Esther 1:1-4, 10-19

1:1 This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. 2 In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were present, 4 while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty for many days, one hundred eighty days in all. (Esther 1:1-4, NRSV)

10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.

13 Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom, 14 and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media, who had access to the king, and sat first in the kingdom): 15 “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?” 16 Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ 18 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will rebel against the king’s officials, and there will be no end of contempt and wrath! 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be altered, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. (Esther 1:10-19, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 22, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two):

The story of Esther is set “in the days of Ahasuerus (wOrv2w4H1x3, ‘achašwērôš) the name in the Hebrew Bible for Xerxes I of Persia (William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. wOrv2w4H1x3, ‘achašwērôš). Born in 519 B.C., “Xerxes I ruled from 485 - 465 B.C., presiding over ancient Persia’s decline from mighty power to fading empire” (on the Internet at Answers.com, “Xerxes,” http://www.answers.com/topic/xerxes, accessed again Sept. 17, 2008). At the site of an ancient Persian city, Hamadan (first a city of the Medes), there are inscriptions: “The oldest rock carvings in Hamadan can be seen here. The inscriptions belong to Darius and his son Xerxes. In three languages it is written that Ahura Mazda is a great God and Darius and Xerxes are great Kings. The translation of the text, in Farsi and English, can be read near the parking place” (on the Internet at Bam Jam Pictures, “Hamadan,” http://www.bamjam.net/Iran/Hamadan.html, accessed again Sept. 17, 2008).

There was apparently considerable disagreement among the Jews, and also then among the early Christians, about the canonical status of the Book of Esther–whether it should be considered sacred scripture as a part of the Bible. Carey A. Moore discusses these differences at some length (Esther, The Anchor Bible, vol. 7B, 1971, pp. xxi-xxxiv). He notes, for example, the absence of texts of Esther at Qumran (p. xxi), but says “there is, however, no reason to doubt that Esther was regarded as canonical by the Council of Jamnia in A.D. 90” (p. xxii). Nevertheless later Jews continued to raise questions (pp. xxiv-xxv). Moore provides a map showing areas where Christians rejected Esther as part of the Canon, and where they accepted it (pp. xxvi-xxvii, cf. pp. xxv-xxx). In general, Christians of the West (e.g. Rome, Hippo, Carthage, but also Damascus, Caesarea and Jerusalem) accepted it, whereas Christians of the East, especially Anatolia and Syria, rejected it. Moore also discusses arguments for and against the historicity of the story, that is, whether it actually happened essentially as told, or it is just a good story for encouragement in times of trouble. Of the arguments for the latter, he says, “Taken individually, few, if any, of these improbabilities and contradictions are sufficiently serious to undermine the essential historicity of Esther, since errors in detail can easily occur in an essentially true historical account” (p. xlvi). J. G. McConville, who is aware of these historical questions, and says, “Beyond the fact that Xerxes is a well-documented historical figure, there is little else in the Book of Esther that has been verified by secular historical research” (Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, The Daily Study Bible Series, vol. 11, 1985, p. 153), nevertheless adds, “Historical problems of this sort may not in the end be problems at all, and in fact, as with many historical narratives, it can be as difficult to show their non-historicity as their historicity” (p. 154). So he says, “In our exposition we have supposed that the things narrated actually happened,” and adds, “It remains to say that the Book of Esther is by any standards a brilliantly written story, to be savoured–even chuckled over” (ibid.).

As the story of Esther begins, King Ahasuerus has a feast “for all his officials and ministers,” including “the army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces” (Esther 1:3). He made it a kind of “show-and-tell” time; “he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty” (v. 4a). The banquet lasted–can you believe?–nearly six months (180 days, v. 4b), “the first of several banquets at key points (1:5, 9; 2:18; 3:15; 5:7; 7:1; 9:17, 19, 22, 31),” according to Mary Joan Winn Leith (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Esther 1:3-4). The statement that the king “ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces” (v. 1), relates to Leith’s comment that his “Persian Empire from India (i.e., the Indus Valley) to Ethiopia (Heb. ‘Cush’ [wUK, kûš] modern Sudan and modern Ethiopia) included some twenty satrapies (Herodotus 3.89) subdivided into provinces” (ibid., on v. 1). This amounts to an impressive display of imperial power which shows, in the story, what Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews were up against, a picture that is expanded by the display of curtains and hangings, fitted with linen and purple ties and silver rings (v. 6a), the “couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones (v. 6b). There were lavish drinks in “golden goblets, goblets of different kinds” (v. 7), which led to unrestrained drinking (v. 8), for even (especially?) the king was “merry with wine” (v. 10).

The king’s banquet was apparently for males only, for “Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the palace of King Ahasuerus” (v. 9). But the king wanted to continue the “show and tell” by showing “the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold” (v. 11b). So he commanded “the seven eunuchs who attended him” (v. 10), “to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown” (v. 11a). But the queen refused–in a modern idiom, we might say, she refused to be “used” in this way–which enraged the king (v. 12). The issue is put to an all male panel, “the sages who knew the laws” (v. 13), whose judgment, expressed by Memucan, was, “Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus” (v. 16). Lest Vashti’s “dastardly deed” become a bad example for the women of the empire, “causing them to look with contempt on their husbands” (v. 17), this male court orders “that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus” and she is to be replaced: “let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she” (v. 19). With this background in mind, we are prepared to understand the challenge that Esther will encounter in the face of overwhelming odds.

Melba Padilla Maggay, who entitles Esther 1:10-22 “Vashti’s Refusal Turned to Sexual Politics,” asks, “Why did Vashti refuse?” and answers,

The author treats the reasons behind this with reticence. We surmise it may be out of a sense of rank (the Persian queen by tradition had to come from one of the seven noble families) or dignity–she didn’t want to be displayed as one more of Xerxes’ prized possessions. . . . Josephus believes Persian law prohibited wives from being viewed by strangers, so Vashti may have refused out of respect for this custom that the king was so flagrantly violating. . . . Whatever was the reason, such was the power of Vashti’s refusal that it threw the king into a dark rage and made the princes nervous, perceiving a threat to their hegemony: This deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands.’ (The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, 2002, p. 265, on Esther 1:10-22)

Judith 4:1-15

Judea on the Alert

4:1 When the Israelites living in Judea heard of everything that Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and how he had plundered and destroyed all their temples, 2 they were therefore greatly terrified at his approach; they were alarmed both for Jerusalem and for the temple of the Lord their God. 3 For they had only recently returned from exile, and all the people of Judea had just now gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been consecrated after their profanation. 4 So they sent word to every district of Samaria, and to Kona, Beth-horon, Belmain, and Jericho, and to Choba and Aesora, and the valley of Salem. 5 They immediately seized all the high hilltops and fortified the villages on them and stored up food in preparation for war--since their fields had recently been harvested.

6 The high priest, Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan, 7 ordering them to seize the mountain passes, since by them Judea could be invaded; and it would be easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, wide enough for only two at a time to pass.

Prayer and Penance

8 So the Israelites did as they had been ordered by the high priest Joakim and the senate of the whole people of Israel, in session at Jerusalem. 9 And every man of Israel cried out to God with great fervor, and they humbled themselves with much fasting. 10 They and their wives and their children and their cattle and every resident alien and hired laborer and purchased slave--they all put sackcloth around their waists. 11 And all the Israelite men, women, and children living at Jerusalem prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord. 12 They even draped the altar with sackcloth and cried out in unison, praying fervently to the God of Israel not to allow their infants to be carried off and their wives to be taken as booty, and the towns they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles.

13 The Lord heard their prayers and had regard for their distress; for the people fasted many days throughout Judea and in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty. 14 The high priest Joakim and all the priests who stood before the Lord and ministered to the Lord, with sackcloth around their loins, offered the daily burnt offerings, the votive offerings, and freewill offerings of the people. 15 With ashes on their turbans, they cried out to the Lord with all their might to look with favor on the whole house of Israel. (Judith 4:1-15, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with some editing and supplement from September 22, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two):

Carey A Moore is quoted above (in the comments above on Esther 1:1-4, 10-19) in reference to the similarities and differences between Esther, on the one hand, and Judith and Tobit (books in the Apocrypha), on the other. So perhaps it should not surprise us to find that the Daily Office Lectionary (in the Book of Common Prayer) includes for today and the next several days readings from one or the other of these two books.

At the outset of this reading we are told that “Holofernes” is “the general of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians,” and that he “plundered and destroyed all their [i.e., the nations’] temples” (Judith 4:1). The Assyrian empire was indeed formidable in its time, but we know from elsewhere in the Bible (e.g. 2 Kgs. 24:1) that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon who, with his father Nabopolassar, defeated the Assyrians and brought an end to their empire in 605 B.C.. But though the Book of Judith “contains historical inaccuracies so great that they strike a reader as absurd,” it is nevertheless, “a well-crafted work of fiction, an example of the ancient Jewish novel in the Greco-Roman period” (Linda Day, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, in the Introduction to Judith). As a story of a courageous woman’s resistance to a powerful enemy of Israel, it has something in common with the Book of Esther.

The story is set in a time when the Jews “had only recently returned from exile, and all the people of Judea had just now gathered together, and the sacred vessels and the altar and the temple had been consecrated after their profanation” (Judith 4:3), which at the earliest would be in the late sixth century B.C. (Ezra, chap. 3). As noted above, the Assyrian empire came to an end in the late seventh century (605 B.C.). In today’s reading, the Israelites are in fear of Holofernes, Nebuchadnezzar’s general because they have heard what he had done “to the nations” (4:1). “So they sent word to” their cities, including Samaria, Beth-horon and Jericho (v. 4), advising preparations for the expected invasion (vv. 5-7). These preparations were made on the order of the high priest, Joakim (vv. 6-7), and were followed by prayer and supplication (vv. 9-12a), “ praying fervently to the God of Israel not to allow their infants to be carried off and their wives to be taken as booty, and the towns they had inherited to be destroyed, and the sanctuary to be profaned and desecrated to the malicious joy of the Gentiles” (v. 12). “The Lord heard their prayers” and responded to their fasting (v. 13), but prayers and sacrifices continued under Joakim’s leadership (vv. 14-15).

Acts 17:1-15

The Uproar in Thessalonica

17:1 After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. 6 When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8 The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9 and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Beroea

10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14 Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him. (Acts 17:1-15, NRSV)

On August 3, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year One), comments were repeated from September 22, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two); they are repeated again here:

As Paul’s second missionary journey continues, he and Silas come to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1), where they argue with Jews in the synagogue (v. 2), “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you’” (v. 3). They persuaded some Jews and “a great many of the devout Greek,” including “not a few of the leading women” (v. 4). But these results angered some in the city, probably including some of the husbands of these leading women. A riot led by Jews “with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces” became a mob and “set the city in an uproar” (v. 5a). Paul’s later letter to the Thessalonians refers to their suffering “the same things from your own compatriots (uJpo; tw:n ijdivwn sumfuletw:n, hypo tōn idiōn sympphyletōn) as they [i.e. the churches of Judea] did from the Jews” (1 Thess. 2:14, cf. v. 15). This would imply that the opposition, or at least the noticeable opposition, that of the ruffians, was mainly from Gentiles, the Thessalonians’ “compatriots.” But opposition by Jews of Thessalonica continues later in Beroea (v. 13). In any case, they came looking for Paul and Silas at Jason’s house (v. 5b)–unsuccessfully, as it happened–and so “they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities” (v. 6a). Later Christians have seen the charge as something of a compliment, “these people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also” (v. 6b), thinking that the ancient religious world needed just that. But the opposition in Thessalonica didn’t see it that way. According to Beverly Roberts Gaventa, who explains“turning the world upside down” as “disturbing the peace, it was a highly inflammatory charge in the context of the Roman Empire” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 17:6, with ref. to 16:20; 24:5, 12). Jason and the accompanying believers were charged with aiding and abetting the spread of views”contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus” (v. 7). The city officials let them off with the payment of bail (to; iJkanovn, to hikanon, v. 9).

Paul and Silas, sent out from Thessalonica by night (v. 10), found a more receptive Jewish audience in the synagogue of Beroea (v. 11a), who “welcomed the message (to;n lovgon, ton logon) very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so” (v. 12b). The result was a number of believers, “including not a few Greek women and men of high standing” (v. 12). But when the opposition from Thessalonica caught up with Paul at Beroea, he was “immediately sent . . . away,” though “Silas and Timothy remained behind” (v. 14). So Paul comes to Athens alone (v. 15a), where he will speak to “some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers” in tomorrow’s reading (v. 18). On his departure from Beroea, he leaves instructions for Silas and Timothy to “join him as soon as possible” (v. 15b), which they will eventually do when they catch up with him in Corinth (Acts 18:5).

Gaventa says, “The conflicting responses to Christian preaching in two cities prepare for Paul’s important speech in Athens” (ibid., on Acts 17:1-15).

John 12:36b-43

The Unbelief of the People

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37 Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Lord, who has believed our message,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart,

so that they might not look with their eyes,

and understand with their heart and turn-

and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God. (John 12:36b-43, NRSV)

On March 21, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One), comments on John 13:37-50 were based on comments from September 22 and 23, 2006 (Friday and Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two), and earlier comments noted in those comments. Relevant comments from March 21, 2007 will be used, with some editing and adaptation, in comments for today and tomorrow (again Friday and Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year Two):

In the readings for today and tomorrow, John bring’s Jesus’ public ministry–apart from his ministry to his disciples in chapters 13-17–to a close. These passages from John chapter twelve stand on the dividing line, so to speak, between the public ministry of Jesus–the first twelve chapters–and the “Book of Glory”–chapters thirteen through twenty-one–(cf. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI, Anchor Bible, 29A, 551, which refers to the earlier volume [29], pp. cxxxviii-cxxxix), based on such statements as, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (Jn. 12:23). So with the public ministry at an end in chapter 12, the remainder is devoted to the Last Supper (chaps. 13-17), the Passion Narrative (chaps. 18-19) and the Resurrection (chaps. 20-21). Yesterday’s reading closed with Jesus’ admonition: “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light” (Jn. 12:35-36a).

As today’s reading begins, John reports that, “after Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them [i.e., the ‘crowd’ (cf. 12:9, 12, 17, 29, 34)]” (v. 36b).

And John provides a summary: ““Although he [Jesus] had performed so many signs [= miracles pointing to his divine identity] in their presence [i.e. the presence of his opponents, usually called ‘the Jews’], they did not believe in him” (Jn. 12:37). This is explained by references to Isaiah, a prophet whose message was apparently rejected by contemporaries. Verse 38 quotes Isaiah 53:1, “Lord, who has believed our message, / and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Verse 40 quotes Isaiah 6:10, about their blind eyes and hardened heart, “so that they might not look with their eyes, / and understand with their heart and turn–and I would heal them.” . In Isaiah the latter anticipates the failure of Isaiah’s generation, especially king Ahaz (chap. 7), to accept his prophetic word. In John, these are the first two of seven “fulfillment-of-scripture” texts (cf. Jn. 13:18 and Ps. 41:9; Jn. 15:25 and Ps. 35:19; 69:4; Jn. 19:24 and Ps. 22:18; Jn. 19:28 and Ps. 69:21; and Jn. 19:36 and Exod. 12:46). To these one may compare Matthew’s “formula quotations” (Mt. 1:22-23 citing Isa. 7:14; Mt. 2:17-18 citing Jer. 31:15; Mt. 4:14-16 citing Isa. 9:1-2, and so forth, about a dozen in all). Isaiah 6:9-10 is cited in Acts 28:27-27 to explain why many of the Jewish leaders in Rome refused to believe Paul’s message about “the kingdom of God” as he tried “to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets” (Acts 28:23). The same passage from Isaiah 6 is used by Jesus to explain the failure of the people to understand his parables (Mt. 13:14-15 citing Isa. 6:9-10; cf. Mk. 4:12; Lk. 8:10).

As John concludes his summary of Jesus’ public ministry, he observes that “many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God” (Jn. 12:42-43). John may have had Nicodemus in mind when he made that statement.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net