Esther 7, 9 selected

1) At the first, Esther's name is a derivative of the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar. (remember that terrible movie with Beatty and Hoffman?)It places us in a colonial situation. Mordecai's name may well come from Marduk, another in the pantheon of gods. See an excellent study on Esther some years ago for Presbyterian Women by Patricia Tull. 2) Esther may have been too recent to be included in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Maybe it was not included since it does not have the name of god in it. The closest we come to an explicitly religious piece is the call by Esther for a period of fasting. 3) This is the basis for Purim, a holiday where even the rabbis said to drink enough that you cannot tell the difference between blessed be Mordecai or cursed be Haman.Still, the celebration hurt smy heart in that it does well to celebrate deliverance, but it also harbors the memory or celebration of a frightful revenge fantasy. 4) Esther has to figure out a way to get the king to even listen to her under the structures of a terrible decree. For someone picked as part of the harem for beauty, Esther demonstrates a clever mind. 5)Esther could have done nothing. As the former president of CTS-Indy said, Esther was doing all right, but her people were in trouble. will Esther's feast get her in trouble as Vashti got into trouble with her feast and the refusal to attend the king's? 6) we love stories about people getting their comeuppance. why? Is it the reversal itself, or what does it say aobut our perceived psoition?