Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought

Introduction; Part I. The Provocation: Conventional Wisdom in Early Second Temple Judaism: 1. Setting the stage: the theological challenge of political stability; 2. The movement of Ezra and Nehemiah; 3. Authoring/editing: Joseph, Daniel, and God; 4. Identity of a hero: Mordecai the Yehudi, scion of the house of Saul; Part II. Entering the Fray: Esther as a Political Book: 5. Persian law and Persian king in the Book of Esther; 6. Modeling heroes: Daniel, Esther, and Mordecai; 7. Hero models: Joseph and Saul; 8. Diaspora revisions: rethinking the Exodus and rethinking God; Part III. Early Reactions: Rejection, Subversion, Correction: 9. A tense embrace: the reception of Esther in hellenistic Alexandria; 10. Subvert or ignore: canonical re-contextualization and outright rejection of Esther; 11. Criticism by adaptation: rewriting Esther in Hellenistic and Roman times; 12. Adoption: Esther in the eastern diaspora and in the canon; Part IV. Rabbinic Readings: Moving Esther from the Periphery to the Center: 13. Introduction to the rabbinic literature on Esther; 14. Biblicizing Esther; 15. Restoring God and Torah.