In its first appearance, it is King Ahasuerus who remembers, though he wishes to forget, and his advisors invest effort to help him drown his loneliness in the search for a new queen.Īt the heart of the megillah, in chapter 6, the king awakens (in two senses) and understands that memory is vital for his continued existence.īy inviting Ahasuerus to a banquet with Haman, and then, instead of saying what was on her mind, inviting him with Haman to a second banquet, Esther succeeds in arousing the king’s curiosity, concern, and suspicion. The theme of memory thus spans the megillah. This is a dramatic moment that culminates a tortuous process in which Mordechai and Esther attempt to ensconce the holiday in the Jewish memory. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants. Memory is here oppressive, and the rememberer is to trying to blur and obviate the painful memory. The king is burdened by his memories, and those around him try to find a solution.
This structure, Beal suggests, emphasizes that Ahasuerus remembers and that Vashti does not allow herself to be forgotten. Timothy Beal, professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, discerns in this verse a sophisticated structure, with the king remembering three different things, each introduced by the Hebrew word ʾet, in ascending order of length: first one word, then two words, and finally three. When the anger of King Ahasuerus subsided, In chapter 2, after Vashti is banished from the king’s presence and demoted from her position as queen: אסתר ב:א אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה The root ז.כ.ר appears in the Book of Esther in two other verses, one towards the beginning of the book and one towards the end. Why is this unusual term, “book of remembrances,” used here? Moreover, how might bringing in the book of remembrances alleviate the king’s sleeplessness? Other Uses of Memory in the Megillah This book is called by this name only here in chapter 2 verse 23, it is called “the book of annals” (בְּסֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים). Memory in the Megillah’s Pivotal SceneĬhapter 6 describes the night when King Ahasuerus was sleepless, and requested that the “סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרֹנוֹת דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים” (book of remembrances, annals), be read to him. However it was composed, the book of Esther as we have it now has a clear point of transition: chapter 6, in which the fate of the Jews begins to change. 1–5), in which Haman gains ascendency and the Jews are in danger, is undone by the second, inverse, part of the work, in which the Jewish heroes, Esther and Mordechai, prevail (ch.
Other scholars view Esther as a unified literary work with a concentric structure: the first part of the work (ch. Some scholars believe that the book of Esther combines two sources: a liturgical text about Esther aimed at describing the Jewish attitude to non-Jews and explaining the origin of Purim, and a historical text concerning the palace intrigues of Mordecai and the persecution of the Jews in Shushan. The composition history of the book of Esther, known in Jewish circles as the megillah (the scroll), is a matter of scholarly debate. The Two-Part Structure of Megillat Esther
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