Esther
ID: 3342 - Edit In OJS
The Book of Esther is a thrilling story about how Esther and Mordecai averted the plan to annihilate the Jewish people in the Persian period. Both its many textual versions and different readings in various media imply a wealthy interpretive tradition of the story. For centuries, readers have been fascinated by the narrative’s suspense and drama, its courageous and smart Jewish protagonists, and its happy ending. However, the story has also troubled generations of readers. Among other things, Haman’s genocidal plan and his Jew-hatred, the lack of references to God, and the battle scenes before the celebration of Purim in the ninth chapter have led to intensive and often contradicting discussions among interpreters.
Standing on the shoulders of an amazingly rich history of interpretation, this volume gathers innovative research on core aspects of the book that challenge long-held scholarly assumptions. The articles in this volume trace the reception history from antiquity to modern times among Jewish, Christian, and Islamic circles, discussing the story of Esther in, for instance, its Hebrew and Greek versions, Targum, Babylonian Talmud, the synagogue paintings in Dura Europos, and the Lutheran reformation. In bringing together experts working with comparative material and interdisciplinary approaches to identity, belonging, gender, migration, violence, horror, fan fiction, and social media, this volume offers fresh perspectives and invites readers to reshape their understanding of the Book of Esther.
This volume will be first published online and then as a print book.
Provisional Table of Contents:
Introduction
Kristin Joachimsen and Helge Bezold
Belonging and Becoming in the Book of Esther
Anne-Mareike Wetter
Esther’s People in the Hellenistic World: A Comparative Perspective
Agata Grzybowska-Wiatrak
On Laws and Kings: The Book of Esther and Its Theology
Veronika Bachmann
Story and History in the Book of Esther: Mordechai’s Refusal to Prostrate Himself
Kristin Joachimsen and Julian Degen
A Maccabean Mordechai: Reading the Book of Esther in the Maccabean Period
Helge Bezold
The Book of Esther and Qumran
Kristin De Troyer and Mika Pajunen
The Making of the Other: The Hellenistic Jewish Reimagination of Haman's Identity in the Greek Alpha-Text of Esther
Lydia Lee and Ji Xiaowei
Mordecai Meets Artemidorus or: Reading EstLXX Add A:1‒11 + F:1‒6 with an Ancient Greek Handbook on Dreams
Marie-Theres Wacker
The Book of Esther and Imaginations of the Persian Court: Hebrew and Greek
Helen Efthimiadis-Keith
The Book of Esther as Novella
Joseph Cross
In and Out of the Jewish Heavenly Archive: Esther and Imagined Canon
Esther Brownsmith
Male Fantasy, Violent Women, and the Book of Esther
Laura Quick
The Book of Esther and Narrating Violence
Thomas Wetzel
The Book of Esther, Migration, and Diaspora
Frederik Poulsen and Elisa Uusimäki
Esther in the Targumim
Paul Moore
Esther and the Rabbis of Sasanian Babylonia
Cecilia Haendler and Alexander Marcus
Purim and the Esther Scroll(s)
Joanna Homrighausen
The ‘Esther Panel’: Queenship, Power, and Performance in the Dura Europos Synagogue (ca. 240)
Barbara Crostini
Esther in Islamic Cultures
Adam Silverstein
Esther on Stage: Approaching the Reception History of Esther in the Reformation Period
Stefan Michels
Modern Jewish Reception of the Book of Esther
Aaron J. Koller
Esther Online: Reception(s) of the Book of Esther on Swedish and US-Based Internet Discussion Forums
Hanna Liljefors
Reading Hadassah through the Lens of Horror
Ericka S. Dunbar and Maria Hearing
Published: Jun 1, 2026