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 the 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.

Joseph: a Four-fold Interpretation, Part 2

 The Joseph story is such an important part of the Pentateuch that I am doing a four-fold interpretation of is.  Last week I did the first and second types of interpretation.  This week I will do the 3rd and 4th, which I think are, if not more uplifting, at least more novel to me.

3. Context. This is the area that I learned the most about this time through the story.  Let's think again when this story was compiled into a cannon.  It was during or shortly after the Babylonian captivity.  The editors were arranging and composing the history of the House of Israeal intenionally. So, what message where they trying to get across with this narrative?  You must remember that the House of Israel had split into two groups, the North that contained Joseph's descendants through the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the south that continued the tribes if Judah and Benjamin.  So what does the story say about the two groups?  As I read the stories this time, I came to recognize that a reader could see either Joseph or Judah as the main character and savior of the House of Israel.  Sure, it was Joseph who went into Egypt, set up the system to conserve grain during the plentiful years, and kept his family and all the rest of the people from starving during the years of famine.  But it was Judah who decided to send Joseph to Egypt instead of killing him as his brothers wanted.  Later, it was Judah that offered himself as a substitute when the silver cup was found in Benjamin's bag, and Benjamin was condemned to be Joseph's servant for all time.  It was Judah's offer that convinced Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers and, arguably, to bring the whole family into Egypt, preserving them from starvation. Either group, the north or the south, could see this story as an example of how past enemies could be reconciled, and brothers be reunited. It could also be a story for either group about how hardship and captivity can ultimately end in the fullfiling of promised blessings and prosperity.  

4. Secret or Sacred.  These chapters have a lot to say about birthright.  Who, in the end, was the birthright son?  Ruben was supposed to be the birthright son, but he lost his birthright because he slept with his father's concubine.  It could have passed from there to Simeon, the second born, or it could pass to Joseph, as first born of the second wife.  The blessings given to Ephraim and Manasseh seem to indicate the latter. It is significant that Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh and gives them blessings equivalent to their uncles.  Traditionally, status as a Jew comes through the mother.  If your mother is a Jew, you are a Jew, but if she is not, you are not.  This makes sense since maternity is much easier to establish than paternity.  Ephraim and Manasseh, however were born of an Egyptian mother.  They, therefore, would not have been considered as members of the Abrahamic covenant if they had not been adopted into the covenant.  This has significance for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  When members of the Church receive their patriarchal blessings, they usually are adopted into or declared as descendants of the tribes of Ephraim or Manasseh.  It is fitting that we, who are gentiles by birth, should be part of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were also gentiles, adopted into the covenant.  If these two boys were not only adopted into the tribes, but were actually named the birthright sons, this symbolizes the great responsibly we have to be stewards and caregivers over all the House of Israel in the modern day. 

Joseph:a Four-fold Interpretation, Part 1

 I don't know if there is any story from the Old Testament that has been more studied and written about than the story of Joseph, son of Jacob.  I have really enjoyed learning more about this story this week and look forward to reading and studying its conclusion next week.  There is so much here, I can easily imagine writing a whole book on the topic, so I have been struggling to figure out what to write in my blog, where I only have about one page.  I decided to take a quick four-fold interpretation of the story.  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

I may only get through two of these interpretations today, and do the other two next week.

1. Literal:  When you take the story of Joseph on a literal level you find a beautiful example of family drama, faith, overcoming trials, and forgiveness.  Joseph is the son of Jacob's favorite wife and seems to be his father's favorite as well. This makes his older brothers jealous. Their jealousy turns to hatred when he tattletails on them to his father, and when he tells them his dreams that seem to suggest that he will one day rule over, not only his brothers, but his parents as well. His brothers, who have already shown their willingness to kill for their honor in the bloody revenge they took for Dinah's rape, decide to kill Joseph and make it appear to their father that he was killed by wild beasts.  At the last minute the oldest, Ruben, intervines, and save's Joseph's life, but his other brothers contrive to sell him as a slave instead. Joseph becomes a slave to Potiphar, an Egyptian military leader, where he prospers.  This prosperity comes to an end when Potiphar's wife propositions Joseph, and then accuses him of sexual harrassment.  Joseph is once again brought low, only to rise again by interpreting Pharaoh's dream.  He becomes the second in power in all Egypt by coming up with a plan to save Egypt from famine. The most tender part of the story comes when Joseph's brothers come to Egypt asking for food.  They don't, at first recognize Joseph.  Joseph interrogates them and assertains that they have regretted what they did to him. He frankly forgives them for their past wrongs and acknowleges God's hand in putting him in a position to save his family and all the land from famine.  If you only read the story on this level, you will finish uplifted and encouraged to live a more patient and forgiving life.

2. Symbolic: Christians see the story of Joseph as a type of the life of Jesus Christ.  The similarities of their two lives are numerous and striking.  It is maybe easiest to list them 

Miraculous birth (Rachel was baren for a long time before having Joseph)

Favorite son of his father, destined to rule over all the other sons

Joseph's time in Egypt is seen as equivalent to Jesus' sojourn on the Earth.

          Rejected by his own kinsmen and turned over to strangers 

False accusations and time spent in prison

Forgiving those who wanted to take his life.

Saviour of the people (Joseph physically, Jesus spiritually)

There are more than this.  One of the podcasts I listen to said that there was an early Christian scholar who found 18 similarities.  I think writers of the gospels purposely pointed out similarities between Jesus' life and Joseph's. 

These two interpretations are pretty widely held.  I will get into some more, less discussed perspectives on the story next week.

More about the Fall

In the previous post I talked about some of the sybolic words in the KJ version of the story of The Fall.  I would like to take a step back and do a four-fold interpretation of the story of the fall.  You can see an introduction to this kind of approach in an earlier post. As a recap, 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

1. Literal:  Where Adam and Eve historical characters?  Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe so.  They believe that Adam  and Eve are the great patriarch and matriarch of the human race. They talk about how Eve must have felt when she had to decide whether or not to take the fruit and how Adam partook of the fruit out of love for Eve and an understanding that it was important that they stay together and produce offspring.  They see the story as the actual origan story of the existance of human beings on the earth and and explanation of how God set up this life to be a proving ground for his spirit children.

2. Symbolic:  There are a lot of Symbolic interpretations of The Fall.  Eve's decision to partake of the fruit so that she could gain wisdom and experience is symbolic of the decision all of God's spirit children made to leave the paradise of the pre-earth life in order to gain experience on the physical world.  It is also symbolic of the life cycle of faith.  Also, As children we are innocent in our faith, but as we age we experience trials that make us doubt and suffer. We can feel cut off from the presence of the Lord.  It takes effort and work to survive spiritually, but we grow and become better disciples through sacrifice and faith in our redemption. 

3. Context: Tradition suggests that this story was written by Moses to be part of the guiding scripture texts of the Children of Israel.  It gave them a cultural identity, established their relationship with God, but also explained why life is difficult.  The Isrealites in this time period had no clear doctrine or belief in "heaven," so when they thought of returning to live with God they pictured the Garden of Eden.  When Moses established the tabernacle it symbolized the Garden of Eden.  It had decorations that looked like the plants of the garden, the Menorah symbolized the Tree of Life, and, as I have already noted, Cheribim were painted on the veil guarding of the Holy of Holies. The Temple was a symbol of hope that one day Isrealites could return to live with God in a state of peace and happiness.

4. Sacred of Secret. The story of The Fall sets up the whole story of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.  The rest of the Old Testament is an account of Fallen Man. The Lord sends prophets and the Law to help guide people to live better lives, but people keep falling short, returning to sin
over and over again. The Law cannot save them and nothing the prophets say makes any permant improvement in human nature.  It is only when the one that is fortold in the story of The Fall, the offspring of the woman who is wounded by the Serpent, comes is there any hope for lasting salvation.  The final chapters of Revolation depict the great dragon, (the serpent from the Garden) being cast into Hell, never to return, not by a great warrior, but by a lamb that has been slain, the wounded son of Eve, as a sacrifice for all.  

Four Fold Interpretation

 I watched youtube clip about the word Paradise. It is based on a Hebrew word, 

pardas פרדס

 It means a walled, cultivated garden. It transferred into English with a religious connotation for fairly obvious reasons. 

It also just so happens that פרדס is also an acronym for the four ways to interpret scripture. There is a exegetical tradition (I actually don't know if it is from the Midrash or is a later Christian development) where you take a scripture and try to interpret it in four different ways. The letters of the different ways in Hebrew coincide with the letters in the word,  .פרדס 

 פ= Peshat =פשט =literal

ר=Remez= רמז=symbolic

ד=Drash= דרש=context

ס=Sod =סוד =secret or sacred

I find this an interesting way to approach a passage of scripture.  It forces me to open my mind to different possibilities.  Here is an example of this applied to the creation story in Genesis 1-3.

1. Literal: Some people really want to take Genesis 1 as a literal account of the creation of the world.  Others look at is semi-literally.  For instance, maybe the earth wasn't created in six days, but the order of the creation coincides with the basic order that things evolved on earth.

2. Symbolic: Many people see the creation story as primarily symbolic.  It shows that we believe in a god that is all powerful and has ultimate authority over this world.  It suggests that the earth has a divinely appointed purpose, order and beauty. It also shows that God intended that man should have "dominion" to both utilize the resources in the world, and take care of them.

3. Context: According to tradition, Moses wrote the book of Genesis.  He was raised in a culture (Egyptian) that worshiped a pantheon of different gods, each of which ruled over one aspect of nature, e.g. a sky god, an earth god, a sun god, a moon god...etc. By starting his account with this creation story, he is showing his contemporaries in the house of Israel, that the god they worship is greater than any the surrounding people might worship because he is god of everything, not just one thing.  King of kings, and Lord of lords.

4. Sacred or Secret: Just as God was able to take the unorganized elements and organize them into an earth with which he was "well pleased", God can take the chaotic elements in our life and organize them into something of beauty, usefullness and value.  But in order for that to happen, we must obey God's commands, like the water and earth did, yield to the spirit that broods over our souls just as the spirit of God brooded over the face of the deep. 

So there you have a four fold interpretation by a total amateur exegesist.  I am not suggesting that every scripture can or should be interpreted this way, but I do think it is a useful tool for approaching scripture study.