Initially the Esther text was disputed and discarded by the early Church fathers. More recently in the 20th and 21st centuries Christian scholarship has dramatized, distorted, culturalized, feminized, or even politicized it. Indeed, the book has scarcely been defined as divine or devotional. While it has received condemnation from scholars, theologians like Martin Luther concluded that it would be best eliminated from the canon altogether. This thesis seeks to bring the text of Esther back into consideration for valid Christological interpretation by presenting evidence of a typology of Christ as exhibited in God's plan of salvation. In making such an assessment, this thesis presents a lexically-based evaluation from the Hebrew content of various words and phrases from the text, as well as within the larger biblical text. Determining their meaning and usage will serve to elucidate whether the text strategically incorporates Christological connections evidencing of this claim. I consider and apply a popular typologically related assessment of figurative language and symbolism, which also provides diagnostic criteria for typologies. This research thus entails a broad and varied examination of the figurative language and diverse use of symbolism including allusion, intertextual referencing, narrative sequencing, and rhetorical devices among others. Consequently, this broadly-based analysis provides a rich array of evidence that supports a valid typology for Christ in His various roles including His messianic kingship within God's plan of salvation for mankind, as well as other key concepts within God's plan, or associated roles, for example that of Satan.

The primary question that this dissertation seeks to answer is, “How might we characterize the narrative depiction of Esther’s political involvement in the affairs of the Persian state?” Many scholars have tried to answer this question with regard to how typical or exceptional Esther is vis-à-vis portrayals of other biblical women: Does Esther represent an aberration from gender norms or an embodiment of male patriarchal values? The project undertaken here is to challenge the way in which the entire question has been framed because underlying it is a set of problematic assumptions. The results of the question framed thus can only lead to more interpretive difficulties, either denying the commonalities between Esther and other biblical women, or ignoring the dynamics at play when the very same descriptions are used of men. In addition, the reliance on these two categories has provided a kind of self-perpetuating logic so that scholarship about men and women and their respective roles tends to replicate two separate and divided spheres within academic discourse. This dissertation begins with a review of scholarship on Esther. Many scholarly assessments of her, whether they see her as typical or exceptional, rely on problematic assumptions; yet within the body of scholarship on Esther there were also a number of insights that suggest a more nuanced approach to evaluating her character. One problem of dichotomous assessments of Esther is that they rely on an assumption of gendered and separate public and private spheres for men and women respectively, a construct that suffers from a number of theoretical issues. In addition to the general problems with this language, the portrayal of Esther as a politically powerful and persuasive woman connects her to a wide variety of biblical literature, suggesting that she is not the exceptional figure that some have claimed but deeply embedded within a tradition. Moreover, the role that familial and kinship relationships and metaphors play in structuring political life opens up the historic possibility that women may have participated in the political arena, depending on their own family dynamics. None of the evidence regarding Persian women—Esther’s narrative portrayal, Greek historiography on Persian royal women, or indigenous Persian sources—provide any reason to assume that women were categorically confined to a private sphere. Thus, this dissertation proposes a movement away from the discourse on public and private, thereby opening up the historic possibility for women’s participation in the political role of royal counselor. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

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The main question that this dissertation seeks to answer is, “If the character of Vashti on the one hand and that of Esther on the other are re-read from a gender-sensitive perspective which possibilities can the reading offer for the liberation and reconstruction of affirming identities for the Mongo women in the DRC today?” The study undertaken here challenges the fact that Mongo women of the DRC remain attached to their roles as wives and mothers which is viewed as a hindrance to their self-definition. The two characters Esther and Vashti from the book of Esther are examined in light of the experiences of Mongo women using the bosadi (womanhood) approach to deconstruct and problematize oppressive ideologies in the biblical text as well as in the Mongo context. It is argued that Vashti and Esther are not opposite characters but should be viewed in the light of each other as complementary characters. Despite the positive examples that the two women offer, both characters also offer oppressive possibilities for modern DR Congolese women. Therefore, they do not fully represent ideal role models for Mongo women in their efforts to affirm their identities. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D.Th. (Old Testament)