Esther against Joseph’s Backdrop: The Theology and History of an Intertextual Relationship

Gabriel Fischer Hornung

Published by De Gruyter 2024

Esther against Joseph’s Backdrop

The Theology and History of an Intertextual Relationship

Gabriel Fischer Hornung

Volume 553 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111216119

Overview
Contents

About this book

An examination of MT Esther’s relationship to the Joseph story, this study employs recent advances in author-oriented biblical intertextuality to address the debate concerning the religious purpose of the Scroll. While previous scholarship has seen Esther’s divine silence indicating God’s hidden hand, the characters’ or readers’ quiet faiths, or the secular concerns of an ancient Jewish nationalism, key aspects of Esther’s allusive character illustrate how the book purposefully constructs a theology of divine absence. As good-looking Israelites continue to rise in foreign courts to deliver themselves and their people from imminent dangers, the patterns God initiated in the Egyptian past are shown to extend into the Persian present even when the divine remains out of sight. Since this diachronically-oriented analysis suggests this theological interest was developed by Esther’s authors, it engages with Esther’s ancient Greek witnesses to demonstrate that the MT redactors altered an earlier version of the Scroll to position the Hebrew Megillah alongside Joseph’s instructive backdrop. By attending to these historical and interpretive issues, this work thus speaks to both Scroll scholarship and the study of inner-biblical allusions.

Author / Editor information

Gabriel F. Hornung, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
1 Introduction: Currents in Scroll and Intertextual Scholarship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One: The Allusive Megillah and the Scholarly Attempts to Understand It
2 Textual Connections and Scholarly Histories Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
3 Other Intertextual Relationships and Esther and Joseph’s Good Looks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Part Two: Compositional and Structural Considerations
4 Esther’s Compositional History and the Development of its Allusive Purpose Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
5 The Redactional Stages and Narrative Cohesiveness of MT Esther’s Final Literary Form Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
Part Three: The Theology of Esther and Contrast of Daniel
6 The Theological Implications of Esther’s Relationship with Joseph Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
7 Daniel’s Position in Joseph and Esther’s Intertextual Chain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
8 Conclusion: Esther’s Intertextual Reflections and Theological Additions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
Index of Secondary Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Index of Biblical Passages Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Forschende zum Alten Testament, Biblischer Theologie, Estherbuch
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 152
Illustrations
- Tables: 1
Keywords: Esther criticism; intertextuality; Biblical theology.

eBook

Published: August 6, 2024
ISBN: 9783111216119

Hardcover

Published: August 6, 2024
ISBN: 9783111214139