Book Analysis Essay on The Book of Esther

Introduction

The Book of Esther (Melligat Esther) narrates the scroll of Esther, the lovely Jewish wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus Xerxers, and her cousin Mordecai convince the King to withdraw a directive for the general extermination of Jews in the entire empire (Lau, 2018). The King's principal minister, Haman, had designed a plan for the annihilation of the Jews. Instead, the King ordered the hanging of Haman on the scaffolds he had constructed for Mordecai's hanging. On the day designated for the Jews' massacre, the Jews defeated their enemies.

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According to the Book of Esther, the banquet of Purim marks the day of celebration. It is the day in which Esther faced the King and requested for retraction of the order to wipe out the Jews. The Book of Esther narrates the conviction of one woman and her cousin. The Book entails the bravery and heroism of woman heroin (Lau, 2018). The tale of Esther achieves two reflective things; namely, it validates God's preordained safeguarding of His people, even those in exile, and mention the fulfillment of the feast of Purim by associating how it began. Although the Book of Esther does not openly say or talk about Deity, it is about Divinity's strategies for all of our existence and how in all terrifying instants of our life, He does not forsake those who believe and have trust in Him. The Book of Esther is also about leadership, courage, and women empowerment.

The Historical World and the Contemporary World

In the Book of Esther, Israelites and Hebrews considered women as subservient to males. At the beginning of the Book of Esther, the King summons his wife, Queen Vashti, to parade her to his drunk guests, putting on her royal crown and beautiful clothes. Such actions indicate that society considered women as of lower status (Rogland, 2018). The King eventually consults with his advisers and decides to divorce Vashti and parades other virgins across the empire to select another bride. The King issued a decree that all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.

There exists a problematic relationship between the Jews and the Persian people who live in the land they love. The Persian people consider the Jews as inferior, while the Jews consider themselves as the chosen people of God (Rogland, 2018). God's people genially get along with the Persians, despite the Persians portraying God's people as the enemy. The assumption made regarding power and authority revolves around its distribution in which the affluent, those who have social status, or an honoring name within kingdoms received high positions. The King honored Haman, promoting him to apposition higher than that of other nobles. Mordecai later takes up the place of Haman after he discovers Haman's plot to annihilate all Jews in the entire kingdom.

Vashti refused to obey the King, and this resulted in her getting banished from the empire. The relationship between the King and Vashti became strenuous after this incident. There exist a cordial relationship between King Xerxes and Esther since the King honors most of Esther's requests and even organizes banquets in her honor. The King also made her the Queen of Persia and Media amidst other potential wives and concubines. The relationship between Vashti and Esther only indicates a predecessor and a successor, since they never met. However, their connection is essential in accounting for the events that transpired in the Book. Mordecai was a respectable and loyal man to the King through his actions (Carruthers, 2020). Mordecai discovered and informed the King through his niece the plot to assassinate him, and the plot to exterminate all Jews in the whole kingdom. The relationship between Haman and Mordecai reveals deep hatred between the two gentlemen. Mordecai refuses to bow before Haman even though the King ordered that all nobles and people in the empire to do so, Haman plots to hang Mordecai after realizing that he is a Jew. Besides, Haman plots to massacre all Jews.

Vashti refused to show up at the King's feast, which indicates disobedience. The King banishes her from the position of queen. Mordecai demonstrated what God's people do in various circumstances that, despite the risk of persecution, he refused to bow down to Haman (Carruthers, 2020). Haman obeyed his wife's schemes to have Mordecai hanged in the gallows he had built and to exterminate the entire population of Israelites; instead, he got hanged. Esther followed her cousin's wise counsel and did what God wanted of His people, to protect them even in exile through her bravery and courage.

Esther's story depicts a servant type of leadership. Esther's actions, through faith, bravery, and honor, enabled her to save and protect the people of God from annihilation and the King from assassination. Such bravery measures support and match the contents of 'The Serving Servant' and in the 'Name of Jesus' since she did put others before her own life just as Jesus sacrificed and got crucified to save the whole world (Carruthers, 2020). The concepts from 'The Serving Leader' and 'In the Name of Jesus' relates to my reading of the Book of Esther since people need to put others before their interest such as saving God's people from mass massacre and the King from assassination. Jesus Christ talked about loving your neighbor as you would love yourself, a concept that calls for self-sacrifice.

The Literary World and the Contemporary World

The Book of Esther does not mention the name of God, but his covenant, laws, and beliefs still show and exhibits in the entire scroll (Lau, 2018). Esther's compassion, grace, and love for God's people indicate the presence of God throughout the Book. Besides, the celebration of traditional Jewish traditions blessed by God also manifests Deity's influence in the story. Mordecai demonstrated his conviction in the Almighty, recognized the sovereignty, and responsibility as essential to Divinity and his people.

King Ahasuerus comes out as an impulsive and uncertain king who heavily relies on the counsel of others. Vashti is of astound beauty, but headstrong and refuses to serve and appease the King. Mordecai appears wise, fatherly, and having intense devotion to his people and God. Mordecai seems loyal to the King, influential, and preeminent among his people since he always toiled for the benefit of his people. Haman is depicted as a corrupt official who abuses his position to intimidate his enemies (Lau, 2018). Haman looks as someone who lacks wisdom since he heeds to the advice of his wife Zeresh without a thought of the consequences. Esther reveals a brave young Jewish girl, poised with character, and loved who God blessed from her humble background to become a respected queen not just among her people but the entire Persian kingdom. She cleverly obtains favor with the King to save her people from imminent extermination.

The narrative of Esther begins with a banquet celebrating the King's officials and ministers. The King wanted to display his massive wealth, magnificence, and grandeur. There exists importance in Vashti's situation since it establishes the precedence for the development of the scroll. Vashti's circumstances demonstrate the King's level of anger, and indicates that Esther's stay at the palace can have the same fate as that of Vashti should she unknowingly or intentionally make a wrong decision (Carruthers, 2020). The progress of the story shows the bravery and courageous decisions Esther had to make to save her people.

The narrator creates sympathy for the Jews who live a precarious life in the diaspora, and the scheming by others to have them wiped out. The author develops disdain for Haman for his vengeful character and destructive nature while at the same time exhibit disdain for the two officials who planned to assassinate the King (Lau, 2018). The basis for Haman's influence in the palace began after Mordecai exposed a plot to eliminate the King, which opened high ranking positions. Haman received honors from the King who eventually promoted him to the highest position of honor. The power pyramids involve the King as the supreme leader and self-serving King, with officials administering his decrees and offering him with advisory opinions regarding the affairs of the empire. The banquet, promotion of Haman to the highest elevated position, and the eventual progress of Mordecai as the second in rank to the King reveals the power pyramids in Esther's scroll.

The vital moral in the Book of Esther entails the dangers of overextending one's power. The scroll demonstrated this when Vashti lost her place as queen because she oversteps her position of control when she refuses to obey her King. Besides, Haman gets hanged for misusing his position to settle scores with Mordecai and annihilate the Jews (Lau, 2018). The story describes, reinforces, and influences statuses through the titles and actions of those in power. For example, King Xerxes exercises his powers by banishing Vashti from the kingdom and stripping her of her queen's title, promoting and demoting officials, and signing decrees. Esther uses her position and influence as the favored queen to save her people by convincing the King to retract his orders. Mordecai appeals to his niece to plead with the King to withdraw his requests and save her people.

Esther's story demonstrates discrimination and intimidation of exiled people, how leaders impact the lives of the people in a society, the power of acts of courage, and the significance of women empowerment in a community (Carruthers, 2020). There exists a slight difference in how the world practices' leadership' and how God's people practice 'leadership.' The society's system allows for election and selection of leaders, and their removal from power either through a democratic process or by force, similar to God's people practice of anointment of leaders and removal through God's intervention such as holy wars or another leader getting anointed to succeed the previous leader.

The Book of Esther illustrates how power and leaders' impact on society's population. Misuse of control can result in detrimental consequences, while wise leadership enhances the livelihoods of those under the rule (Carruthers, 2020). The King's ability to listen to wise counsel from his counsels and Esther helped save the people of Israel, while the foolish advice from Zeresh to Haman almost costed the lives of the Jewish and made Haman get hanged.

Conclusion

The Book of Esther teaches various aspects of bravery, courage, and faith and hope in sacrificing even if it involves risking persecution, so long as the action would result in saving the lives of others and inhibiting detrimental consequences of a decision. Esther's scroll also illustrates the effects of abusing power. Besides, the narrative demonstrates the significance of women in society and how their actions influences decision-making processes.

References

Carruthers, J. (2020). Esther through the Centuries. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=s3TVDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR14&dq=an+analysis+of+the+book+of+Esther&ots=BXGG6Jqa2T&sig=T4m8T5gAhOBnPubruzbV3ZaX11I

Lau, P. H. (2018). Esther. Langham Global Library. http://www.academia.edu/download/58381659/ABC_Esther.pdf

Rogland, M. (2018). The Dynamics of Violence and Revenge in the Hebrew Book of Esther. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.4.0649