One of the best romance novels I have ever read is the Septuagint version of the Book of Esther. Wait, father, a romance novel? Yes, various parts of the Book of Esther read almost like a regency period romance novel. At time, parts of it remind me of Beauty and the Beast, and I do not mean the Disney version, either.
Look at the book, I recommend you read it closely and see what I mean. For instance, at the beginning, the evil King, or at least the incredibly obnoxious and controlling King is introduced. He divorces his wife simply because she does not want to go to one of his parties to do the appropriate social queenly thing. But, it gets worse.
The king we meet is a rather horrid character. He implements a suggestion to send out messengers throughout the land to find beautful virgins for him to test out as future queens. And, yes, to test them out in the worst possible way. First, the maidens have to go through a 12 month course of beauty treatments. Then the book says that he brings them in, one a night. They go in at sunset and come out the next morning, then go to the second house of women. In other words, he deflowers them, and sends them off to the harem after the trial.
Esther is taken in the raid for maidens and is said to be beautiful. Immediately, we see that she is a committed Jew, as she will only eat food that is kosher. Her time come, and she has to be fearing that night, for she will lose her virginity plus probably be relegated to the life of a harmen concubine to only be brought back when the king wants her. The Jewish Talmud has more than one story about her to “prevent” this from happening, mostly by making her older, from 40 all the way up to 74. But, this does not go with the rest of the book, or even with what has gone before. No, Esther is a young maiden, facing a forced marriage or a forced concubinage.
But, here the unexpected happens. The king falls in love with Esther during their night together and makes her the queen. The Bible is politely and gently silent on that first night. We only know that the king falls in love with her. If this is not sounding more and more like a romance novel, you have not read romance novels.
But, it is what happens next that moves this story completely into the range of an almost-regency romance novel. Esther lived with her Uncle Mordecai. As no other family is mentioned, all the Talmudic literature assumes that she is an orphan. Most assumes that Mordecai raised her, which is what the Bible appears to point to.
Earlier in the book, we have already found out that Mordecai has done a signal service for the king. After her marriage, Mordecai is able to save the king’s life by reporting a plot against the king to Queen Esther. But, an evil man is assigned to the chief post in the kingdom, as what would be called the king’s vizier nowadays. Haman has little good to be said for him. He lusts for honor and power to the point that he becomes very upset when Mordecai refuses to bow to him.
So, he plans the murder of all the people who are of Mordecai’s ethnicity, the Jews. He lies to the king and suggests that it would be politically safer to get rid of them as they do not make good subjects. The king agrees.
I will continue tomorrow.
I always thought the same about the book of Esther and the book of Ruth as well.