A Prophet in Persia
by Eliezer Segal
Esther has many claims to greatness in the Jewish memory. She was a brave and loyal member of her community, the heroine of the book that bears her name, a renowned beauty, and monarch of the Persian empire.
Rabbinic tradition adds yet another important aspect to Esther’s greatness: she was a prophet.
The Hebrew word for prophet— “n’vi’ah” —is not actually used in connection with Esther, but various rabbis proposed different textual sources for the claim.
Rabbi Ḥanina derived it by employing a common hermeneutical method, the “gezerah shavah,” that allows the exegete to expound similarities between occurrences of identical words in the Bible. In this case, he focused on the passage where the queen is preparing for her fateful approach to the king to invite him and Haman to a banquet. The Bible here employs the expression “It came to pass on the third day, that Esther was clothed in royalty.” The Talmud notes that royalty—as distinct from “royal apparel”—is not something that can be worn physically. Therefore the reference must be to a spiritual entity. “This teaches that the holy spirit clothed her.” This interpretation finds support in an episode in the book of Chronicles about the warriors who pledged their allegiance to David when he was fleeing from King Saul. Of all the men who were present, only Amasai took the initiative of addressing David: “Then the spirit clothed Amasai, who was chief of the captains… and he said: We are yours, David.”
To be sure, being “clothed” by the spirit might just mean that Amasai was animated with the courage to speak out on this occasion. At any rate, Rabbi Ḥanina understood it as relating to supernatural inspiration. In rabbinic parlance, the holy spirit is the conduit through which the Almighty communicates prophetically with his creatures. From this Rabbi Ḥanina inferred that the similar expression used in connection with Esther was also referring to prophetic inspiration.
An earlier rabbinic collection took a different approach to demonstrating Esther’s prophetic status. Seder ‘Olam, a chronological treatise ascribed to the second-century sage Rabbi Yosé ben Ḥalafta cites the verse about how “the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.”
Rabbi Yosé understood that Esther was not merely instituting a new holiday, but authorizing that the story of its origin be accepted into sacred scripture. This implied that the book of Esther, like all the other books of the Hebrew Bible, had been revealed prophetically, and that Esther was therefore to be ranked as a prophet.
Whether or not the book of Esther qualifies as inspired scripture was discussed from several perspectives. Some rabbis pointed to passages in the book that describe people’s thoughts or actions that human observers could not have known of. But others countered that it was possible for people’s thoughts to be discerned by means of their observable behaviour. (Of course modern readers take for granted that narrators of fiction can penetrate the thoughts of the characters.)
The Talmud imagines how, when Esther approached her contemporary sages insisting that her story be included among the sacred scriptures, they objected, whether out of fear of offending their gentile neighbours or because the Torah set strict limits to the acceptance of new scriptural books. In the end, they were able to creatively expound phrases in the Torah so as to justify Esther’s request, though some rabbis remained hesitant about recognizing the Megillah as holy writ in all respects.
Among all the reasons that the Talmud proposed for classifying Esther as a prophet, there is one whose absence might surprise some of us: she is not credited with accurate predictions of future events.
In some ways this is a reassuring fact. Jews often find themselves insisting that the Hebrew navi is not primarily a “prophet” in the sense of a foreteller; and that the conventional English translation, which goes back to the ancient Greek version of the Torah, reflects the centrality of oracles and divination in Greek religious life. The navi, on the other hand, transmits God’s message in many ways, particularly to chastise the people for their moral shortcomings or to console them in difficult times.
Be that as it may, the Babylonian Talmud attached much importance to predictions as part of the navi’s job description.
In both Seder ‘Olam and the Talmud, Esther is mentioned as one of seven female prophets (Sarah, Miriam, Hannah, Deborah, Abigail, Hulda and Esther). Both works cite prooftexts in support of the claims. As tends to happen in such cases, the authority of the Babylonian Talmud influenced medieval scribes to impose its readings on other texts, so that the standard editions of Seder ‘Olam do not differ significantly from the Talmud. However, in the most reliable manuscripts of Seder ‘Olam the choice of proof-texts is at times quite notable.
As regards most of those women, Seder ‘Olam is satisfied with quoting texts that use the word “nevi’ah” in connection with them; however, the Babylonian Talmud prefers to ascribe to them specific predictions of future events. This difference might reflect a fundamental divergence between the rabbis of Babylonia and of the land of Israel concerning the navi’s job description. Is it defined primarily by predictions, or by the broader mission to serve as a messenger of the holy spirit?
An intriguing possibility was suggested by Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides). He focused on the Talmud’s prooftext about Esther clothing herself in royalty on the third day, explaining it literally, as an example of the meticulous planning that she invested in her strategy to persuade the king and disarm Haman. This included choosing her most impressive regal wardrobe, carefully timing her entry before the king’s presence, insightful psychological readings of Ahasuerus and Haman, and more.
The Talmud observes that “a wise person is preferable to a prophet.” Perhaps it was Esther’s astute strategic wisdom, more than any supernatural prophetic communication, that succeeded in saving the Jews.
First publication:
For Further Reading:
- Bar-Ilan, Meir. Some Jewish Women in Antiquity. Brown Judaic Studies, 2020.
- Freudenthal, Gad. “Gersonide, Génie Solitaire: Remarques sur l’Evolution de sa Pensée et de ses Méthodes sur Quelques Points.” In Les Méthodes de Travail de Gersonide et le Maniement du Savoir chez les Scolastiques, edited by Colette Sirat, Sara Klein-Braslavi, and Olga Weijers, 291–317. Etudes de Philosophie Médiévale 86. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin, 2003.
- Milikowsky, Chaim Joseph, ed. Seder Olam: Critical Edition, Commentary, and Introduction. Jerusalem: Yad Ben Zvi Press: Rabbi Moses and Amaliah Rosen Foundation, 2013.
- Segal, Eliezer. The Babylonian Esther Midrash: A Critical Commentary. 3 vols. Brown Judaic Studies 292–294. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.
- Walfish, Barry. Esther in Medieval Garb: Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Esther in the Middle Ages. SUNY Series in Judaica. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
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