Die Esthernovelle - Vom Erzählten Zur Erzählung : Studien Zur Traditions- Und Redaktionsgeschichte Des Estherbuches

In this work the author attempts to unravel the original narratives which underlie the biblical Book of Esther. She reconstructs the contents of three non-Jewish narratives: a wedding story, in which the foreign beauty (Esther) takes the place of the disobedient queen; and two court narratives, telling the story of the rivalry between two courtiers at the Persian court. In exilic and postexilic times these basic narratives were merged into one topical and literary narrative, which expressed the problems connected with Jewish life in the disapora. The author aims to show that this text has been redactionally revised once more, in an attempt to adjust Palestinian Judaism to the Jewish communities that flourished in the disapora. This redaction bears the hallmarks of Judaism's clash with Hellenized political forces. In this book the author attempts to unravel the original narratives which underlie the biblical Book of Esther. She reconstructs the contents of three non-Jewish narratives: A wedding story, in which the foreign beauty (Esther) takes the place of the disobedient queen, and two court narratives, telling the story of the rivalry between two courtiers at the Persian court.In exilic and postexilic times these basic narratives were merged into one topical and literarily well developed narrative, which expressed the problems connected with Jewish life in the diaspora. The author shows that this text has been redactionally revised once more, in an attempt to adjust Palestinian Judaism to the Jewish communities that flourished in the diaspora. This redaction bears the hallmarks of Judaism's clash with Hellenised political forces; Purim emerges as a succesful defense. In this book the author attempts to unravel the original narratives which underlie the biblical Book of Esther. She reconstructs the contents of three non-Jewish narratives: A wedding story, in which the foreign beauty (Esther) takes the place of the disobedient queen, and two court narratives, telling the story of the rivalry between two courtiers at the Persian court. In exilic and postexilic times these basic narratives were merged into one topical and literarily well developed narrative, which expressed the problems connected with Jewish life in the diaspora. The author shows that this text has been redactionally revised once more, in an attempt to adjust Palestinian Judaism to the Jewish communities that flourished in the diaspora. This redaction bears the hallmarks of Judaism's clash with Hellenised political forces; Purim emerges as a succesful defense 1. Einleitung, Fragestellung und Forschungsüberblick 2. Grundlegung 3. Die Vasti-Erzählung (VE) 4. Die beiden Hoferzählungen von Haman und Mordechai 5. Die Komposition der Esthererzählung (Pre-Esth) 6. Miliks These von den Proto-Esth-Fragmenten 4Q550a-f 7. Die Redaktionen des Pre-Esth: "יְהוּדִים"- und "Purim"-Schicht 8. Zusammenfassung Three pagan narratives underlie the Book of Esther. These basic narratives were merged into one story, which expressed the problems of Jewish life in the diaspora. In an attempt to adjust Palestinian Judaism to the Jewish diaspora, the theme of Purim was introduced into the narrative. Von Ruth Kossmann. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [388]-393) And Indexes.