Esther's Feast: A Study of the Book of Esther
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Lesson One
His Highness's Humiliation
Esther 1:1--22
Key Idea
In a sumptuous Persian court, an emperor
is embarrassed by his queen's refusal to appear at his party.
By subtleties in the storytelling, the narrator emphasizes the
king's insecurity and fear.
The book of Esther opens by describing what an imposing figure
King Ahasuerus is. He is emperor of 127 provinces extending all
the way from India to Ethiopia. He is wealthy enough to hold
a drinking party1 that lasts six months, and powerful enough
to command the presence of everyone who is anyone in the land.
Lists dominate this chapter, lists not only of the king's many
exotic belongings, but also of his guests, his servants, and
his wise men. When the king says "drink," his subjects
drink; when he says "fetch," they fetch. Only one person
deals the king's merriment a crashing blow: the woman Vashti,
his wife and queen, who never makes an appearance either in the
story or at the king's party. Why does she refuse the king? All
we know is that Vashti is giving a party of her own.
Vashti's act of will receives more attention in this chapter
than all the festivities combined. Fearing a great female insurrection,
at the advice of his "wise men" (v. 13), the
king issues a decree that unintentionally publicizes his own
inability to dominate her. Unaware of the heavy irony he creates,
the king commands all his male subjects to do what he himself
could not-to rule in their own houses.
Crafted Narrative
We cannot actually hear the narrator's tone of voice as the story
begins. Rather, we must, as in all reading, infer the tone from
the words themselves. Some of us are used to hearing the Bible
read in a deep, sonorous voice reminiscent of Charlton Heston's
Moses issuing God's commands at Mt. Sinai. Because of this, it
may be tempting, even when reading the Bible silently, to hear
such a voice in our mind. But can this chapter really be read
in such tones? The first few verses are certainly filled with
great glory. All the collateral powers that be, the officials
and ministers, and even the armies, are gathered together around
the emperor, admiring "the great wealth of his kingdom and
the splendor and pomp of his majesty" (v. 4). But
it's important to pay attention to the details. Can an emperor
really sustain a banquet for 180 days, that is, six months? Who
is minding the kingdom while everyone who is anyone is drinking?
Can we really take a king seriously who displays his own pomp
for half a year? Or is there a comic undertone to this overblown
scene?
1. Conspicuous consumption such
as the king shows arouses a variety of reactions in others, from
admiration to disdain. When you read the story, what was your
first reaction to the description of opulence at the banquets?
The narrator pauses to catch a breath and then plunges into
extravagant descriptions of a second royal banquet: this one
for "all the people" in Susa, "great and small"
(v. 5). Compared to the first, this is a little banquet,
lasting only a week, but the decor alone takes several lines
to describe. Again, we might ask ourselves, is the narrator impressed
with the curtains and the gold and silver couches and the mosaic
pavement of porphyry, marble, mother--of--pearl, and colored
stone-and above all with the free--flowing royal wine? Or is
the detailed description meant to convey royal excess to a Jewish
audience whose tenth commandment is "you shall not covet"
(Ex. 20:17)?
Last of all, a third banquet is mentioned. If "all the people,
great and small" are attending the king's banquet, who is
at this other, parallel drinkfest? It is the women. Suddenly
we discover that "all the people" of Susa actually
means "all the men." Information of Vashti's women's
party is given without elaboration, appended to the end of the
king's two banquets as if it were an afterthought.
2. What was your first response
to the news that Vashti was also giving a party for the women?
What do you see as some of the values of-or problems with-socializing
in an all--male or all--female setting?
Who is this narrator? Surely not a gossip columnist, so impressed
with the rich and famous as to stand in awe of half a year's
continuous drinking. For reasons that are not yet clear, this
narrator gives detail on detail about a men's party, and then
only briefly refers to the women's doings, exhausting the subject
before offering a single descriptive word. Perhaps there is something
happening that we do not yet see.
Absent Queen
At the climax of the feast in Susa, the king seeks to culminate
the display of his pomp with the greatest of his belongings,
his beautiful queen in her royal crown. Seven men processed out
to fetch her: Mehuman, Biztha, and five other royal eunuchs.
But if the queen's body belongs to the king, her will is her
own. She declines the summons. Neither we nor the king are told
why. Perhaps she is busy with her own party, or perhaps the summons
offends her, or perhaps she is tending to something else significantly
more important than an invitation to be put on display. All we
know is that she does not come, and the king's merriment evaporates
into rage.
Is Vashti a feminist heroine? An imprudent fool? A busy hostess
unwittingly bruising a tender male ego? Neither her reasons nor
her feelings are given. She does not even make a cameo appearance
in the story. She is simply absent. We do not know whether she
is enraged, apologetic, or matter--of--fact. Neither does the
king. Yet immediately, into the wide information gap left by
the eunuchs who convey her regrets, the king and his advisers
begin pouring meanings based on their own judgments and, most
of all, their fears.
3. Women in the workplace sometimes
find male peers expecting them to take subservient roles or excluding
them by means of lewd jokes. Has someone you know ever been led
to assume she had security and dignity, only to find her dignity
brushed aside by men's comments or requests? What advice did
you, or would you, give her?
4. Interpersonal conflicts are
often rooted in judgments concerning the bad motives behind another
person's actions. Can you think of a recent conversation in which
you heard someone intermingle reports of another person's deeds
with assessments of that person's motives? What strategies might
keep us from too easily "buying into" other people's
harsh or misplaced judgments?
Powerless King
A picture of the emperor of 127 provinces is emerging as the
chapter progresses. He is an extravagant and generous host, a
merry king, a shameless show--off, a husband who communicates
with his wife-and indeed issues commands to her-by means of seven
royal eunuchs. A sovereign who cannot take no for an answer,
even to save face in front of his guests. And, as we will find
several times throughout the story, Ahasuerus shows himself to
be a mighty emperor who cannot make a decision on his own. In
fact, he asks his wise men what the law of his own kingdom is
and what he should do with his wife.
The seven officials, with their seven names, call to mind the
seven eunuchs of verse 10. In fact, many of their names are similar.
One of them, Memucan, supplies the answer. Though we readers
might have thought that the king's converting the family problem
into a legal matter was somewhat overreactive, Memucan convinces
the king that the situation is even more grave than it appears.
Vashti's action, Memucan indicates, did not simply embarrass
the king. It also betrayed all the people (that is, all the men)
throughout the kingdom. As extravagant as the earlier descriptions
of the palace accoutrements and the free--flowing wine were,
just as extravagant is Memucan's vision of the women's overthrow
of male power in every household in the Persian world (v. 18).
Queen Vashti's one nonappearance before a party of drinking men
will, without any doubt, result in utter loss of control over
every female who hears of Vashti.
5. Memucan interpreted Vashti's
action as being threatening to the king and his empire. What
was your first interpretation of her response? What do you imagine
could have been her reason? If you had to write a book about
her based on the scant information the story presents, how would
you portray her?
We may not consider Vashti a feminist crusader, but it is
clear that Memucan views her as such. So he recommends that the
display of royal power be swift and sure: Vashti shall never
again appear before the king (in other words, she is forbidden
to do the very thing she refused to do). She will be replaced
with a better-that is, more compliant-queen. Though he fears
that women throughout the land will hear of the queen's refusal
and follow her example, Memucan does not try to suppress the
news but broadcasts it instead. According to his logic, when
other women in the land hear that the king punishes nonappearance
with certain and sure decrees of nonappearance, they will all
respect their husbands. It's as simple as that.
Crafty Narrator
What is going on? The narrator began by describing King Ahasuerus's
"power banquets," but has ended the chapter with a
satirical portrait of the great emperor and his advisers fretting
about an imaginary insurrection of women. In a single chapter,
the king of Persia has been reduced from the magnificent ruler
of the known world to an impulsive party animal, who controls
neither his wife nor his temper, but takes advice from others
to issue a decree publicizing his humiliation.
Although satire this sharp is not common to all biblical narrative,
it does tend to characterize depictions of those perceived as
foreign oppressors. The storyteller will take seriously several
characters who appear later in the story of Esther, but
in chapter 1 the only person who escapes the author's
spoofing is Vashti herself. Although she is the object of intense
scrutiny by those around her, she remains invisible and wordless.
By keeping her offstage in this way, the narrator throws a protective
curtain over her dignity. We never get to know the one person
in the kingdom bold enough to refuse the king.
6. What is this story doing in
the Bible? What do you think the Bible should be about? How does
the first chapter of Esther suit, or fail to suit, your expectations?
What Is this Story Doing In the Bible?
Many Christians have a fairly traditional idea of what the Bible
ought to be. It should be about God, it should tell us fairly
straightforwardly how to live, it should reflect divine and historical
truth. It should be sober and serious.
Much of the Bible upholds this view. Yet our scriptures are actually
a very diverse body of literature. For many of us, Esther
is one of the books that stretches the limits of the biblical
canon. In fact, the book has aroused controversy throughout the
history of its interpretation. Evidence exists that there were
some elements of both the early Jewish and the early Christian
communities who were reluctant to include Esther in the Bible.
This is not surprising, since the book so peculiarly omits reference
to God and to religious practice.
Yet themes of Esther are common to many parts of the Bible,
and extremely important for Christians to consider. The question
of power is a major one both in our society and in the biblical
world. Who has the power to coerce the will of others? Who has
the power to subjugate women, to subjugate peoples, to determine
the shape of the lives and activities of others?
The answer to this question, repeated frequently throughout both
the Old and New Testaments, is that no human may dominate or
abuse another. The book of Exodus recounts the compassion
of God for slaves in Egypt, and miracles wrought to set them
free. The Psalms petition God for mercy on behalf of the
"poor and needy," and the prophets preach justice for
the powerless. Jesus, born of a peasant woman to become the Christian
savior, said, "the last will be first and the first will
be last" (Matt. 20:16), and Paul, born to a privileged Jewish
family, surrendered his comforts to preach to the Gentiles.
7. Name some of the people of power
in your local community. What influence do they have and how
might such power be used, for good or ill?
Not many of the Bible's heroes are women, but in almost every
place where women do appear-whether it is Tamar before the community's
judgment (Gen. 38:24--26), Hannah in a temple in Shiloh
(1 Sam. 1:14--16), Ruth on a threshing floor at night
(Ruth 3:9--10), or the Syrophoenician woman challenging
Jesus (Mark 7:24--30)-they display personal strength,
sound the voice of fairness, and call traditional assumptions
into question.
If the themes of Esther are appropriate, what about its
style? Many biblical stories derive their appeal from their razor--sharp
knack for cutting through the pomp of earthly powers. Foreign
rulers are often satirized. Egyptian pharaohs are outwitted by
Hebrew midwives (Ex. 1:15--21). Moabite kings pay seers
handsome prices to curse the chosen people, and are humiliated
instead (Num. 22--24), or are double--crossed in their
own palaces by left--handed swordsmen (Judg. 3:15--23).
Would--be conquerors are struck down by women brandishing tent
pegs or millstones (Judg. 4:17--22; 9:50--55). These stories
employ trickster humor that is satisfying, and even hopeful,
to people who live their lives under the thumb of the powers
that be. Wherever political power is lacking, satirical wit is
often the most effective defense against despair. And certainly
so far, given the other possibilities, this narrator has dealt
gently with Ahasuerus.
Thus begins a lively story of upheaval. Women will indeed become
a force to reckon with before the story of Esther ends,
but not in the way that the king at first fears. Though the book
begins on a note of comedy, within two chapters we will find
ourselves drawn into much more somber themes
Prayer
God whose reign is greater than all the great empires of the
earth, whose love extends to all, open our eyes to see beyond
appearances. When the solemnity of status becomes pompous emptiness,
give us insight to recognize its folly. Make us unafraid of the
powers that be. Give us sober minds, but mirthful hearts, to
name both courage and cowardice, oppression and freedom for what
they are, and thereby to help bring your reign of liberty into
the world. Amen.
Lesson One
Suggestions for Leaders
Preparing to Teach
- Pray for God's guidance and
presence.
- Read the entire book of Esther and a commentary of your choice
on the scripture passage for this lesson.
- Put on newsprint
- Approximate time in history this book was written
- The theme for the study and themes for each lesson.
- Read lesson 1. Think about and answer the discussion questions.
Opening the Lesson
Prayer: Gracious God, you promised that you would be with us
always, and we are grateful. Be with us now, we pray, and give
us open minds and hearts to receive the teaching of your word
through the power and presence of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus'
name, we pray. Amen.
Introducing the Lesson
- State the theme for this lesson.
- Ask: What questions does the theme raise for you?
- Put the questions on newsprint to use as a guide for the
study, adding more questions each
session.
Listening to the Story
- Read selections from chapter 1 using different translations
that a member or the group may have brought. Prepare several
examples ahead of time.
- Share responses to the questions on page 7.
Exploring the Story
Set the scene for the story: time in history, place, society.
List on newsprint the different customs found in the scripture
passage. This will help in setting the scene for the story.
- Divide the group into smaller groups:
Group 1. Pay close attention to the role of Vashti. How
would you describe her? Answer the questions about Vashti on
page 9.
Group 2. Set the scene for the story. What was happening?
Who was there? Who was not there?
Group 3. Create the conversation between the king and
his wise men. As a result, how does the king change (see "Powerless
King")?
- "We never get to know the one person in the kingdom
bold enough to refuse the king" (page 9). Would you say
that Vashti was a feminist heroine, an imprudent fool, or a woman
with a mind of her own?
Applying the Story to Our
Lives
- Look at and discuss the questions on pages 7 and 8.
- Also, consider: Who has power over women, children, minority
groups, and whole peoples in our society? Is this a good thing
or a bad thing? List both good and bad effects on newsprint.
- In your mind, visualize the people with power in your congregation
. . . and in your life. How do you feel about them?
- How might this power be used for good? For evil?
- What power do you have? How does your power affect your
relationship with God and others?
Closing the Lesson
- Let each person consider the question: What, in this lesson,
will be helpful to you in your daily life until we meet again?
Invite each person who cares to, to share a response.
- Close with the prayer on page 10.
- Read or sing "God of Grace and God of Glory" (PH
# 420).
Expanding the Lesson
Option #1
- Let each of the small groups select one biblical heroine
from the ones named on page 10 of the study. Read the accompanying
scripture passage. Report to the larger group how that woman
used her power.
- Name one woman of today with power. How do women today exercise
their power? How do you exercise your power?
Option #2
- Discuss the question: What is the story of Esther doing in
the Bible?
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Bible studies are listed on other pages on our Web Site.
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