The Hidden Hand of God
The preceding article discusses historical events that may or may not be reflected in the fascinating book of Esther. The article that follows explores ways that traditional Jewish exegetes seek deeper and sometimes mystical meaning in the text. —Ed.
The book of Esther presents a special challenge because nowhere in ten chapters—look as hard as you will—does the name of God appear. Neither Yahweh, the personal name God, nor Elohim, the more generic name of God, can be found in the book. Nevertheless, Esther is a profoundly religious book.
Concealed in its chapters, rabbis and exegetes have discovered many signs of God’s presence. The signs take different forms: acrostics, hidden midrashim—elaborations on the meaning of the story buried within the text itself—and gematria, significant numerical values derived from adding together the individual numerical values assigned to each letter in the Hebrew alphabet.a
One piece of evidence offered for the presence of God in Esther is in the word makom, Hebrew for “place.” The word makom is often used in rabbinic literature to designate God.1
The 13th-century sage Rabbi Bachya ben Asher discovered the presence of God’s name in acrostics embedded in Esther. The form of this name is the four Hebrew letters, yod-he-vov-he, written in Latin letters as YHWH and usually vocalized as Yahweh. These four letters are called the tetragrammaton and are considered the personal name of Israel’s God.b In at least four places, YHWH is formed by acrostics in final letters of words or initial letters of words, sometimes read forward, sometimes read backward.
In Esther 1:20 the name YHWH is formed by the initial letters of four successive words when read backward: Hy’ Wkl Hnsym Ytnwtc (Hee v’chol hanashim yitnu, “it, and all the women will give”).
In Esther 5:4 the name YHWH is formed by the initial letters of four successive words when read forward: Ybw’ Hmlk Whmn Hywm (yavo hamelech v’haman hayom, “and let the king and Haman come today”).
In Esther 5:13 the name YHWH is formed by the final letters of four successive words when read backward: zH ’ynnW swH lY (za aynenu shoveh li, “This gives no satisfaction to me”).
And in Esther 7:7 the name YHWH is formed by the final letters of four successive words when read forward: kY kltH ’lyW hr‘H (ki khaltah elav hara‘ah, “that his fate had been determined”).2
Are these acrostics coincidental? Or intentional? Using the same techniques that revealed YHWH, a search by scholar Carey Moore for other acrostics revealed two instances of Satan’s name buried in the Hebrew text3—a result he says discredits the idea that the acrostics of the divine name were intentionally included in the text. A measure of how well accepted the YHWH acrostics became is reflected in the fact that many Esther manuscripts—some more than a century old—emphasize the acrostic letters by writing them in larger characters.
I would now like to propose a new midrashic interpretation of God’s whereabouts in the Book of Esther. A rather thorough search of midrashic literature has not revealed this midrash, although, of course, it may turn up in some medieval or more recent text unknown to me.
The word y’hudim, Hebrew for “Jews,” appears 38 times in the Book of Esther. Thirty-two times it is spelled in the traditional way yod-he-vov-dalet-yodmem. The other six times, however, an extra yod is inserted before the final mem, so that there are two yods together (Esther 4:7, 8:1, 8:7, 8:13, 9:15, 9:18). Is there a reason for this inconsistent spelling of y’hudim? Are the variations purely accidental? Perhaps these six cases of extra yods are trying to tell us something.
If one assumes that the six spellings of y’hudim with an extra yod are intentional, then an explanation is warranted. First of all, the letter yod itself means yad, “a hand.” The hand of whom? Moreover, two yods are a common abbreviation, frequently found in the prayer book, of the tetragrammaton (YHWH), the name of God. In the six variant spellings of y’hudim with two yods, it can be argued that they stand for the name of God. Together, the combined meaning of the double yod could be the hand of God.
“Hand of God” appears six times in the word “Jews” because there are six separate occasions in the story of Esther where divine intervention rescues either a Jew, or the Jews as a whole.
The first occurs after Queen Vashti’s disobedience, when she is exiled and Esther ascends to the throne of Persia. That this step was necessary for the final redemption of the Jews is recognized by Esther’s uncle, Mordechai, who tells her, “Who knows whether it was just for such a time as this that you attained the royal position?” (Esther 4:14).
The second episode takes place when Haman throws a pur, a lot, to determine the date for the destruction of the Jews (Esther 3:7). The date that appears is the 13th of Adar, a full 11 months away from the first of Nisan, when the lot was cast. This gave the Jews sufficient time to prepare a plan of action, and perhaps prove themselves worthy of redemption.
The third incident revealing divine handiwork is Esther’s daring visit to the king on behalf of her people. After a three-day fast, Esther appears unsummoned before Ahasuerus. The king’s heart is swayed to extend the golden scepter toward her, thereby saving her life. It is written that when Esther stood before the king, she “donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). According to the rabbis, this does not refer to royal clothes, but rather to the fact that Esther was clothed in spiritual holiness—once again, a sign of God’s intervention.4
In the fourth episode where divine intervention occurs, Mordechai is rescued from the gallows prepared for him by Haman. The night before Mordechai is to be hanged, the king cannot fall asleep. Ancient translations of Esther that do include the name of God in their text,d indicate that God did not let the king sleep. Because he cannot sleep, the king orders the reading of the book of records, where he discovers that Mordechai has not been rewarded for having saved his life (Esther 6:1–3). Therefore, instead of being hanged the following day, Mordechai is royally attired and paraded through town by Haman.
The fifth incident demonstrating the hand of God at work takes place in the palace. Esther reveals to the king that Haman intends to destroy her and all the Jews in the kingdom. Ahasuerus leaves the room in anger, and returns to find Haman “lying prostrate on the couch on which Esther recline[s]. ‘Does he mean,’ cried the king, ‘to ravish the queen in my own palace?’ ” Or, perhaps, did Haman become so angry that he actually meant to kill Esther after having failed to convince her to intercede on his behalf? Only the king’s miraculous appearance at that precise moment saves Esther.
The sixth and final event revealing the veiled hand of God in the Book of Esther is the salvation of the entire Jewish population. Following the demise of Haman, it was still necessary to reverse the royal decree that doomed the Jews. Once again, Esther begs for the king’s mercy. In an unprecedented act, the Jews of Persia are officially given the freedom to defend themselves and destroy the enemy (Esther 8:9–12). This new edict is issued in Sivan, the month when the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) commemorates the receiving of the law from God. The spirit of Israel is renewed (Esther 9:27), and as the rabbis pointed out, “they accepted the Torah anew in the days of Ahaseurus.”5
Thus we see that the six unusual double yods may alert us to the six occasions when God intervenes in order, ultimately, to save the Jews.
But the six extra yods may also be evaluated by gematria for their numerical values.
According to gematria, yod equals ten. Therefore, six yods would add up to 60. Looking for phrases or words implying God’s intervention, we find that the numerical value of the Hebrew letters yod-he-vov-he go’el, “God redeems,” also is 60. Furthermore, another biblical name for God is ha’adon, “the Lord” (Exodus 23:17). Those Hebrew letters also have the numerical value of 60. Finally, another example of gematria starts with the observation that God’s eternal nature is described by three phrases, “He was, He is, He shall remain. If God’s name is then written three times using double yods (a total of 60), and six is added for the times the extra yods appear in the word y’hudim, one comes up with the sum of 66. The circle is complete because 66 is the exact numerical value of the Hebrew words haya, hoveh, y’heiyeh, “He was, He is, He shall remain.”6
If one accepts the idea that God reveals Himself in a hidden manner throughout the Book of Esther, the question still hangs over us: Why? Why should God’s name be hidden so that we must search for obscure hints of His presence?
Carey Moore suggests that a late editor of the Book of Esther may have removed explicit references to God, so that when revelers followed the Purim directive to get drunk, they would not accidently profane the story as it was being retold.
There may be another explanation. Perhaps the purpose of Purim is to serve as a bridge between past and future Jewish history. Through the ages, Purim’s theme of unexpected salvation was repeated many times, and numerous other Purim festivals were established by communities that experienced miraculous salvation. The message of the Book of Esther is universal and relevant for many Jewish communities in danger. Although God may become involved in times of great danger, God may do so in a veiled fashion.
God can create favorable possibilities, but God is not simply going to redeem the Jews based on a covenant made with their ancestors. This covenant demands renewal through meritorious deeds. Esther’s example tells us that she could not hide behind her royal title, and that the Jews had to unite both in spirit and action. Only then did God reciprocate with protection as promised in Leviticus: “Yet even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, annulling My covenant with them” (Leviticus 26:44).
Perhaps in isolation each acrostic, each instance of gematria, each midrash extracted from the text of Esther may seem insignificant or a chance occurrence. However, when the examples are viewed as a whole, there seems to be intent. We are meant to know God is present in the action as the Jews of Persia are saved from annihilation—but we must search for God’s presence. When we do so, we find that God was there all along, with a guiding hand at the helm.
Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
Already a library member? Log in here.
Institution user? Log in with your IP address or Username
MLA Citation
Footnotes
The first through tenth letters have the values of one through ten respectively; the 11th through 19th letters have the values of 20, 30, etc. through 100; the 20th through 22nd letters have the values of 200, 300 and 400.
In Jewish prayer YHWH is pronounced adonay (my Lord) because the ineffable name of god is too sacred to be uttered. In the days before 70 C.E., when the Temple was standing in Jerusalem, the tetragrammaton was pronounced only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. How he pronounced it, no one knows. See Choon-Leong Seow, “The Ineffable Name of Israel’s God,” BR 07:06.
For the sake of illustrating the acrostics, we use here a standard system of letters and diacritical marks that scholars have developed to correspond to the Hebrew letters. However, this system does not tell us exactly how to pronounce the Hebrew words. Therefore, following in parentheses, each phrase is rewritten to enable you to say each word.
Endnotes
The acrostics referred to here were outlined in a letter to BR, Readers Reply, BR 03:03, from Ronald Youngblood, Ph.D., of Bethel Theological Seminary, San Diego, in response to Carey Moore’s article on the Book of Esther (“Eight Questions Most Frequently Asked About the Book of Esther,” BR 03:01).
In Esther 2:4 the name STN (Satan) is formed by the second to the last letter of three successive words when read forward: ’Sr tyTb b‘yNy (asher titav b‘aynai, “who is good in the eyes of”). In Esther 2:3 the name STN is formed by the initial letter of three words when read backward: N‘rhbtwlh Twbt mr’h ’l-Swsm (na‘ara-betula tovat mar-eh el-Shushan, beautiful young Virgin to Susa”).