Yhwh in the book of esther

It has been observed by many that no divine name or. And we can find some of those words in the text of esther. The word yahweh implies a relationship he is yahweh only to those who have a relationship with him. The name of yhwh encoded in esther by james scott trimm. While the name of yhwh is mysteriously absent from the short version of esther we will look at the long version of ester in another blog soon as it appears in the masoretic text, the name of yhwh does appear encoded in the hebrew text at four transitional points of the story, showing us that yhwh is guiding the events of the book a point made more plain in the long version of the book of ester. The author of the book of esther is unknown, though some attribute the work to mordecai. By the end of the book, mordechai, esther, and the jews all have been exalted and delivered from their enemies through dramatic turns of. Kabbalistic secrets of esther by rabbi laura duhan kaplan. Interpreting the book of esther through the broader. The book of esther may not directly mention god, yet it clearly reveals god at work. The postexilic books of 12 chronicles, haggai and zechariah were written to encourage the remnant who had returned to the land of yahweh s covenant with his people. Did you know that the book of esther omits any mention of yhwh god or his providence over israel and the jewish people in particular. The name of god is hidden no less than eight times in acrostics in the text.

It is quite interesting that bullinger discovered the name of jehovah as an acrostic in the book of esther more than a 100 years ago. Well, the extra yod, it seems, is an abbreviation of yhwh, and in the book of esther, it is the consistent and hidden hallmark that god yhwh is still with and among his chosen people israel. Take, for instance, the time that king ahasuerus could not sleep and his servant just happened to read the records of the time that mordecai saved the kings life esther. In some manuscripts, the letters in these words are written a bit larger to give them prominence. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll megillah, is a book in the third. The name of god does not appear in the book of esther. Jul 18, 2018 the book of esther is rather odd because it is the only book of the bible in which the name of god appears to be missing martin luther considered excluding it from the bible for this reason 1. The father raises up people from ordinary or even difficult circumstances to lofty heights in. When we read the book of esther, we never read gods name. The biblical book of esther is a secularized elamite myth of ishtar esther and her consort marduk mordecai, who sacrificed to the god hammon, or amon haman.

Four times it appears as an acrostic, the famed tetragammaton, yhwh or yahweh or yehovah, and once as ehyh or i am. The name yhwh appears in acrostic form four times in the book of esther. Yahwehs children of ava, missouri put together a play based on the book of esther. Recent interest in equidistant letter sequences has shown that much information is encoded in the bible. The coincidences, the amazing reversals, and the poetic justice that led to the deliverance of the jews in persia all proclaim the presence of god. Womens ministry is also going through the book of esther with beth moore. Even the bible story admits that esther ishtar was not the real name of the elamitejewish queen. Jul 14, 2011 martin luther was not the only person to doubt or reject the book of esther as holy scripture, although he may have been the first to ignite massconfusion surrounding the book. The problem with esther was the absence of any direct mention of god. Is yhwh ahura mazda through the book of daniel and ezra. The book of esther 6 powerful life lessons from the bible. General information four acrostics are of the word yhwh, on of the word ehyh i am that i am.

He is, in every sense of the word, embedded in them so that he and they cannot be separated whatever their outward circumstances and however. As will he do in the days to comeall israel shall be saved. It is one of the five scrolls megillot in the hebrew bible. I dont think it is that spectacular that acrostics can be found in the book of esther. In the book of esther we encounter some remarkable surprises. All are alike, in that they are words which the holy spirit has. Dear students of gods word, there is a study by professor e. These letters were distinguished in at least three ancient hebrew manuscripts in red.

This summary of the book of esther provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of esther. Four times it appears as an acrostic, the famed tetragammaton, yhwh or yahweh or yehovah. And abraham called the name of the place, thelordwillprovide genesis 22. It relates the story of a hebrew woman in persia, born as hadassah but known as esther, who becomes queen of persia and thwarts a genocide. Esther, apocryphal book of the 1901 jewish encyclopedia. The name of yhwh encoded in esther nazarenespace blog.

The book of esther portrays faithful yahweh saving unfaithful israelis, who are in exile under persian rule for covenantal infidelity. All four acrostics appear in four consecutive words, and to my knowledge, no other such acrostics exist in the old testament. The canonical book of esther undoubtedly presents the oldest extant form of the esther story. Gods providential hand at work in the book of esther. The author of the book is unknown and modern scholars have established that the final stage of the hebrew text would have been formed by the second century bce. The present author believes that whoever wrote the book of esther he must have intentionally chosen to hide the presence of elohim in the purim story in order to teach us a lesson. Esther 1 is the first chapter of the book of esther in the hebrew bible or the old testament of the christian bible. His name is not written in the book, but his fingerprints, as we say, are all over it.

People have spent a lot of time trying to show where it is. This is our first play production at the ava trueview family. I am going to encourage you not to tell me where i overlap with beth or where i differentiate from her. Stedmans book the queen and iwas a major source of inspiration for this series of articles on the book of esther. In the book of esther the tetragrammaton does not appear, but it is present in four complex acrostics in hebrew. The book of esther tells the story of one curious episode during the era depicted in ezra and nehemiah.

The divine name in hebrew, yhwh, is a third person imperfect form. In this brief work, ultradispensationalist theologian e. The name of jehovah in the book of esther e w bullinger on. Aug 06, 2016 well, the extra yod, it seems, is an abbreviation of yhwh, and in the book of esther, it is the consistent and hidden hallmark that god yhwh is still with and among his chosen people israel.

In esther s story, gods involvement is implicit rather than explicit. Yahweh was never mentioned, because the jews of elam worshipped marduk, not yahweh. Jul 24, 2012 for example, the book of esther accurately describes the way persians honored a man. Nonetheless, in this short book consisting of just 167 verses, the median king is mentioned 192 times, his kingdom is referred to 26 times, and his.

In this series which will also be available in a series of videos on the youtube his word heals. The book of esther and martin luther baptist christian forums. Esther 15 deep diving bible study seeking scripture. It has been observed by many that no divine name or title is found in the book of esther. A major feature of the story is the motif of reversal of fortunes berg, 103. The story of esther is built predominantly upon action, not character development or theological reflection. The book of esther is a book which glorifies the jewish people. The book of esther records the institution of the feast of purim and the obligation of its perpetual observation. The fate of gods chosen people is at the very center of the story, but god seems to. While the name of yhwh is mysteriously absent from the short version of esther we will look at the long version of ester in another blog soon as it appears in the masoretic text, the name of yhwh does appear encoded in the hebrew text at four transitional points of the story, showing us that yhwh is guiding the events of the book a. Based on, the true name of the creator, yhwh also spelled as yahweh is referred to as the i am that i am.

In that day there shall be one yhwh, and his name one. This in some peoples mind questions the validity of the book. Attempts to resolve this by discovering the tetragrammaton yhwh encoded in the hebrew text e. In the book of esther the tetragrammaton does not appear, but it has been distinguished acrosticwise in the initial or last letters of four consecutive words, as indicated in est 7. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll megillah, is a book in the third section ketuvim, writings of the jewish tanakh the hebrew bible and in the christian old testament. Bullinger examines perhaps the most wellknown literary aspect of esther. Now, compare this fourlettered name to the four elements that make up human dna and discover an ancient secret of creation. The name of god is hidden several times in acrostics in the book of esther. In the book of yahweh, it is so refreshing to read factual information that has not been altered.

As mentioned previously, the book of esther is full of pairs, ironies, and reversals, and the hidden name of the lord shows all three characteristics. Finally some truth about the creators name dating back to about 3000 years on moabite stone, 840bce. The purpose of the book of esther is to display the providence of god, especially in regard to his chosen people, israel. Others see the name yhwh hidden in acrostics, based on the initial and final letters of successive words in esther 1. The book of esther is about a beautiful young jewish womanraised by her older cousin mordecaiwho becomes xerxes queen and later bravely acts to thwart an evil adversarys plot to exterminate the whole jewish race. This brings us then to the third year of xerxes reign, 484483 b. God did not wait for esther and her people to repent, he saved them.

The book of esther was likely written between 460 and 350 b. Lessons from the name of god in the book of esther mark tabata. The name yahweh is used throughout the old testament with compound words that describe something of his character. A person needs to be familiar with the hebrew alphabet to appreciate the acrostic design that clearly displays the name of jehovah. All four acrostics appear in four consecutive words. Take, for instance, the time that king ahasuerus could not sleep and his servant just happened to read the records of the time that mordecai saved the kings life esther 6. The work is grouped with proverbs and ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an antiwisdom strain in that the hero protests. Apparently esther means something hidden and the name of god doesnt appear once in the text, so it wouldnt be out of place if the author of the text hid yhwh in it in the form of acrostics poems where the initial letters, syllables or words of the verses form a name or saying.

In times of oppression the jews found comfort in this narrative, for it presented an example of sudden divine salvation in the days of distress esther 9. For any bible student who has wondered why the name of god is not mentioned in the old testament book of esther, bullinger has some answers. Listen to this description in the five megilloth, a jewish commentary published by the soncino press. The jews, because of their many years of rebellion against god, were conquered by king nebuchadnezzar and carried into captivity by the babylonians some 140 years prior to the events described in the book of esther. The book of esther is one of only two books in the hebrew bible that never mention god the other is the song of songs. This is the story of how irose from an orphaned captive jewish girl to. Now, in truly understanding the biblical book of esther, the orthodox church teaches that the israel of god the church was about to be wiped out throughout the persian empire, which would have exterminated the race from which the messiah was to come, the lord jesus christ, the yahweh of. See more ideas about learn hebrew, hebrew words and this or that questions. The providence of the sovereign god who delivers and reserves his people. Weve celebrated esther, the heroine of the story, and the one often remembered for her courage and humility. Purim is a joyous festival in which they act out the story of esther by reading through the book of esther. There is no doubt that the cults of ahura mazda and yhwh started among different peoples in different places. Esther is, among the generality of jews, the best known of all the books of the bible p. The book of job is not only the finest expression of the hebrew poetic genius.

Most likely, the book of esther doesnt have the name of god because it shows how god works behind the scenes. And today we celebrate one last hero whose name isnt even mentioned in this book. Major ian thomas, in his great little book on esther if i perish, i perish points out that not only is haman a type of the flesh and mordecai a type of the holy spirit, but the king is a type of the soul of man. Chiefly because it tells the story for one of their feasts, that of purim. In the book of esther the tetragrammaton does not appear, but it has been distinguished acrosticwise in the initial or last letters of four. God is always active in esther, even though it is behind the scenes. Why is the name of god not mentioned in megillat esther. The name of jehovah in the book of esther logos bible software. Four acrostics are of the word yhwh, on of the word ehyh i am that i am.

The book of esther was written some 50 years after this decree allowing the jews to return to their homeland. Written by felicia trecek april 3, 2009 did you know that the book of esther omits any mention of yhwh god or his providence over israel and the jewish people in particular. This is the more remarkable, since, in this short book of only 167 verses, the median king is mentioned 192 times, his kingdom is referred to 26 times, and his name 1 ahasuerus is given 29 times. It is a story about a hebrew woman named naomi who lives during the period of the judges, prior to the establishment of the monarchy. Majesty, presence, infinity, source words important in kabbalah. For the religion of the jews, god appears as a character in the national book, the. The book of esther is rather odd because it is the only book of the bible in which the name of god appears to be missing martin luther considered excluding it from the bible for this reason 1. For traditional jewish commentators, the absence of gods name did not mean that god was absent from the book.

But many of the things that happen in the book could not be just luck. Hidden messages about yhwh and jesus in the book of esther. Weve celebrated mordecai, a man of faith and action who played an important role in spurring esther to act on behalf of her people. Yahweh is faithful to preserve his covenant people in a pagan land even when there is no godly people to use. In the book of esther the tetragrammaton does not appear, but it is present, in hidden form, in four complex acrostics in hebrew. The name of jehovah in the book of esther the open bible trust. In fact the king is capable of making some pretty terrible decisions when haman is holding the reigns. Following luthers lead, 19th century german scholarship continued an strongly antijewish assault on both the old and new testaments, attacking the authorship, date. Bullinger, published in 1999, by the same title the name of jehovah in the book of esther, which has added information on this subject, the least being, that there is abundant proof that these acrostics are no more the mere work of man than are the acrostics in the other parts of scripture. Mar 01, 2001 in the book of esther we encounter some remarkable surprises.

For example, when esther asks the jews to fast, we can assume this included prayer est. It is sure to establish itself as a seminal work, giving way to secondary scholarship. The massorah contains a note calling attention to the acrostics of the names of god in esther, which are found four times in the book. Anyway, esther is in the christian bible because it is in the jewish bible. Mar 21, 2017 in the book of esther the tetragrammaton does not appear, but it is present in four complex acrostics in hebrew. Like the book of jonah, the book of ruth, a masterpiece of storytelling, has a moral lesson, but this lesson may not be the chief reason why the book was written. The events of the book of esther took place between 478 bc and 473 bc, a five year period. People then look for yhwh at the beginning of words etc to try and show that its hidden. This said, the name yhwh appears in acrostic form four times in the book of esther. Introduction we are beginning a new series in which we will be traveling through the book of esther. The hidden name of god in esther randy white ministries. General information four acrostics are of the word yhwh, on of the word ehyh i am that i am in every case, the. Although my hebrew name is hadassah,which comes from our name for the myrtle tree,most people know me by my persian name,esther. Jonah, ruth, and esther cliffsnotes study guides book.

His words must have been carefully picked up throughout the whole story, as we will find this to be true. For traditional jewish commentators, the absence of god s name did not mean that god was absent from the book. Thus, the king is easily swayed when haman is in charge. Some questioned whether a book that did not mention god could be considered sacred scripture.