Esther the "Hidden" Heroine

 Four years ago I made a blog post about the book of Esther that used the four fold interpretation method.  In it I explored the literal, symbolic, contextual, and secret/sacred interpretations of the story.  This time I would like to delve more into the contextual interpretation.

What I learned this year was that the name "Esther" in Hebrew אסתר,  has as its root the word that means "hidden."  As is often the case in the Hebrew Bible, the meaning of the name is the meaning of the story.  Esther's true cultural identity is hidden from the king. He does not know that she is a Jewess until the big reveal at the end of the story.  I think there is an additional significance to her name as well. 

In my original blog, I stated that the story of Esther occurs during the time of the Jewish captivity. That is not strictly true.  Instead, she is a member of the diaspora.  In other words, she is living in Persia about 75 years after the time of Cyrus the Great freed Jews to return to Jerusalem.  The majority of the Jews taken into captivity did not return, but chose to stay in Babylon or other areas. Esther is one of these. 

Esther is therefore "hidden" from the center of Jewish worship, i.e. the Temple. As a result, God's power and influence, which is centered in Jerusalem once more, is "hidden" from those in the diaspora. In fact, although the story talks about Esther fasting and praying for deliverance, none of the words for "God" appear in the entire book. He is not overtly credited for helping Esther or saving the people. 

Yet, the people were saved. God's help is implied throughout the story. When Esther is chosen as queen, when Mordecai thwarts the assassination attempt, when the king can't sleep and asks to be read the history of his reign, all these elements of the story that lead to the salvation of the Jews are understood to be divine intervention, without being outwardly identified as such.

The story of Esther answers a few questions: Does God still watch over his people when they are away from the center of worship?  What does that aid look like?  What does it look like to be a worshiper of Jehovah in the diaspora?  The answer the story gives is that God still loves and watches out for his people, but in subtle, yet powerful ways as long as they live standards of high moral character and religious devotion.