BOOK OF ESTHER: INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERARY STRUCTURE

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The Book of Esther is filled with puzzles and controversies: the complete absence of God's name and overt religious observances; the prominence given to the theme of revenge; the book’s proper genre as literature (i.e., history, romantic fiction, or farce); the lack of character shading or development by an author who otherwise shows excellent literary skills; the possible secondary nature of all or parts of chs. 9 and 10; and the importance to be attached to the many additions to the book included in the early Greek text but not present in the Hebrew. Some of these issues can be addressed by examining the literary composition of the book, although that subject in itself will raise another controversy.

Most disturbing is the confusion over the major theme of the book. As Howard puts it, “It is difficult to discern the author’s purpose with any degree of certainty.” The two most likely options can be recast in anachronistic terms foreign to the OT: Calvinism (with its stress on divine sovereignty) and Arminianism (with its equal emphasis given to human initiative). Both of these strains has its champions among commentators of Esther, and each finds its support in individual passages and in their literary analyses of the book’s architecture.

The total absence of God's name in this narrative is explained by some as not being germane to the story, which is more concerned with the origins of a basically secular feast. The absence of religious trappings is also appropriate to a book taking place far from the Promised Land where the Jews must work out their destiny alone, removed from Jerusalem and the temple. A possible way of looking at the Book of Esther, therefore, is to see it as an example of those such as Esther and Mordecai who exemplify courage in the face of danger.

None of the simple structural schemes proposed elsewhere does little to address some of the other peculiarities in the narrative text. For example, what is the purpose of Esther's first feast for the king (5:5-8)? Why is verse 3:7 in its present place where it interrupts the flow of the narrative? And are verses 9:20-32 just added by a later editor merely to “institutionalize the festival” or do they serve another function? These awkward passages, coupled with the common observation that the book contains many repetitions of similar incidences seriously mar what others have demonstrated to otherwise be a very polished literary work. In actuality, these “problems” all contribute to an understanding of the entire text as organized into the straightforward, but quite detailed, symmetrical organization shown below:

                                                                The Structure of Esther

A. Three Feasts (1:1-2:17)

1. Wise men’s advice and edict

2. Letters to the provinces

3. Esther is elevated in status

B. Banquet, Gifts to the People (2:18)

C. Villains are Hanged (2:19-23)

D. Haman’s Power, Seeks to Destroy Jews (3:1-6)

E. ADAR Chosen (3:7)

F. Haman’s Request (3:8-4:17)

                                                            1. Decree of vengeance sealed with king's ring

                                                            2. Mordecai approaches in sackcloth

                                                            3. Susa is perplexed

G. The Scepter is Extended (5:1-4)

H. Haman is Summoned (5:5a)

I. Esther’s Feast for King and Haman                                                                                                         (5:5b-8)

J. Haman with his Friends (5:9-14)

K. The Plot Turns (6:1-11)

J'. Haman with his Friends (6:12-14)

I'. Esther’s Feast for King and Haman                                                                                                         (7:1-10)

H'. Mordecai is Summoned (8:1-2)

G'. The Scepter is Extended (8:3-4)

F'. Esther’s Request (8:5-17)

                                                            1. Decree of vengeance sealed with king's ring

                                                            2. Mordecai leaves king in fine clothes

                                                            3. Susa rejoices

E'. ADAR Arrives (9:1)

D'. Mordecai’s Power, Jews Destroy Enemies (9:2-10)

C'. Haman’s Sons are Hanged (9:11-15)

B'. Banquet, Gift Giving (9:16-19)

A'. Feast of Purim (9:20-10:3)

1. Mordecai’s advice to the Jews

2. Esther’s letters to the provinces

3. Mordecai is elevated in status

Starting with the beginning and ending sections of the book, the somewhat repetitive last chapters are seen to be purposely structured to balance the opening scenes that set the stage for the drama. The Feast of Purim is described in some detail three times in 9:20-10:3 to parallel the three separate feasts in 1:1-2:17. Even the three sub-sections of sections A and A' form exact parallels. Several interesting and significant contrasts take place between these two bookend sections:

a. The bracketing banquets move from details concerning the Persian Empire [found in A] to those of Jewish concern [in A']. In that respect, then, the book of Esther functions much as Ezra-Nehemiah to lead us from the Exile to the Return.

b. This theme of replacing Persian with Jewish concerns is also worked out in the lives of the specific characters in the narrative of sections A and A' using some subtle literary techniques. For example, Alter points out the irony in the fact that the Persian king is advised at the beginning of the book to put his wife Vashti in her place as an example to others in the kingdom while by the end of the story the king is meekly agreeing to all of Esther’s requests, down to the last detail. This irony is more obvious in the original Hebrew of the text because the word translated “command” in 1:15 (with the king as subject) appears only twice more in the narrative. The last appearance, in 9:32, is the most telling since in that verse it is Esther herself who is doing the commanding.

As one proceeds toward the critical center of the book, the parallelism is maintained in details such as the giving of gifts at banquets where the people have “rest” (sections B and B') and villains being hanged at C and C'. The reason for Haman's animosity toward Mordecai is subtly stated at the start of Section D where he is introduced as an Agagite. Agag was the Amelekite king whom King Saul neglected to slay even though commanded by God to do so (I Samuel 15). Mordecai, on the other hand, is actually related to King Saul (Esther 2:5). With this background in mind, the actual slaughter of the Jews' enemies, when it comes in the parallel passage D', is seen to be not an arbitrary and vengeful act but instead a belated carrying out of God's commands many generations later to atone for Saul's disobedience. That this was intended by the author is further borne out by the specific reference in Section D' to the Jews not taking any plunder (v. 9:10), again in marked contrast to Saul's actions during the Amelekite slaughter.

Verse 3:7 is confusing to the reader in that it describes Haman choosing a date by lots for an event that is not even described until a later verse. As Clines points out, “The narrative does not require this sentence.” Its placement at its present position is actually necessary to preserve the parallelism with Section E' describing the actual arrival of the fateful date. Sections F and F' provide fine examples of reversal of fortunes, from (a) the Jews being given equal time for vengeance to (b) Mordecai's drastic change in clothing to (c) the contrasting reactions of the city of Susa.

Kaiser notes that events closest to the center of the book (G through G') have the effect of slowing down the main plot. Here the presence of narrative doublets becomes more and more obvious. Especially puzzling to commentators over the years are the two feasts that Esther hosts for the king. Many explanations have been proposed, but the two feasts are, from a structural view, critical to maintaining the parallelisms that will direct the reader's attention to the crucial event of the story.

The proposed structure above points clearly to Section K describing the king's sleepless night as the crux of the Book of Esther. Only a hidden God could cause the king's insomnia and prompt him to turn to (a particular portion of) the court records as an appropriate cure. The providential coincidences at that point cause a complete turnabout for the fate of the Jews. This main point is reinforced by the fact that the Book of Esther contains neither God's name nor any description of a specifically religious activity, with the possible exception of fasting. God is, in fact, mentioned circuitously several times in the text, but not overtly, in keeping with the overall theme of God's hidden providence over human affairs.

Finally, the Greek version of the Book of Esther is considerably longer than the Hebrew text due to expansions at five places. Some of these additions actually preserve the symmetry proposed by the present author and have the effect of reducing the focus on Esther and Mordecai. However, there are other additions preserved in the Apocrypha to supply supposedly missing religious elements in the book. These not only destroy the symmetry of the book but also paradoxically shift the literary center of attention away from God and toward the initiatives of the human actors in the story.