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• 1 2015-11-12T22:07:35-08:00 The Book of Esther Introduction 49 By: Kaylee Lingen & Caitlyn Holm image_header 2016-01-20T14:06:23-08:00

            In the Book of Esther, there are three major players. Mordecai, who is Esther's uncle, Haman, who is the King's right-hand man, Esther, and King Ahaseurus are the people that impacted the fate of the Jewish people in Persia. The King of Persia, Ahasuerus, was married to Vashti, who ignored her King’s command to come before him in court to display her beauty, which led him to get rid of her.² King Ahasuerus then wanted to find a new bride who would obey his every order. He messaged every young, single woman in Persia to come to his castle to stay for several weeks. He wanted to choose the most beautiful woman, so he met each individually. Esther was the woman that captured the King’s attention. Little did the King know that she was Jewish. During the King’s search, Haman, the King’s gatekeeper, was trying to convince the King to kill all the Jews because Mordecai refused to bow to Haman.²

            Esther is the character in this story that makes this a significant topic. When Esther found out that Haman wanted to kill all of her Jewish people she went to the King, unannounced, to ask for her people’s freedom. Her beauty so enthralled King Ahasuerus that he decided to overrule Haman and save the Jewish people for Esther’s happiness. The King did not realize that Esther had manipulated him because the King still did not know of her true origin. The King thought Esther was only loyal to him, but Esther was more loyal to her uncle, Mordecai. After the King had decided against Haman, Haman wanted to kill the King but Mordecai overheard his evil plans. Mordecai ran straight to Esther to tell her Haman’s nefarious plans. Esther and Mordecai told the King in hopes of getting rid of Haman so Mordecai can take his place. Esther told the King, and the King got rid of Haman and granted Mordecai Haman’s job. Esther and Mordecai worked together to manipulate the King to save innocent lives of Jews and many others.
  
            Many have interpreted this biblical story. Over time it is has changed. In the middle years of the thirteenth century, artists depicted scenes of the Book of Esther to show the relationships between Mordecai and Haman. Later in the fifteenth century Lucrezia Tornabuoni interpreted Esther’s story. She thought that Esther influencing her husband’s decisions was incredibly wise.¹ So, instead of the husband being in charge, the wife could manipulate her husband to think he was in charge but the wife was.¹ As several hundred years passed, Ester Sowernam was a feminist who believed that women were superior to men. Sowernam thought Esther was the prime example of how a woman should use her position of influence perfectly. Sowernam said, “sometimes women need to demonstrate their capacity to take direct action and to use deception when necessary”.² It is understandable that Sowernam, being a feminist would interpret Esther’s story the way she did. The interpretation of Esther being a perfect example of a strong, independent woman continues throughout the rest of history as feminism becomes more popular. In recent years, as questioning religion because a new norm, scholars have begun to questions the presence of God in the book of Esther.

   
  ¹ Taylor, M. (2012). Lucrezia Tornabouni. In Handbook of women Biblical interpreters: A historical and biographical guide. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic. 
  ² The HarperCollins Study Bible Student Edition (NRSV; HarperOne, 2006)