TEACH Services, Inc.

Esther has proven to be a perplexing book to many. The absence of any mention of God in the story and the seeming emphasis on human causality has led to the impression that historical events and their results are ultimately under the control of human beings. Where is the God who explicitly stands as the Lord of history in the rest of the Old Testament?

Angel Rodriguez explores that question through a careful analysis of the book of Esther. In that process he develops a theological approach to Esther that, he argues, lies at the very heart of the book.

Rodriguez concludes that the story of Esther is written from the Jewish community's perception of the nature of historical events. Because the Divine seemed to be absent from those events, the narrator told the story without making explicit reference to God or to religious practices. Yet, Rodriguez suggests, "The real purpose is to describe Yahweh as both transcendental and imminent. The absence of the name of God is used by the narrator as a witness to Yahweh's transcendence, not to His absence. On the other hand, the ultimate of the story, i.e. the preservation of the Jews, is a witness to His immanence." The story, of course, also reveals God's deep concern for His people.