spoke its ancient language.  The passage in this week's reading about how Josiah found the "book of the law" has more import, I think, than one might suspect on the outset.  The fact that Judah even had a physical "Book of the Law" to find is partially why they still exist today.

Elisha

It is interesting how Elijah is somehow more famous than Elisha, yet Elisha has way more miracles recorded than his mentor Elijah.  Some of the podcasters this week mentioned that Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit (2 Kings 2:9), and so the writers of 2 Kings recorded twice as many miracles performed by Elisha than Elijah. Despite that, Elisha seems to get second billing under his mentor Elijah.  I think the difference is that Elisha learned from Elijah's mistakes.  Last week I talked about how Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a contest which he won in the most spectacular way possible.  Then afterward he was disconsolate and wanted to die because his showy miracle didn't bring about the change of heart he wanted to see in Israel's leaders. Remember that while Elijah was struggling, the Lord made his presence known, not in the wind or the earthquake, but in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12).  Elijah chose Elisha after that experience.  Did he choose Elisha because he had a quieter, less showy personality more likely to listen to the still small voice, or did he teach Elisha what he had learned? Either way, Elisha mostly did quieter kinds of miracles, though no less spectacular. Still, since there were no big showdowns in front of hundreds, Elisha's fame never spread like Elijah's did.

So what kind of miracles did Elisha perform?  While Elijah was all about calling down fire on people, not only on the priests of Baal, but also on the leaders of the delegations of 50 later on (2 Kings 1),  Elisha never called down fire on anyone or anything. He never directly attacked anything.  He did curse the youths who mocked him (2 Kings 2: 24) but the curse was carried out by bears, who "tear" them, not necesarily killing them. He helped armies win battles by prophesying troop movements and instructing leaders how deceive their enemies, but the outcomes were mostly passive--the armies were frightened by the water that looked like blood (2 Kings 3:22), or were scared away by the sound of a rushing wind (2 Kings 7:6) etc. Once he cursed an army with blindness, but then he just led them to the capital and then restored their sight (2 Kings 6:20). Many of his miracles were performed to help individuals.  He blessed the Shunammite woman that was infertile, and then later raised the resulting child from the dead (2 Kings 4).  He helped the man who lost the borrowed ax head (2 Kings 6:6) and miraculously helped people get the food they needed several times.  His most famous miracle, the one with the potential of garnishing for him the most praise of men, was the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5).  In that story, Elisha deliberately minimizes his role in the story.  He doesn't go down to meet Naaman in person and doesn't accept the huge reward Naaman offers after he is healed. 

In his meekness in power, Elisha may be the Old Testament prophet that is most like Jesus.  Many of the kinds of miracles Elisha performed, Jesus also performed.  I guess it is fitting, therefore, that Elisha's name means el=God, isha=Savior=Jesus, or God is Jesus.

Elijah

 Elijah is one of the most famous prophets in the Old Testament.  His showy standoff against the priests of Baal is a favorite, especially for young people. Later, the writers of the New Testament make a point of showing the Jesus did the same kind of miracles that Elijah did--healing the sick, raising the dead, miraculiously multiplying food--thus proving that he was a true prophet. In Matthew 16:14, the deciples even mention that some people saw Jesus' miracles and thought he might be Elijah, come back from the dead. I think is was Taylor Halverson, from Book of Mormon Central, who said that there is a lot of Jewish folktales about Elijah showing up, even after his death, and saving people. 

So if Elijah was such an amazing prophet, why wasn't he happy with what he accomplished. After his amazing smackdown with Ahab, Elijah runs away and sits under a juniper tree and refuses to eat. 1Kings 19:4 "...and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."  Why was he so depressed that an angel had to urge him to eat?  I think that the answer is in the last line, "for I am not better than my fathers."  I think Elijah was expecting that if he did this great miracle, all of Israel would recognize the Lord is God.  Instead, the people sought his life. He learned the sad truth that Moses learned before him.  Miracles don't convert people. Miracles confirm the faith of believers, but if people don't believe in God, they won't believe in the miracle.  A Christian would say that it is the Holy Spirit, whispering to the soul, that really converts   I think that is what God was trying to teach Elijah in 19:11-13.  Elijah was standing at the door of the cave where he was hiding and a great wind past by, and then an earthquakem, and then a fire "but the Lord was not in the earthquake...and after the fire a still small voice."  It is as if the Lord was saying, "yes, I can do the big miracles, but my greatest power is in my spirit."

It seems like the Lord was not angry with Elijah, either for doing the showy miracle, or for being super disappointed when it didn't cause the results he wanted.  Instead the Lord sends angels to help him through is disappointment, and finally gets him on his feet again. Elijah hasn't turned away from the Lord, but has clung to the Lord and has done his best to defend the interests of the Lord.  The Lord seems to honor his zeal and effort. 

I think this is a great message for anyone who has ever wanted very hard to do something big for other people. Sometimes we don't get to do the big thing, and sometimes, we do the "big" thing, but it turns out not like the person was expecting.  God is great and God is good and he will help us through our disaapointments.