Esther is the name of a book in the tanakh the hebrew bible and the old testament, and also its title heroine. English edition and elaboration of an introduction to the nt, published in swedish in 2007. This jewish bible app can be used by everyone all over the world. For the full text of the book of esther in hebrew and english, click here. The books chief concern, however, is not with physical origins, but with the relationship god desires to have with. The author of the book of esther is unknown, though some attribute the work to mordecai. An easyenglish bible version and commentary 2800 word vocabulary on the book of proverbs. The book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. The events in the book of esther took place during the exile from babylon.
It is commonly agreed that its inclusion in the canon justified the jewish communitys appropriation of a holiday nonjewish in origin. Walk exodus a messianic jewish devotional commentary for readers of the torah, haftarah and brit chadashah jeffrey enoch feinberg, ph. Neither mordecai, esther, nor the feast of purim is mentioned. There is no special book in the bible about mary, but god has given us this lovely book about ruth. Megillah with indepth commentaryside by side version. Cardinal joseph ratzinger now pope benedict xvi, in the beginning. The book of esther begins with the queen of king ahasuerusvashtisnubbing the kings request to meet with her. From this family came boaz and, later, great king david. A story of the providence of god in a pagan land page 4 introduction to the book the book of esther is the only book in the bible that does not mention the name of god. Book of esther simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In 1934 annie became a missionary in china with oms.
Study the bible online using commentary on esther 8 and more. He took esther as the new persian queen, not knowing she was an israelite. Waiting for the truth an anecdote we start with a story that highlights the essence of esthers ability to discern truth in the midst of material and spiritual distraction. Esther 6 commentary old testament matthew henry st. During world war ii she spent 21 months in a japanese concentration camp as a prisoner.
The jewish publication societys highly acclaimed bible commentary series provides a linebyline commentary of the original hebrew bible text, complete with vocalization and cantillation marks, alongside the jps english translation. Susa is all the way at the bottom right of the map. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles. Lessons, videos, songs, megilat esther, english hebrew purim vocabulary, purim trivia quiz, purim spiels, humor, games, recipes, photos, clipart and coloring pages. The gathering together of a harem for king ahasuerus. Study, memorize and preach the word of god downloading the best app on your android. Esther is, among the generality of jews, the best known of all the books of the bible p. Although esther does not appear in the story, we can begin to understand esther through the storys emphasis on clarity, patience. This map is taken, with some small modifications, from page 7 of martin gilberts jewish history atlas, published in london in 1969 by weidenfeld and nicholson. This commentary deals with the bible text literally as a love song.
Now he needs to pick a new queen and eventually manages to select esthera comely, young secretly jewish woman who is a. The world messianic bible is a free translation into english of the holy book also known as the hebrew names version hnv and the world english bible. Jewish commentaries on the bible are biblical commentaries of the hebrew bible the tanakh from a jewish perspective. All this agrees with the theory of a late origin for the book, as it is known, for example, from ecclesiastes, that the religious spirit had degenerated even in judea in the greek period, to which esther, like daniel, in all probability belongs. In fact, the book of esther, more than anything else, is responsible for the continued celebration of purim. On that day, king achashverosh gave queen esther the estate of haman, persecutor of the jews. Debra reids approachable commentary helps us see even more clearly in the book of esther the god who quietly and sometimes unexpectedly works behind the scenes to order the events of our lives. In times of oppression the jews found comfort in this narrative, for it presented an example of sudden divine salvation in the days of distress esth. Buy from christian book distributors buy from amazon. The king enquired what honour and dignity had been done to mordecai for this, suspecting that this good service had gone unrewarded, and, like pharaohs butler, remembering it as his fault this day, gen. It also opened the way for the establishment of later holidays that, like purim, could be instituted without divine command if they commemorated an important event or served an important function in the life of the jewish people.
The canonical book of esther undoubtedly presents the oldest extant form of the esther story. In the story of esther, youll meet a beautiful, young queen who risked her life to serve god and save her people. The book of esther reminds us we are representative of the holy one and it is our task to express, through our actions and. This commentary has been through advanced checking words in boxes are from the bible. Esther commentary scroll down to page 273 for 3 page commentary on esther includes maps seems to be well done. The original text of the megillah book of esther with a running commentary culled from the talmud and midrash, the great torah commentators and the chassidic masters. Hadassah was an orphaned jewish girl, who was also called esther and was entrusted to her jewish relative, mordecai a political activist also was a gatekeeper for the king. Since purim is not a holiday ordained by moses in the first five books of the bible, scholars have wondered if jews of ancient time indeed observed it annually. Esther is the most secular of the biblical books, making no reference to gods name, to the temple, to prayer, or to distinctive jewish practices such as kashrut keeping kosher. The book was originally written in hebrew, but the ancient greek translation known as the septuagint abbreviated lxx is also a very important witness to the text.
Xerxes, the persian king, rejected his wife queen vashti, and fell in love with esther at a beauty contest. The events that the first chapter of the book of esther describes happened about 483 bc before christ. If you are into jewish history, this book will satisfy your thirst. Over 100 years earlier, nebuchadnezzar the king of babylon had attacked jerusalem. Lectures, expository and practical on the book of esther 1859 j r dummelow, ed. This commentary also deals with the bible text literally as a love song but it is in simpler english. This commentary approaches the book of esther from a fresh literary pointofview. King xerxes of persia became offended with his queen vashti wanted to replace her.
Esther is the heroine of the purim story, in which the jewish people who live in the sprawling. This article is excerpted from the jps bible commentary. The book of esther describes the jewish heroine esther, who saved the jewish people in persia from annihilation during the reign of king xerxes i ahasuerus of persia, who ruled from 486 to 465 bc. Naturally, being a rather unstable fellow, ahasuerus firesslashdivorces her. Jewish book store webs largest jewish book store judaica. It relates the story of a hebrew woman in persia, born as hadassah but known as esther, who becomes queen of persia and thwarts a genocide. Jesus, the greatest of all kings, came from bethlehem from the same family. Ahasuerusit is now generally agreed among learned men that the ahasuerus mentioned in this episode is the xerxes who figures in grecian history. Following tradition, the books explanation of purim as a historical event to be. The basic reason for these feasts was, of course, pride. Hence it belongs to the bestknown ot books with the jews and it is also the book, which has the oldest copies. It is one of the five scrolls megillot in the hebrew bible. Long ago, in a country called persia babylon, there was a king named achashveyrosh as known in jewish. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll megillah, is a book in the third section ketuvim, writings of the jewish tanakh the hebrew bible and in the christian old testament.
In the logos edition, each scripture passage links to your favorite translation, and the series is easy to study side by side with your other commentaries. The only allusion in esther to religion is the mention of fasting iv. The commentary is available for free in it entirety online. A new english commentary has been written for the entire hebrew bible drawing on both traditional rabbinic sources, and the findings of. They seemed to believe that god would protect his jewish people esther 6. The border between biblical scholarship and antisemitism was often blurred, for example in this 1908 summary of the moral teaching of the book by lewis bayles patton, professor of bible at hartford theological seminary, published in the international critical commentary, the major english commentary series of this era. Listen to this description in the five megilloth, a jewish commentary published by the soncino press.
English translation of the entire tanakh tanach with rashis commentary. Click on any part of the bible below to start reading. Hence it belongs to the bestknown otbooks with the jews and it is also the book, which has the oldest copies. This book discusses jewish issues raised in the new testament questions jews have about yeshua, the new testament and christianity. The jps tanakh commentary collection offers pastors, students, and laypeople commitment to accessibility without sacrificing serious scholarship. Read esther 8 commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. An explanatory commentary on esther 1888 college press. Book of genesis simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Esther with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The book of esther describes how this crisis was averted through the bravery of esther, the wisdom of mordecai and the unity of the jewish people. For me this is a message of how easy it is to become like our oppressors. To bring queen vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown. The mishnah is the first text to prescribe how purim is to be celebrated the book of esther is to be read in public. Theology of work bible commentary free online start. The book of esther is counted as an historical book in our english bibles, but in the jewish scriptures it is among the writings. Among the puzzles in the book of ester is that of its origins. The book of esther provides us with the greatest illustrations of the providence of god. The book of esther is unusual gods name is not mentioned once, yet gods hand is clearly. The jewish study bible, from oxford university press, edited by adele berlin and marc zvi brettler. Esther, and is reprinted with permission of the jewish publication society. The talmud redacted 500 ce augments the tradition of reading the book of esther in public with drinking wine, making merry and giving gifts to the poor. The book of esther affirms that all is right with the world and with the place of the jews in it.
A scientific and devotional commentary on the book of beginnings. We ought particularly to be grateful to our inferiors, and not to think all their services such debts to us but that they make us. His jewish new testament, which has been incorporated into the complete jewish bible, is the basis for its companion volume, the jewish new testament commentary. Esther 1 commentary old testament matthew henry st.
A scholarly jewish commentary employing traditional sources. Commentary on the book of esther by matthew henry old. Book of genesis simple english wikipedia, the free. Berlin begins with a lengthy introduction, discussing esther as comedy and as diaspora literature. The feast was for all the important men who had authority in the kingdom.
The book of esther has served the jewish people as support of their national hope and especially so in the days of persecution. The complete tanakh tanach hebrew bible the jewish. May 09, 2017 as a jewess struggling in exile, esther understandably rejects the luxury and power of life in the very palace that oppresses her people. Old testament hebrew english holy name king james version with strongs numbers. The book of esther is about a jewish girl adopted by her uncle, mordecai, after her parents died. A wakeup call from the book of esther eisenberg, michael on. Esther hebrew english translation massoretic text mt. Yet esther, of all the biblical books outside of the torah, is the only one that addresses the origin of a new festival. You can find the best commentary on esther for you using the tools on the right side. The theology of work bible commentary is an in depth bible study tool put together by a group of 8 biblical scholars, pastors and working christians.
Although his name is never mentioned, we see his providence in each page of this wonderful little book. The ancient hebrews called the book by its opening words, in the beginning. How the providence of god watched over the jews that had returned out of captivity to their own land, and what great and kind things were done for them, we. Translations into aramaic and english, and some universally accepted jewish commentaries with notes on their method of approach and modern translations into english with notes are listed. The jewish bible with a modern english translation and rashis commentary. A messianic jewish devotional commentary for readers of the torah, haftarah and brit chadashah jeffrey enoch feinberg, ph. The book of genesis those who gave the name genesis to the first book of the bible were the translators of the pentateuch. Esther free bible commentary in easy english easyenglish bible. Rabbi lehman was a genius storyteller, weaving intricate plots set against historical backgrounds.
Vashti is sent for by the king, but refuses to come, esther 1. The book of esther has served the jewish people as support of their national hope and especially so. Messianic devotional commentary the messianic light. Several things in this chapter itself are very instructive and of great use. He overcame the jews and he took many jews to babylon. Esther is read during the purim feast on 14th and 15th adar februarymarch. David guzik commentary on esther 1, where queen vashti refuses to display her. Commentary english comentario espanol kommentar deutsch italiano. A free bible version and commentary on the old testament book of esther in easy english.
After these things, when the wrath of king ahasuerus subsided, he remembered vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. This informative commentary part of jpss bible commentary series dissects the book of esther and, by extension, the jewish holiday of purim. This hebrew bible was edited by esteemed translator and scholar, rabbi a. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament.