Esther

Peter H. W. Lau

Description

The Asia Bible Commentary Series empowers Christian believers in Asia to read the Bible from within their respective contexts. Holistic in its approach to the text, each exposition of the biblical books combines exegesis and application. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the Body of Christ in Asia by providing pastoral and contextual exposition of every book of the Bible.
Set in Persia, the book of Esther seems to show little interest in the temple, the Promised Land, prayer or other signs of the Israelite religion. Most peculiarly for a book of the Bible, there is no explicit mention of God! Yet there are many similarities with the setting of Esther and situations in Asia today, which open ways for God to speak into present realities. This commentary examines the book of Esther in its original context, and considers how to interpret and apply it in light of the rest of Scripture – both the Old Testament and the New.

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783685066
• Langue: English

Extrait

For many Christians, reading Esther is like entering a strange new land. Here is a book unlike any other in the Bible. But with Peter Lau’s careful reading of the text to hand, they have a guide that will not only help them to find their way around, they will understand the ways in which this book continues to speak into contemporary life. A helpful guide, Lau attends carefully both to the context of the text and the experience of reading Esther in Asia today, showing how these two enrich our discipleship.
Rev David G. Firth, PhD
Old Testament Tutor and Academic Dean, Trinity College, Bristol, UK
This excellent commentary skillfully combines knowledge of the literary devices at work in the book of Esther, and knowledge of the cultural background from which the book was written, with a careful study of the text. The results of this process are applied specifically to the Asian context and written in language that a layman can understand. Without presenting literary analysis, exegesis, and application in different sections, as in many commentaries, this commentary exhibits a rare combined approach. It demonstrates the kind of integration which I hope will be the hallmark of contemporary Asian biblical and theological scholarship. The Bible is an integrated book and it is good for Bible commentaries also to reflect this integration.
Ajith Fernando, DD
Teaching Director, Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka

Esther
Asia Bible Commentary Series
Peter H. W. Lau
General Editor
Federico G. Villanueva
Old Testament Consulting Editors
Yohanna Katanacho, Tim Meadowcroft, Joseph Shao
New Testament Consulting Editors
Steve Chang, Andrew Spurgeon, Brian Wintle

© 2018 Peter H. W. Lau
Published 2018 by Langham Global Library
an imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
Published in partnership with Asia Theological Association
ATA
QCC PO Box 1454 – 1154, Manila, Philippines
www.ataasia.com
ISBNs:
978-1-78368-505-9 Print
978-1-78368-506-6 ePub
978-1-78368-507-3 Mobi
978-1-78368-508-0 PDF
Peter H. W. Lau has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, copyright © 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78368-505-9
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth and works referenced within this publication or guarantee its technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB

To Kathryn – My companion Who nudges me on Even when God is hidden.
Contents

Cover


Series Preface


Author’s Prefa ce


List of Abbreviations


Introduction


Reading Esther in Persia


Reading Esther in the Canon


Reading Esther in Asia


Esther 1


1:1–8 Scene 1: The King Feasted


1:9–12 Scene 2: The Queen Refused


1:13–22 Scene 3: The King Responded


Esther 2:1–23


2:1–11 Scene 1: The King Sought a New Queen


2:12–14 Scene 2: A Woman’s Turn


2:15–18 Scene 3: Esther Was Chosen as the New Queen


2:19–23 Scene 4: Mordecai Foiled a Plot


Esther 3


3:1–6 Scene 1: Mordecai Angered Haman


3:7–11 Scene 2: Haman Hoodwinked Xerxes


3:12–15 Scene 3: Haman’s Edict Was Dispatched


Esther 4


4:1–3 Scene 1: The Jews Mourned


4:4–11 Scene 2: Esther’s Resistance


4:12–17 Scene 3: Mordecai Persuaded Esther


Esther 5


5:1–8 Scene 1: Esther Approached the King


5:9–14 Scene 2: Haman’s Invitation Spoiled


Esther 6


6:1–5 Scene 1: The Sleep of the King Fled


6:6–11 Scene 2: Haman Honored Mordecai


6:12–14 Scene 3: Haman’s Fall Began


Esther 7


7:1–7 Scene 1: Esther’s Requests


7:8–10 Scene 2: Haman Fell


Esther 8


8:1–2 Scene 1: Mordecai Was Promoted


8:3–8 Scene 2: Esther Persuaded Xerxes


8:9–14 Scene 3: A Counter-Edict


8:15–17 Scene 4: Coming Out


Esther 9:1–16


9:1–10 Scene 1: The Jews’ Self-Defense


9:11–16 Scene 2: Further Events in Susa and the Provinces


Esther 9:17–10:3


9:17–22 Scene 1: The Jews Celebrate; Mordecai’s Letter


9:23–28 Scene 2: The Jews’ Response


9:29–32 Scene 3: Esther’s Letter


10:1–3 Scene 4: Mordecai’s Greatness


Bibliography


About Asia Theological Association


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Series Preface
In recent years, we have witnessed one of the greatest shifts in the history of world Christianity. It used to be that the majority of Christians lived in the West, but Christians are now evenly distributed around the globe. This shift has implications for the task of interpreting the Bible from within our respective contexts, which is in line with the growing realization that every theology is contextual. The questions that we bring into our reading of the Bible will be shaped by our present realities as well as our historical and social locations. There is a need therefore to interpret the Bible for our own contexts.
The Asia Bible Commentary (ABC) series addresses this need. In line with the mission of the Asia Theological Association Publications, we have gathered Asian evangelical Bible scholars to write commentaries on each book of the Bible. The mission is to “produce resources that are biblical, pastoral, contextual, missional, and prophetic for pastors, Christian leaders, cross-cultural workers, and students in Asia.” Although the Bible can be studied for different reasons, we believe that it is given primarily for the edification of the Body of Christ (2 Tim 3:16–17). The ABC series is designed to help pastors in their sermon preparation, cell group leaders or lay leaders in their Bible study groups, and those training in seminaries or Bible Schools.
Each commentary begins with an introduction that provides general information about the book’s author and original context, summarizes the main message or theme of the book, and outlines its potential relevance to a particular Asian context. The introduction is followed by an exposition that combines exegesis and application. Here, we seek to speak to and empower Christians in Asia by using our own stories, parables, poems, and other cultural resources as we expound the Bible.
The Bible is actually Asian in that it comes from ancient West Asia, and there are many similarities between the world of the Bible and traditional Asian cultures. But there are also many differences that we need to explore in some depth. That is why the commentaries also include articles or topics in which we bring specific issues in Asian church, social, and religious contexts into dialogue with relevant issues in the Bible. We do not seek to resolve every tension that emerges but rather to allow the text to illumine the context and vice versa.
May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writers of the Bible, bring light to the hearts and minds of all who use these materials, to the glory of God and to the building up of the churches!
Federico G. Villanueva
General Editor
Author’s Prefa ce
In my experience, the book of Esther is not a church favorite. I have attended churches in four continents over four decades, but I cannot recall studying it in a small group. Of the thousands of sermons I’ve heard, I cannot clearly recall any on Esther, although there may have been a one-off Esther sermon somewhere in my dim past. So I was delighted to have the chance to study this book in preparation for writing this commentary.
What I discovered was that hearers found the book of Esther engaging and applicable. After hearing a sermon on Esther people would often say to me, “You make the narrative