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King Saul’s Hidden Role in the Book of Esther

March 10 2017

Drawing on ancient rabbinic interpretations as well as archaeological evidence, Marc Zvi Brettler suggests understanding the book of Esther (which will be read Saturday night and Sunday for the holiday of Purim) as a counterpoint to the story of Saul in the book of Samuel, beginning with the fact that its hero Mordecai (and, by extension, his cousin Esther) is, like Saul, a member of the tribe of Benjamin:

“In the fortress of Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite.” [Thus the text introduces Mordecai]. . . . [A]s is often the case in genealogies, “son” here likely means “descendant,” and it appears that the Kish mentioned here is intended to refer to the very same Kish who is the father of the Benjaminite King Saul (1 Sam 9:1-2). . . . Targum Sheni, an expansive midrashic translation of Esther (written in the 8th or 9th century CE) makes this explicit by charting Mordecai’s lineage directly to Saul. . . .

As a result of his failure to fulfill precisely God’s command in the battle against Amalek, the kingship is taken away from Saul and given to David. . . . The story of Mordecai and his cousin Esther thus represents Saul’s successful second chance or comeback. As such, it contains many [implicit linguistic] references to the stories concerning Saul and his family found in Samuel. . . .

In Esther the evil protagonist is Haman, who five times is called “the Agagite,” [meaning] the descendant of Agag. This term, used only here in the entire Bible, refers to Agag, the Amalekite king whom King Saul spared rather than killing as he was commanded (1 Samuel 15:8-9). [Indeed, this act of disobedience led to God’s decision to reject Saul.]

In Esther, by contrast, Saul’s descendants bring about the death of the vile descendant of Agag, king of Amalek. And Mordecai, unlike Saul, does not even need a divine command; . . . he knows to do so by himself. And while Saul had nothing to fear, Mordecai had much to fear: he endangers himself and Esther by pressuring her to speak with Ahasuerus.

Read more at theTorah.com

More about: Esther, Hebrew Bible, King Saul, Purim, Religion & Holidays

The Summary: 10/7/20

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.

Read more at Mosaic