Endnote 9 – Esther Not Judith

Mordecai does don ritual mourning garb when he hears Haman’s decree (Esther 4:1), and Esther orders all the Jews of Susa to fast for three days before she appears unsummoned before the king (Esther 4:15–16). However, the reason for the fast is unclear, and the purpose (to capture God’s attention?) is unspecified. I have argued elsewhere that there is an implied theology in Hebrew Esther which assumes a belief in God and God’s action in history, but the fact remains that this is only implied, not directly stated. See Sidnie White Crawford, “Esther,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1999), vol. 3, pp. 866–870.