Review in: Interpretation
2006 60: 473
Review door: Johanna
W. H. van Wijk-BosGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/60/4/473.full.pdf+html
Esther
by Linda M. Day Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries. Abingdon, Nashville, 2005.
177 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-687-49792-2.
LINDA DAY'S CLOSE ANALYSIS of the
text of Esther is preceded by an introduction that reviews literary genre,
possible historical context, and theological concerns of this short biblical
book. Each text unit receives an examination on three levels: the literary, the exegetical, and the
theological/ethical. Of these three, the greatest weight is given to the
exegetical level. The comments are for the greatest part in-depth and
interpretive rather than strictly exegetical. For example, noting Esther's
demeanor as she stands in the inner court waiting for Ahasuerus to notice her,
Day observes that "sporting a pretty face and figure is no longer her
concern; instead she wears an aura of political authority. Esther has grown
into her position of queen" (p. 95). The exegetical discussions include
reviews of word-use, of phrasing and repetitions, as well as the possible
inferences to be drawn from these. Esther, in Day's opinion, is a Jewish novel
similar to texts such as Daniel, Judith, Tobit, and Joseph and Aseneth,
partaking of comparable "contexts, structures, situations, and characters"
(p. 12). Day dates the book to approximately the same time as the books of Ezra
and Nehemiah. Although the book of Esther is not teeming with theological
ramifications, it is thoroughly biblical and connects strongly to the rest of
the biblical tradition, according to Day.
Esther,
long neglected or viewed negatively in church and academia, has seen an upsurge
of interest in the past few decades. Of the works cited in the bibliography,
the overwhelming majority were written after 1980. The impetus for this
interest has come on the one hand from increased scholarly interest in literary
style and conventions as they apply to biblical texts, and on the other hand
from the partipation of women in the scholarly endeavor, which has occasioned
works from feminist scholars as well as renewed attention to women's presence
in the Bible. Day's work has benefited from both and contains many felicitous
observations that have their foundation in an understanding of existence on the
margins, such as the relevance of the book to those who are forced to hide on
account of their sexual orientation and gender identity. The challenge for
anyone writing on Esther today is to achieve fresh insights, and this Day does
admirably, writing both accessibly and with scholarly attention to detail.
Here and there the book suffers
from grammatical or stylistic awkwardness, issues that should have been solved
by a diligent copyeditor. Inexplicably, the commentary uses academic style for
transcribing Hebrew, which makes Hebrew citations impossible to decipher for anyone
not trained in the language.
JOHANNA W. H.VAN WIJK-BOS
LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
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