Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought

Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought
Author: Aaron Koller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2014-01-09
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 1107048354

This book situates the book of Esther in the intellectual history of Ancient Judaism and provides a new understanding of its purpose.

Esther and Her Elusive God

Esther and Her Elusive God
Author: John Anthony Dunne
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2014-02-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1620327848

What if the way the book of Esther has been taught to us in church and retold to us in films, cartoons, and romance novels has missed the original point of the story? Far from being models of piety and devotion, Esther and Mordecai seem indifferent to the faith of their ancestors. How then did this story become part of the Bible and gain the broad acceptance that it has? If the church should not neglect the story, how should it be read? Esther and Her Elusive God calls Christians to avoid the common attempts to make Esther more palatable and theological, and to reclaim this secular story as Scripture. Readers will be encouraged to see in Esther a profound message of God's grace and faithfulness to his wayward people.

The Story of Prophets and Kings

The Story of Prophets and Kings
Author: Ellen G. White
Publisher:
Total Pages: 756
Release: 1917
Genre: Bible
ISBN:

The story of Israel's triumphs, defeats, backslidings, captivity, and reformation abounds in great.

Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Esther

Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Esther
Author: Sidnie White Crawford
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 1672
Release: 2019-06-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467453633

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides Crawford’s introduction to and concise commentary on Esther. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers. Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. Commentators focus on the genre of each text—parable, prophetic oracle, legal code, and so on—interpreting within the historical and literary context. The volumes also address major issues within each biblical book—including the range of possible interpretations—and refer readers to the best resources for further discussions.

The Alpha-text of Esther

The Alpha-text of Esther
Author: Karen H. Jobes
Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
Total Pages: 256
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780788502033

Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Judith, Greek Esther, Tobit

Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Judith, Greek Esther, Tobit
Author: Gerald West
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467454028

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides West, Jarick, and Grabbe’s introduction to and concise commentary on Judith, Greek Esther, and Tobit. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers. Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. Commentators focus on the genre of each text—parable, prophetic oracle, legal code, and so on—interpreting within the historical and literary context. The volumes also address major issues within each biblical book—including the range of possible interpretations—and refer readers to the best resources for further discussions.

The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha

The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha
Author: Jonathan Klawans
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 704
Release: 2020-09-29
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 0190262508

Building on the success of the Jewish Annotated New Testament (JANT) and the Jewish Study Bible (JSB), Oxford University Press now proceeds to complete the trilogy with the Jewish Annotated Apocrypha (JAA). The books of the Apocrypha were virtually all composed by Jewish writers in the Second Temple period. Excluded from the Hebrew Bible, these works were preserved by Christians. Yet no complete, standalone edition of these works has been produced in English with an emphasis on Jewish tradition or with an educated Jewish audience in mind. The JAA meets this need. The JAA differs from prior editions of the Apocrypha in a number of ways. First, as befits a Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, the volume excludes certain texts that are widely agreed to be of Christian origin. Second, it expands the scope of the volume to include Jubilees, an essential text for understanding ancient Judaism, and a book that merits inclusion in the volume by virtue of the fact that it was long considered part of the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (the text is also revered by Ethiopian Jews). Third, it has restructured the order of the books so that the sequencing follows the logic that governs the order of the books in the Jewish canon (Law, History, Prophecy, Wisdom and Poetry). Using the NRSV translation (plus Jubilees), each book of the Apocrypha is annotated by a recognized expert in the study of ancient Judaism. An Introduction by the editors guides readers though the making of the volume and its contents. Thematic essays by an impressive array of scholars provide helpful contexts, backgrounds and elaborations on key themes.

Baxter's Explore the Book

Baxter's Explore the Book
Author: J. Sidlow Baxter
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 1846
Release: 2010-09-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310871395

Explore the Book is not a commentary with verse-by-verse annotations. Neither is it just a series of analyses and outlines. Rather, it is a complete Bible survey course. No one can finish this series of studies and remain unchanged. The reader will receive lifelong benefit and be enriched by these practical and understandable studies. Exposition, commentary, and practical application of the meaning and message of the Bible will be found throughout this giant volume. Bible students without any background in Bible study will find this book of immense help as will those who have spent much time studying the Scriptures, including pastors and teachers. Explore the Book is the result and culmination of a lifetime of dedicated Bible study and exposition on the part of Dr. Baxter. It shows throughout a deep awareness and appreciation of the grand themes of the gospel, as found from the opening book of the Bible through Revelation.

Where God Was Born

Where God Was Born
Author: Bruce Feiler
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2005-09-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0060574879

At a time when America debates its values and the world braces for religious war, Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times bestsellers Walking the Bible and Abraham, travels ten thousand miles through the heart of the Middle East—Israel, Iraq, and Iran—and examines the question: Is religion tearing us apart ... or can it bring us together? Where God Was Born combines the adventure of a wartime chronicle, the excitement of an archaeological detective story, and the insight of personal spiritual exploration. Taking readers to biblical sites not seen by Westerners for decades, Feiler's journey uncovers little-known details about the common roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and affirms the importance of the Bible in today's world. In his intimate, accessible style, Feiler invites readers on a never-in-a-lifetime experience: Israel Feiler takes a perilous helicopter dive over Jerusalem, treks through secret underground tunnels, and locates the spot where David toppled Goliath. Iraq After being airlifted into Baghdad, Feiler visits the Garden of Eden and the birthplace of Abraham, and makes a life-threatening trip to the rivers of Babylon. Iran Feiler explores the home of the Bible's first messiah and uncovers the secret burial place of Queen Esther. In Where God Was Born, Feiler discovers that at the birth of Western religion, all faiths drew from one another and were open to coexistence. Feiler's bold realization is that the Bible argues for interfaith harmony. It cannot be ceded to one side in the debate over values. Feiler urges moderates to take back the Bible and use its powerful voice as a beacon of shared ideals. In his most ambitious work to date, Bruce Feiler has written a brave, uplifting story that stirs the deepest chords of our time. Where God Was Born offers a rare, universal vision of God that can inspire different faiths to an allegiance of hope.

Violence and Divine Victory in the Book of Esther

Violence and Divine Victory in the Book of Esther
Author: Thomas Wetzel
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3161606604

Thomas Wetzel offers a new way to understand the violence and religious absence long emphasized in readings of the Hebrew version of the Esther story. By tracing the vestiges of Jewish liturgical activity described in the story as well as the story's reliance on the tradition of the Divine Combat myth, the author uncovers a profound, yet intentionally hidden, religious sensibility within the story's narrative world. These connections link the Esther story to the great acts of deliverance in the larger biblical tradition, but also bring into sharp focus the biblical view that Israel's survival and sometimes violent deliverance remain the definitive sign of the Lord's ongoing and active presence in creation. The author's conclusion suggests that this understanding has profound implications for Jewish-Christian dialogue and for the future existence and practice of the two communities.