Resources on the Book of Esther

Ron Lindo offers some suggestions here.

Archaeological Discoveries Related to Esther

Bryan Windle has a nice post here on the top ten discoveries related to the Book of Esther.

HT: Todd Bolen

Esther as a Source for Achaemenian (Persian) History

While this article does not go as far as I would, I did appreciate the fact that it seems to give Esther more historical credit than many do.

Feast of Purim

This is a pretty nice summary of the Feast of Purim which begins this evening. I am currently posting this in Israel and have already seen some of the costumes out and about.

Top Esther Commentaries

Chloe Sun lists and annotates her top six commentaries on Esther on Nijay Gupta's blog here. It is a solid listing. But Tomasino's, EEC commentary might be a better choice than Levenson. And though it might be too brief to include it in the top six and is a little dated, Joyce Baldwin's commentary in the Tyndale series is a model of clarity and judicious interpretation.

Song: "Girls Like You - Purim Parody"

Those looking for something different to illustrate their Esther lessons or sermons might be interested in the song "Girls Like You - Purim Parody" by the group Rabotai. It is a "parody" of the Maroon 5 song "Girls Like You." You can check out this article which discusses the song and also contains a music video of the song.

Post-Exilic Timeline

Russell Meek has created a helpful timeline for the post-exilic period with reference to Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, and Zechariah. You can view the timeline here.

Susa

Claude Mariottini has a very nice post here on the city of Susa. The city is mentioned in Ezra 4:9, Nehemiah 1:1, Esther 1:2, 5; 2;3, 5, 8; 3:15; 4:8, 16; 8:14, 15; 9:6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18), and Daniel 8:2.

Irony in Esther

Jesse Johnson briefly explains what irony is and how it works and then examines how it plays out in Esther here.

On Writing a Commentary

Carey Moore notes the following on writing commentaries.

Just as 'it takes a village to raise a child', so it also takes a village to produce a biblical commentary, including such 'villagers' as past and present scholars; the 'who' (including one's own gender), 'what', 'when', 'where' and 'why' of the commentator; the collaborative efforts of the editor(s); and the marketing savvy of the publisher. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so a biblical commentary is only as strong as its weakest 'villager.'

Carey Moore, "'It Takes a Village' to Produce a Commentary: A Case in Point," in The Book of Esther in Modern Research, ed. Sidnie White Crawford and Leonard J. Greenspoon (London: T&T Clark, 2003), 3.

Comparing Vashti and Esther

I know I am not the first one to try and compare Queen Vashti and Queen Esther but here is a visual that I made recently. There are no doubt other points of comparison but I tried to keep it fairly simple.

Studying Esther

Jesse Johnson discusses why here. The reading here shows the importance of using a canonical approach. We look for God's fingerprints because Esther is in the God Book. If Esther were simply part of ancient Near Eastern extra-biblical literature we would likely not feel compelled to find God.

Teaching Esther

Nancy Guthrie talks to Christopher Ash here about teaching Esther.

Today Only Deal on the Esther Photo Companion

I am hoping to do a more complete write up on the two newest BiblePlaces Photo Companion resources on Esther and Daniel but they are offering a one day deal/steal on the Esther volume: 700 slides for $34. Use this link www.bibleplaces.com/estherdeal

New Persia Resource

BiblePlaces recently released their latest volume featuring Persia. This collection of brand new images includes 22 PowerPoints and more photographs than any other Pictorial Library of Bible Lands volume. I didn't count all the images

but the PDF index listing all the images runs 46 pages! Todd Bolen combines a photographer's eye with a Bible scholar's knowledge. So if you teach or preach from books like Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah, you really owe it to yourself to check out this volume. Plus, you can now order the Persia volume at the introductory price of $25 (download or DVD or both).

Esther from Memory

I was recently perusing through Morris Adler's The World of the Talmud and came upon the comment. It really does put my memorization efforts to shame.

"The process of writing text in Rabbinic times was both a difficult and costly process. Few could own copies, even of Scriptures. Rabbi Meir once came to a Jewish community in Asia Minor and could not find a single copy of the Scroll of Esther. Being a scribe by profession and a scholar by advocation, he was able to write on from memory" (The World of the Talmud. 2nd ed. [New York: Schocken, 1963], 33).

The Tombs of Esther and Mordechai

You can read this interesting article on the tombs of Esther and Mordechai located in Iran.

The Bible Project's Esther Video

The Bible Project continues to churn out excellent video summaries. Here is the one on Esther. 

The Historicity of Esther

It is rare these days to find someone who will affirm the historicity of Esther. So this brief article was a pleasant surprise.

9 Things You Didn’t Know About Purim

This is a fairly interesting list but but most Bible students are aware of #3 (and it might not be correct depending on one's translation of Songs 8:6).