The book of Esther is unique in our Bible. God is never mentioned nor is the Law of Moses. The Sabbath doesn’t seem to be observed nor the food laws or it would seem Esther’s identity as a Jew could not have been kept secret. There is no mention of Jerusalem, the Temple, or even the land. The book doesn’t have what we would expect to find in our Old Testament. The Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint has added verses that include a long prayer by Mordecai and a prayer by Esther, but these verses are not included in the Hebrew text. If you have the Holman Concise Bible Commentary (HCBC) its introduction to the book covers many of the controversies surrounding the book on pages 191and following. The Bible Project Video Summary of Esther may be accessed here.
Esther is a welcome relief from all the genealogies we have been reading and is an interesting story to read. We see the Providence of God in it even though God is not mentioned in the book. This is probably what the author of the book intended. God is sovereign and controls events to protect His people. Mordecai’s belief in God’s providence may be implicit in his statement to Esther recorded in 4:14 “If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” [1]
The villain of the story is a man named Haman. In Esther 3:1 he is said to be an Agagite. Agag was the name of the King of the Amalekites that Saul spared and Samuel killed (1 Sam. 15:3). Josephus says Haman was an Amalekite (Ant. 11.209). The Amalekites were descended from Esau (Gen. 36:12). They attacked the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings (Ex. 17:8) and Moses gave these instructions concerning them in Dt. 25:17-19,
17 “Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt. 18 They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not fear God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.”
In addition to Haman being linked to Agag and the Amalekites, Mordecai is linked to King Saul, as both were from the tribe of Benjamin and descended from a person named Kish (Est. 2:5, 1 Sam. 9:1).
In chapter 1 Queen Vashti refuses to do the King’s bidding. This refusal does not just affect her but also all the women in the empire. Esther 1:19b-20, ‘Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’s presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. 20 The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, so all women will honor their husbands, from the greatest to the least.”’ Likewise, we read in Esther 3:2, “The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.” Mordecai’s lack of following the King’s order would result in the edict to kill all the Jews. Both the King and Haman were angered and embarrassed by what they perceived as a lack of respect. Fallen human nature is no different today.
[1] All Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
