This past winter the Sunday school classes focused on three Old Testament books: Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. These three books are found together in the same order in our English Bible. The reason for this order is due to the Septuagint—the first Greek translation of the Hebrew text.
The Septuagint follows a historical pattern in that Genesis is first because of its material dictating that it begins first. After Deuteronomy you have Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, which follows a historical time line.
The Hebrew Bible, however, follows a different pattern. It is divided into three sections: Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy); the Prophets (Joshua – Malachi); and the Writings (Psalms – Chronicles). This pattern was recognized by Simon Ben Sira, the grandson of rabbi Yeshua Ben Sira who wrote Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes). Simon Ben Sira translated his grandfather’s work from Hebrew into Greek and added a preface recognizing the threefold pattern of the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus, Himself, recognized this pattern in Matthew 5:17, 7:12, 11:13, 22:40 and Luke 16:16 where He states the Law and the Prophets. In Luke 24:44, Jesus gives the wholeness of the Scriptures through this threefold pattern. He says, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
I know what you must be asking yourself by now: “So what?” “How does this affect me?” I hope I can answer such questions by using Esther as case in point.
The first thing we need to know is where Esther is in the Hebrew Bible. Esther is located after Lamentations and before Daniel. Esther is part of what is called the Megilloth, or five scrolls, which includes in order: Song of Songs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Lamentation and Esther. One of the reasons why Esther was incorporated into this section was because all five books could be placed on one scroll. Eventually, the Jewish leaders incorporated the Megilloth as part of the annual festivities by reading one book during each festival.
But this is all background information. What is important to know is that before the time of Jesus each book of the Scripture was arranged within the threefold pattern. Knowing now where Esther was positioned, the second thing we need to ask is “does it matter?”
Before I answer this question, allow me to put this into perspective by going back a couple of weeks when Pastor Steven said in his sermon that the meaning of a text relies in its context. If we read Esther on its own, which is how we approach any book of the Bible, are we missing something by reading that book outside of its surrounding context?
In studying the book of Esther, the main theme according to Lifeway’s Explore the Bible series is “God Works Through Turmoil.” The people of God are scattered and living in a foreign land and the book of Esther is about how God works in those terrible circumstances. But what if we read Esther in light of its placement in the Hebrew Bible.
One of the things to notice is that the five books, with Esther being the last, begins and ends with focusing on women. This might not be that important except for the connection to Proverbs 31:10ff dealing with the virtuous woman. For example, if we read Ruth on its own we are focused on the historical events that happened during the time of the Judges. But in its context with the surrounding books, the focus is switched to this woman and her character as an example of a virtuous woman. The same can be said of the shulamite maiden in Song of Songs and of Esther.
Esther’s beauty and character won her the approval of the king of Persia. If we step back and view the book within its context in the canon we see that Esther is more than just about living in turmoil, but about the character of a woman in the midst of turmoil and how she was the kind of woman that Proverbs 31:10ff was describing.