Esther and Herodotus part seven

We are at Esther 2:11. Esther has undergone a year of intensive beauty treatments. It was her turn to get deflowered go to the king. She had permission to take whatever she wanted, but limited herself to what the head eunuch suggested. This made her very likable. "She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, in the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign." That was in the winter, somewhere around 479 BCE, at least four years after the banquet in chapter one.

The text tells us the king was highly attracted to Esther and liked her better than all the other virgins he sampled. "So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti." If this story is about the historical king of Persia, Xerxes, and his actual queen, Amestris, the last statement is a blatant falsehood. It is historically unbelievable that this king should have take a woman of unknown origin and make her his queen in place of the mother of his heirs, just because she made a good impression in the bedroom. Not only that, Amestris was obviously a wickedly jealous woman, if Herodotus is to be believed.

Next, the king gave a great banquet, "Esther's banquet." He invited all the nobles and officials and gave out presents. Did he ask the new queen to show up at the banquet when everyone was drunk? It doesn't say.

Verse 19 is rather odd. It says, "when the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate." So, the king chose his new queen but kept rounding up virgins any way. Why was Mordecai sitting at the king's gate? The text has only said that he has been concerned about Esther's fate. By now, she's been in the royal compound for over a year. I'm pretty sure the implication is that he has found some occupation there. Perhaps as a scribe or other servant. The text goes on to say that from his position at the gate, Mordecai continues to give Esther instructions, and she continues to follow them. Plus, at Mordecai's command, she still has not told anyone she is a Hebrew,

While Mordecai was still sitting at the king's gate. He happened to discover a plot to kill the king. Mordecai relayed the news to Esther who reported it to the king, The report was "investigated and found to be true." The conspirators were hanged and the event was written in the king's records.

We are now at chapter three. Some time has passed between chapters two and three, possibly up to five years, as we will see. Enter the villain, Haman the Agagite. We are told that the king elevated him and gave "him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles." It may not be obvious, but  the author is having a little fun with words here. Way back in Chronicles, all the Agagites were supposedly destroyed during the reign of Saul. How  could Haman be an Agagite at least 500 years later? Back in the day, Agag was a king whose downfall by the Israelites was allegedly predicted in Numbers 24:7, "Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted." The name Agag meant "high." It has the connotation of great or exalted. Numbers was playing off that meaning to say that Agag may be high, but Israel would be higher. This prediction is supposed to have come true with the destruction of Agag and his kingdom in Chronicles.

So, when the author of Esther called Haman an Agagite, he is basically saying that Haman may look high and mighty now, but he's cruising for a fall. And at the hands of a possible descendant of Saul no less.

Till next time.

Paul's early life and mission as found in Acts, part 3

Now we will look at Paul's account of his conversion as related by the author of Acts, in Acts 22. He  is speaking to a crowd of Jews who are upset with him, in Aramaic:
-He tells them he is a Jew (Check).
-He is from Tarsus of Cilicia (Epistles- no mention, Acts  7 through 9- yes) *1
-He was brought up in Jerusalem (Epistles-no mention, Acts 7 through 9- no mention)
-He was taught the law at the feet of Gamaliel (Epistles- no mention, Acts 7 through 9-  no mention)*2
-He was zealous and persecuted the church (Epistles- yes, Acts 7 through 9- yes)
-He arrested men and women and threw them into prison ( Epistles- no, Acts 7 through 9- yes)
-He got letters from the high priest and council to go after believers in Damascus (Epistles - no, Acts 7 through 9- yes)
-On the road to Damascus a bright light flashed around him (Epistles- no, Acts 7 through 9. - yes)
-This happened at noon (Not previously mentioned)
-He fell to the ground and heard a voice (Epistles- no, Acts 7-9 yes)
-The words of the voice recorded here and in Acts 9 are basically the same. No Surprise, same author.
-Paul is blinded and led by the hand to Damascus (Epistles - no, Acts 9 - yes)
-Ananias stood beside Paul and recovered his sight. In Acts 9, he placed his hands on him. (Not in the epistles.)
-This time Ananias tells Paul his mission and orders him to be baptized "for the remission of his sins." This phrase was not used in Acts 9. Paul does not mention his baptism in Galatians. Also there is no mention here of Paul not eating and drinking for three days, as in Acts 9.
-After that he returned to Jerusalem, according to Acts 22:17, leaving out the preaching in Damascus and the narrow escape from there mentioned in Acts 9. This also eliminates the trip to Arabia found in Galatians.
-When he returned to Jerusalem, he was visited in the temple by another revelation of  Jesus, telling him to leave immediately because his testimony would not be accepted. There is no mention of the visit with only Peter and James as mentioned in Galatians. Plus there is no mention of Barnabas bringing him to the disciples and the preaching he did in Jerusalem as mentioned in Acts 9.

*1. Cilicia is mentioned in Galatians, even though Tarsus isn't. Paul supposedly travelled in that region after he left Peter and James in Jerusalem.

*2. Gamaliel is mentioned in Acts 5:33-39 as a Pharisee and teacher of the law. He was against persecuting the followers of Jesus. So why did Saul?

Also we are not told how many years after Jesus died that Saul's event occurred on the road to Damascus. If Saul grew up in Jerusalem, how is it that he never saw or heard Jesus in the flesh?

Paul's early life and mission as found in Acts, part 2

*We are at Acts 9:17.Both Saul (Paul) and Ananias have had visions about each other. Now Ananias goes to the house where Saul is staying. He put his hands on Saul. He identified the lord who appeared to Saul on the road as Jesus and says Jesus sent him to help Saul gain his sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit, whatever that means. Scales fell off Saul's eyes. He got up and was baptized. It doesn't say why he was baptized. Today, it is generally assumed that it was to join the church, but notice that he ate right afterward. I looked at the Interlinear reference for the original word "baptized" in this passage. I found that the exact same word was used in Luke 11:38 (Supposedly written by the same author) to denote a tradition of ceremonial washing before eating!

*Next we are told Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus and immediately began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. This is in direct contrast to what he says in Galatians 1:15. There he says that after his revelation  he did not consult anyone but went immediately to Arabia and returned to Damascus later. Galatians also has Paul going to Jerusalem three years later. In Acts, he appears to go to Jerusalem right after Damascus. He never goes to Arabia. In Galatians, Paul sees only Peter and James, none of the other apostles. In Acts, Barnabas takes Paul to meet the apostles in Jerusalem and he preaches about Jesus in the city. Because of his preaching, Acts says an attempt is made on Paul's life in both Damascus and Jerusalem. Galatians does not mention that. Acts says other believers helped Paul escape by taking him to Caesarea and sending him off to Tarsus. (They sent him home.) Galatians says that Paul went to Syria and Cilicia, it never mentions Tarsus. In Galatians, Paul states, "I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in christ." This is a direct contradiction to the events recorded in Acts 9.

*When we get to Galatians 2, we will see Paul going to Jerusalem with Barnabas...fourteen years later! Let's take a look at the timelines so far.

Galatians:
Persecuting the church
Revelation in unknown place, told to preach Jesus to the Gentiles
Trip to Arabia
Return to Damascus no people or events mentioned
Three years later, Trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James and no one else, for fifteen days
Trip to Syria and Cilicia
Fourteen years later, trip to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus in response to a revelation.

Acts:
Stoning of Stephen
Persecuting the church
Road to Damascus with bright light and voice
In Damascus with Ananias and disciples of Jesus
Ananias and Paul recieve visions. Ananias is told that Saul will preach  Jesus to the Gentiles.
Caused trouble with his preaching, foiled a conspiracy to kill him, escaped
Trip to Jerusalem to join the disciples there
Barnabas takes him to meet the apostles
Caused trouble with his preaching, foiled a conspiracy to kill him, escaped
Sent to Tarsus by the disciples