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Old Testament and Revenge: Viewed from the Book of Esther

Old Testament and Revenge: Viewed from the Book of Esther

Timothy SJ WU

The LXX and Jewish tradition added the name of God and attributed “hidden” spirituality to Esther and Mordecai in the book of Esther so that the book, where the name YHWH is absent, can be included in the Old Testament canon. However, from the perspective of textual criticism, the MT version of the book of Esther is the original version and any “addition” is superfluous. These types of cover-ups not only do not offer satisfactory explanations for the carnage committed by the Jews, they expose the weaknesses of the characters in the drama — Esther and Mordecai used ethically questionable means to consolidate their positions in a Gentile society. The reason the book of Esther could be part of the canon is not that it shows “humans are loveable” but that “God is love.” From the perspective of the Old Testament Historical books, taken as a whole, and biblical theology, the transformation of the “victims” into “avengers” recorded in the ninth chapter of the book does not constitute a holy war, much less a model of Old Testament ethics. The Biblical view on revenge is consistent; it is not “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” but “it is mine to avenge; I will repay.” The contribution of this book to Old Testament ethics is that the more humans act, the more God is hidden!

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