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Esther against Joseph’s Backdrop
The Theology and History of an Intertextual Relationship
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Gabriel Fischer Hornung
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2024
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
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Frontmatter
i -
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Acknowledgements
v -
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Contents
vii -
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1 Introduction: Currents in Scroll and Intertextual Scholarship
1 - Part One: The Allusive Megillah and the Scholarly Attempts to Understand It
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2 Textual Connections and Scholarly Histories
27 -
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3 Other Intertextual Relationships and Esther and Joseph’s Good Looks
42 - Part Two: Compositional and Structural Considerations
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4 Esther’s Compositional History and the Development of its Allusive Purpose
57 -
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5 The Redactional Stages and Narrative Cohesiveness of MT Esther’s Final Literary Form
77 - Part Three: The Theology of Esther and Contrast of Daniel
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6 The Theological Implications of Esther’s Relationship with Joseph
97 -
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7 Daniel’s Position in Joseph and Esther’s Intertextual Chain
112 -
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8 Conclusion: Esther’s Intertextual Reflections and Theological Additions
128 -
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Bibliography
139 -
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Subject Index
147 -
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Index of Secondary Authors
149 -
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Index of Biblical Passages
151
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 6, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9783111216119
Hardcover published on:
August 6, 2024
Hardcover ISBN:
9783111214139
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
8
Main content:
152
Tables:
1
Audience(s) for this book
Forschende zum Alten Testament, Biblischer Theologie, Estherbuch
Safety & product resources
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Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
