Esther in the eye of the beholder: Interpretation in antiquity and modern times

This article is a guided tour through the reception of the book of Esther in the cultural deposit from antiquity to modern times whereby I showcase a range of different perspectives on the story. In particular, the article pays attention to how readers have approached the book of Esther with different interpretive strategies—identifying with the story and the plight of the Jewish characters (sympathetic readings), or identifying with the villain of the piece Haman and/or his Persian overlords (unsympathetic renderings, even distortion). In the following, I trace sympathetic and unsympathetic interpretations, along with ambivalent renderings, of the Esther story, and analyze them through the lens of postcolonial criticism. Through closer attention to its reception, we are in a better position to appreciate the biblical story of Esther and also to conceptualize and potentially confront some of the challenges of our time.