by Mulan 4 Replies latest jw friends
Several months ago someone posted a very interesting thread on Esther and a corresponding myth. I have searched and can't find it. I don't recall who wrote it, but they named the characters: Esther/Ishtar, Mordecai/Marduk, Vashti/Mashti, etc. That is the one I want.
We are discussing it at the Freedom Fest, and we want to see that post!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I've seen it twice here, but the one you might mean is:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/35562/1.ashx
Edited to add -- and Blondie agrees with me...
Gamaliel
nope................i saw that one. it was more specific
mulan,
In the thread quoted above, runningman posted a good summary of those issues from http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/ruth.html#esther
There are many elements within the story that leads one to conclude that the origin of the story was not from history but from an ancient Persian [Babylonian?] folktale.
* The very name Esther is a derivative of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar . In fact, the Aramaic version of the goddess name was Esther. Even her original Hebrew name, Hadassah (Esther 2:7), is closely related to the Babylonian word for bride.
* The name Mordecai itself is not Hebrew and seems like a derivative of Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonians. In Babylonian mythology, Marduk and Ishtar are cousins, just like Mordecai and Esther in the story.
* Even the name of King Xerxes original wife Vashti, mentioned in the Book (Esther 1:11-2:1) was not a historical figure. The real wife of Xerxes during the earlier years of his reign, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, was Amestris, the daughter of a Persian general. The name Vashti came from, you got it, Babylonian mythology. Vashti was the name of an Elamite Goddess.
* Even the name of the chief villain of the story, Haman, the prime minister in Xerxes court (Esther 3:1), is fictional. There is no historical reference to any ministers in Xerxes court with such a name. Furthermore, the name of the chief male Elamite god is Hamman.
I couldn't find the same discussion anywhere else on this forum. But I've been involved in some previous (more lengthy) discussions of this issue on the ANE forum (Ancient Near East). If you are looking for more information supporting the points from http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/ruth.html#esther, I could send you some info.
Gamaliel
