Bible Book Club – Conspiracy and Intrigue
What do Novak Djokovic, Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’, African politics, women’s role in the Old Testament and Sephardic Jews in Spain have in common? They were all part of the discussion on the Old Testament book of Esther at the Bible Book Club in January; along with discussions on who really were the true heroes and villains in this intriguing book, and how can you reconcile incredible violence with the joyful Jewish festival of Purim.
When you first start reading this book it is not clear why it is in the Hebrew Bible and how it relates to other books in the Old Testament. God is not mentioned and neither is prayer. The book of Esther also appears in the Apocrypha where there are significant difference between this text and the Old Testament. We discussed why this might be so.
The Bible Book Club meets once a month online, except during Lent, August and Advent. All you have to do is to read the Bible book of the month and then join the discussion to talk about what struck you. To get you started the Midweek News has a link to useful Bible Society notes. You never know what you will discover. Books you thought you knew may speak to you in a new way. With the book of Esther I started wondering what the relevance of it was to me and the world in which I live and was amazed at all it had to tell me.
As I have said, one of the notable features of the book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible is that God is not mentioned at all. One of the images below is of a group of young Jews in Hebron during the feast of Purim when people dress up in bright clothes, often as clowns. I tried to research the history of this and could find no definitive answer. Several commentators however suggest that people dress up to symbolise that Esther was hidden as a non-Jew until she had to confess her faith in order to save her people and that God was always present, but was hidden.
I went on to the wonderful Visual Commentary on Scripture to find an image of Esther and found a commentary on Esther by our former curate Ayla Lepinehttps://thevcs.org/esther-pleads-her-people/esthers-performative-body and a more detailed comment by her on the image of Esther below by John Everett Millais https://thevcs.org/esther-pleads-her-people/turncoat?first=411 Through this I learnt even more about the importance of Esther for us today. It seems that despite my original scepticism this is a book that is worth reading and rereading!
The next Bible Book Club is at 7.30 pm on 23rd February when we will be discussing 2 Corinthians. Do join us.
