Esther

Rating:
Summary: INDISPENSABLE
Review: While preparing to teach an adult Sunday school class on Esther, I bought this book sight-unseen through Amazon (though I had a notion it would be worthwhile, since the publisher is Zondervan and the author went to Westminster Theological Seminary). Now that my study on Esther is finished, I can't think of another tool I relied on more heavily than this one (except for the Bible, of course!); I sometimes felt that I should just stop teaching and buy every person in my class a copy of Jobes's excellent book.

It's extremely well-informed, marshaling a vast assortment of scholarly material from other writers; yet it's also quite contemporary, with extended passages applying the text to modern-day life. Best of all, it's level-headed and perceptive; she really wants to understand the book, and thus brings no particular preconceptions about how this or that event should be interpreted.

One thing I learned in my teaching is that Esther is one of the most cryptic books in the Bible, with many thorny issues about which the Biblical writer himself does not care to editorialize. Jobes brings a refreshingly open-minded approach to these issues, and really makes you think, think, think. Yet she never veers from her obvious conviction that this is the infallible word of God. It's quite exhilarating! I kept reading huge chunks of her analysis aloud in class. One of these days I'll track her down and write a letter expressing my gratitude.

If you're a fan of Esther, and especially if you plan to teach or preach on the book, YOU NEED Jobes's terrific analysis. I found it indispensable.