Hiding God  ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **God Is Missing In Esther** - The Hebrew book of Esther contains no explicit mention of God, which is striking for a biblical text. - The lack invites readers to infer divine action behind events rather than direct divine intervention. Transcript: Dan McClellan It, where it comes from and all that kind of stuff, where it sits in the biblical canon. Yeah. The setting is the reign of a Persian king they call Ahasuerus in the text. This is probably supposed to be Xerxes I. And so the setting is between like 485 to 465 BCE, somewhere in there. So we're in the early part of the 5th century BCE. This is post-exile. We're in Persia, so we're not back in Judea, far away on Judea's plain, where there is apparently a green hill. But we're in Persiaia and it is during the reign of Persian empire. It was probably written a bit after. Well, it's explicitly written a bit after because the story is like, so this took place in the days of Xerxes, which means it's no longer the days of Xerxes. Dan Beecher It continually says like, this is in the 12th month of this reign or this is, you know, whatever. Yeah, yeah. Dan McClellan And it's probably written in the, oh, I don't know, maybe late 400s, early 300s BCE, before the whole we're, you know, subject to a larger empire starts to become a lot more deadly, which Is what happens in the Greco-Roman period with the Hellenistic rulers and the Seleucids and the Ptolemies and all of those folks. And so it has a kind of odd approach to how Jewish folks need to relate to the larger empire, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. But we have a Hebrew version and a Greek version, and the Greek version is the Septuagint version. So it's a Greek translation, and it's 107 verses longer than the Hebrew. And one of the most famous things about the book of Esther is what it is lacking, which is what? It doesn't have God in it. No references whatsoever to God until you get to the Greek version. Interesting. So yeah, they add references to God in the Greek version. But in the Hebrew version, there are no references to God. ([Time 0:06:47](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ca470133-d05c-4b20-b268-d600912c4738)) - **Esther Missing At Qumran** - Esther is absent from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which raises questions about its early canonical status. - Scholars suggest omission may reflect its non-theological tone or accidental preservation gaps. Transcript: Dan McClellan Guess where Esther does not appear? Did you find this out? No, no. At all. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Oh. You have fragments of every single text from the Hebrew Bible and then some among the Dead Sea Scrolls except for Megalot Esther. It is just, or Megalot Esther, excuse me. It is just not there. Now, there's a possibility that some scholars would say, well, it probably would have been a part of a scroll containing other books. So we can't say that they definitely were like, we don't do Esther here. But there isn't a hint of Esther anywhere in the Dead Sea Scrolls. And one of the funniest things that I recall related to the book of Esther is there's a website called thetorah.com, which does a lot of fun public scholarship type articles. In fact, I've published one with thetorah.com. But several years ago, I want to say 2018 or something like that, they published an article saying newly deciphered Qumran scroll revealed to be Megalot Esther. And it created a lot of buzz until people remembered what day it was. Oh, no. It was an April Fool's joke. Oh, my gosh. Yes. And then like the the subtitle is the discovery upends decades of research addressing the question of why the book of Esther is missing from Qumran. And yeah, there's some it's a funny little story. But I remember when that happened. Dan Beecher Why do scholars think it's missing from Qumran? That seems really important. Well, it's a short book, one. Dan McClellan And when you think about it, if we take the Hebrew Bible as a whole, only about 20% of the actual text of the Hebrew Bible is preserved in the scrolls. Okay. You know, like the Great Isaiah Scroll is one of the only ones where we have every last verse, and that's a pretty amazing preservation event there. And so just by the numbers, it's such a tiny, tiny portion of the entire text of the Hebrew Bible that it's not a huge surprise. But some scholars think maybe it's because it doesn't mention God. Maybe they were like, ooh, not you, because you don't mention God. Dan Beecher Or just didn't include it among the holy texts and just thought it was an interesting story that didn't need to be preserved as Scripture. As Scripture, yeah. Dan McClellan That's a possibility. There's also the argument that the folks who occupied Qumran were kind of separatists and they didn't like the temple authority, the folks who were running the temple. They thought they were corrupt and illegitimate. And they also didn't like folks who got along with the powers that be it or were. And so maybe the fact that it kind of is about cooperation and being nice to imperial overlords, maybe that turned them off too. There are a lot of theories. Some make better sense than others, but the reality is that we don't know. We don't even know if it is just an accident of preservation. ([Time 0:11:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ae147d38-db89-490b-81fd-85131e7db643)) - **Names Signal Persian Setting** - Many character names in Esther likely derive from older Near Eastern deities and languages. - That suggests the author chose Persian-flavored names to root the tale in its imperial setting. Transcript: Dan McClellan The two main characters in the book of Esther, Esther and Mordecai, scholars suggest it's likely that their names are actually based on Ishtar and Marduk. Oh. Yeah, that they have filtered down from Akkadian, probably into Aramaic and then into Hebrew. Dan Beecher So are you saying that the characters are based on that or just the names are based on that? Just the names are based on that. Dan McClellan Because they're set in Persia. That would have been around where those deities would have been significant. And so they just give the characters names that are based on that culture, or at least the culture that preexisted in the Persian Empire. Right. Dan Beecher So, so possibly what we're saying, what you're saying, if I can just wrap my head around it, is that like whoever the author of Esther was needed Persian sounding names and just went to The only deities that they could think of the only Persian names that they could think of and were like okay Ishtar will call Esther and yeah something like that something like that and Dan McClellan Um because uh this is not thought to be a historical story no no no no no no no this this is not historical this is uh these are these are kind of like court tales yeah uh and and when you read It that's kind of the flavor it has like it sounds a lot like some of the things from daniel it sounds a lot like some of the apocryphal stuff that we've read there's always somebody who Who overhears some kind of plot and then has to foil the enemies and all that kind of stuff. And it's so overblown. Dan Beecher It's such a huge thing. It's not like some minor thing like, oh, those two guys. ([Time 0:14:49](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ae8f5318-5291-4ae8-94ea-78002d10b0e8)) - **Esther Becomes Queen After Vashti** - Dan Beecher and Dan McClellan summarize Esther's opening: Vashti is removed and a beauty contest produces Esther as queen. - Mordecai, Esther's guardian, tells her to hide her Jewish identity as she enters the king's court. Transcript: Dan McClellan One of them anyway. The main wife. And institutes basically a Persia's Got Talent to see who's going to win the hand of the king. Dan Beecher Yeah, he gets annoyed with her because, yeah, I got hung up on it. I had to look it up because she won't come in in her crown and be sort of paraded around in front of everybody. Yeah, something like that. He thinks she's real pretty. And I kept reading it going, did I miss something? Is she supposed to parade around naked or why is she refusing this? But she refuses it. Yeah. And he hates her for it. Well, she's like Leslie Gore. Dan McClellan And if you don't know who Leslie Gore is, what kind of childhood did you have? You don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys. Right. Dan Beecher Which is a misnomer when you're talking to the king, I feel like. When you are the wife of the king. Yeah. But she does say, and when we go out, don't put me on display. Dan McClellan So, yeah, she Leslie Gores, the king, and he's highly offended by this. Yeah. Dan Beecher She is gone. As you say. Vashti is out. Yeah. So it's time to find a new hot lady. Yeah. And one of the hottest or perhaps the hottest happens to be the not daughter of Mordecai. New. There's such a weird detail. Mordecai's cousin who he's raising because her parents both died. Okay. I guess you got to paint a picture. Dan McClellan Well, yeah, and you got to have these kinds of things. Think of every Disney movie you've ever seen. There's always, like Frozen, the two parents go off and die or are supposed to be dead or something like that, and the sisters got to raise the other so it's uh it's it's just that that genre Dan Beecher Um and there's no evil stepmother yeah so so there's yeah so you've got uh mordecai is clearly though though her cousin clearly older uh is a young and exceptionally hot person and is Taken to the king. The king like what he see, and they're off to the races. Suddenly she is now crowned the queen. Not just one of the cadre of women, but crowned the queen specifically. Dan McClellan Not just in the harem, but she is the new queen. And then chapter 2, verse 18, then the king gave a great banquet to all of his officials and ministers, Esther's banquet. ([Time 0:17:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b06d93a9-8f52-45c8-94be-5fb254ebff80)) - **Haman's Plot And The Pur** - Haman, insulted when Mordecai won't bow, plots genocide by casting lots (Pur). - The king eagerly authorizes Haman's decree, setting the crisis at the story's center. Transcript: Dan McClellan And in chapter three, Haman said to King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them. Dan Beecher Well, we should, sorry, one hates to interrupt, but we should also mention that, because you skipped a little moment, which is that everybody was bowing and showing obeisance to Haman. Oh, yeah. Dan McClellan And Mordecai didn't yeah yeah so more so yeah so yeah that could be the the source of all this Haman's like I didn't get a harumph out of that guy that's right exactly yes um and so he uh he Plots to uh on a random day, months in the future, by rolling some dice. Right. That they're going... They cast lots. Dan Beecher And the word for the lots is Purim or Pur... Pur is the singular. Pur, right. And so that's where the Jewish holiday gets its name. Yeah. Dan McClellan And they're going to basically them commit genocide we're just there's we got this ethnic group that uh you know one of them looked at me sideways didn't bow and uh and now uh we're gonna Dan Beecher Get rid of them all and uh the king was like cool yeah author takes no convincing whatsoever it is just instantly like oh you want to do that uh here's my ring a go ahead and write letters On my behalf do whatever do whatever you got to do yeah i trust you implicitly so right so they uh the king's secretaries were summoned 13th day of the first month and an edict, according Dan McClellan To all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, every province in its own script and Every people in its own language. Got the text of that uh and a copy was uh was to be proclaimed and couriers went quickly by order of the king and the decree was issued in the citadel of susa uh which would be in um anatolia Dan Beecher I don't even know what anatolia is you didn't narrow it down for me did i but i just i half the time when i read these place names, I just let them sort of wash over me because I don't know where Anything is. Dan McClellan No, I was wrong. That's not Anatolia. Woof. I was way off. What was I thinking? Anatolia. No, it's in the mountains that are just to the east of Mesopotamia, which would be where Iran is, which would be where Persia is. Somebody's going to make a video about how I screwed that one up, but don't worry. I'm already aware that I screwed that one up. Dan Beecher Yeah, I know. They just made the video, and then they came back and saw you correct yourself and went, No! Dang it! Dan McClellan Post the video anyway. Might as well. Yeah, because I did screw up. And now we got a problem. Dan Beecher So Mordeca happens to learn about all of this and you know obviously because the letters went out everybody knows about it now everybody like this is like now oh no all of the jews are you Know six months from now or 12 12 i think i think 11 months from now or something because it goes it's in the 12th month and we're in the first month or whatever anyway in a few months we're All going to be murdered yeah and so uh mordecai ([Time 0:29:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e6afbe98-9e66-447d-9d7c-d2d38ed8ef81)) - **Reversal: Mordecai Honored, Haman Executed** - The king, sleepless, honors Mordecai after learning he saved the king from a plot. - Haman is forced to parade Mordecai and later is impaled on the gallows he built for Mordecai. Transcript: Dan McClellan He couldn't sleep and he wakes up and he's just like, hey, bring me that book about all the cool stuff that happened. Read me a story from last month or whatever. Dan Beecher Just pick a random anything. Maybe it involves a guy named Mordecai. I don't know. And he recalls, oh yeah, Mordecai. Dan McClellan And this is like the most well-disposed king of all time. He's just like, hey, what do you want? Can I make you happy? Dan Beecher I mean, he says, hey, did we give that guy anything? That guy that saved my life. You remember when he saved my life and he told us about that plot against me, did we ever give him anything or not? I thought we wrote that down to do something about that. It's a good thing that I woke up and decided to read some stuff. Yeah. What should I give him? I can't decide what to give him. Who's out in the hall? Is there anybody out in the hall that can just decide what to give mordecai and hayman happens to be out there and so they bring hayman in and he says what should i give to someone who's deserving Of me and mordecai and it literally i love that there's a moment where it literally says his inner dialogue his inner monologue, or not Mordecai, sorry, Haman. It has Haman's inner monologue. He says that he thinks to himself, oh, he must be talking about me. So I will say what I think I should get. And then he says, bring out all of the best clothes that you used to wear and a horse with a crown on it and a mermaid and, you know, a platinum or an Amex black card or something. And give all of that to this supposed guy. Yeah. And the king's like, great. Why don't you take all those things and give it to Mordecai? Which is a lovely bit of humiliation for him. Dan McClellan You know, that guy who kind of loiters around the palace. Dan Beecher Yeah. The guy you'll find him out in front of out of the gate. That's all he does these days. You can't miss him. Dan McClellan If hear the bees you've gone so far i don't know what that means but okay it's from the the office uh where dwight's given directions to get to like a farm or something it's like turn left Dan Beecher When you hear the bees okay so uh so hayman not only doesn't get to kill mordecai but he has to present him with yeah with clothes which uh it's all it's all reversal of fortune right right Dan McClellan He thinks he's getting this but actually he's getting this he plans this but actually he gets uh hoisted by his own petard uh provided petard means uh impaling steak right and and and Dan Beecher It is true because he had built a 50 cubit tall pole uh that he was going to to kill mordecai on but then did you look up how long 50 cubits is 75 feet yeah it's depending on the type of cubit Dan McClellan Um but yeah that's a like what this is a grotesque villain who's just like i just want to see him sliding down a 75 foot tall pole because he's been uh he's been impaled this is joffrey baratheon Levels of evil yeah this is vlad the impaler levels of sickness. Dan Beecher So then the next night, Esther, or the next day, Esther has her second feast, her second banquet. And Haman and the king are there. And that's when she pulls the trigger and says, hey. Dan McClellan Springs it on him, yeah. Dan Beecher This guy hates my people. Guess what.s i'm a i'm a jew uh this guy hates all of us and wants us all dead i prefer not if you please yes who has who has again once again offered her everything up to half his kingdom yeah Uh and and apparently that is totally within the bounds of up to half my kingdom because the king has zero problem just murdering the crap out of this guy. Dan McClellan Yeah, but he asks, who is this? Who did this? Dan Beecher And she levels the finger at Haman, this wicked Haman. Dan McClellan And then Haman was terrified. And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. And then, and he's basically, he seems to have just gone off to, I don't know, just kind of vent for a while. Dan Beecher Need to blow off some steam. He went to his mad room and just sat there stewing for a little bit. Dan McClellan Yeah, punched some pillows, broke some coffee cups. When he returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining. And the king said, will he even violate the queen in my presence in my own house? So timing was bad for Haman. And as the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, look, the very pole that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose words saved the king, stands at Haman's house 50 cubits High. And the king said, hang him on that. So So they hung Haman on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. ([Time 0:41:06](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2ec9f387-aef5-4c33-b01c-ee28b872e85c)) - **Esther As Purim Etiology** - The Purim festival may predate the Esther story and involve divination rituals like casting lots. - The book of Esther could function as an origin story to explain and legitimize the holiday. Transcript: Dan McClellan And there are those who suggest that this was a festival that had been celebrated for a while, probably has obscure origins or maybe not so favorable origins, but this story may have Been written to function as an etiology for the celebration of Purim. Dan Beecher Can I just say why that makes a lot of sense to me? Dan McClellan Why that makes a lot of sense to you? Dan Beecher Because they named one of their holidays after gambling. And it seems to me that it very much could have been just like, this is our day when we have a fun little gamble, everybody. And then somebody came along and was like, maybe that's not the best reason to have a holiday. Well, and the dice, literally it's lots. Dan McClellan And casting lots was a means of divination. Oh, right. Dan Beecher Yeah. Dan McClellan So it is not unlikely, not out of the realm of plausibility, that this holiday originates in a divinatory tradition. Yeah. And so they were maybe they were like, can we think of another reason we would be hitting the craps, hitting the rolling dice, hitting the casting lots. ([Time 0:51:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9a31044a-a95e-4906-a8cb-f753d18fdca2)) - **Don't Proselytize To Captive Audiences** - Avoid loudly proselytizing in captive public settings because it usually alienates people. - Dan Beecher warns that singing praise songs on a plane creates hostility, not conversions. Transcript: Dan Beecher And what we're taking issue with or what I took issue with recently was someone ruining a flight for everybody else. Recently, there was too much Taco Bell. That'll that'll ruin. That's one way. A lot of people. I have a little more sympathy for that than for this. That's not a thing that they're choosing. That's not their, I mean, you know, you chose to go to Taco Bell. Don't do that before a flight. But in this case, what we're talking about is a young man who decided on the plane to get up with his guitar and sing some praise music. A captive crowd with his, uh, with his favorite songs of Jesus. And that, uh, in my mind is what hell will feel like, uh, if there is such a place and you can refer to our episode on that if you want to. But yeah, that's my idea of... It's certainly very few people's idea of an effective means of proselytizing. Dan McClellan I will tell you that right now. It seems to be more a means of creating enemies than anything else. Dan Beecher And if you see the videos of it and you look at the faces of the people around him. Enemy, enemy, enemy. ([Time 0:56:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/8c605425-8d1d-4c01-bf59-434b53ed948e)) - **Public Piety As Costly Signaling** - Public displays of piety often function as credibility-enhancing costly signals, not purely evangelism. - Such actions show in-group commitment by incurring time, money, or social costs. Transcript: Dan McClellan And we talked about this when we had April Ojoy on. You'll recall she talked about growing up where they were expected to preach to their servers when they're in a restaurant and try to get them to pray with them so they could put a little Notch in their belt. And so it seems to me that the idea is related to those kinds of costly signals, public displays of piety, not so much because people think they're actually going to be effective at all, But just because for them it crosses something off their personal checklist. Dan Beecher Well, I mean, you've talked about costly signaling as being a sort of, I would imagine, actually a valuable part of the religious experience. Dan McClellan Yeah, well, it's a valuable part of all kinds of social institutions and interactions and identities. You have to find ways to determine whether or not you can trust and get along with other people in your social group. And so social identities just tend to kind of create these means of signaling to each other. And I think this is more credibility-enhancing displays. So costly signaling, that's where you're willing to put on display. ([Time 0:58:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/8b865153-2b5c-4e6a-ba9b-9e8d0bc534f9)) - **Matthew 6 On Hidden Devotion** - Matthew 6 repeatedly condemns public performance of piety when done for praise. - Jesus' teaching implies inward devotion should not be leveraged to boost social standing. Transcript: Dan McClellan Chapter 6 has a couple of really good verses. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be praised of others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward. I think this is actually phenomenally insightful because it's pointing out what is the point of doing that? It is so that you increase your access to power and resources, so you advance your standing in the social group. Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen of others. Truly, I tell you, they have received Their reward. And whenever you fast, do not look somber like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly, I tell you, they have received their rewards. ([Time 1:03:50](https://share.snipd.com/snip/929d3bd3-d9a0-46fc-afc9-31f50993acb1)) - **Check Your Motives Before Public Acts** - Examine your motives before public religious acts to avoid performing for status. - Dan McClellan urges people to consider whether actions aim to inspire others or merely elevate social standing. Transcript: Dan McClellan Or you've got people in your immediate orbit, your kids or something like that you're trying to set a good example for. Or that's just the manifestation of your faith that you feel the need to do that kind of thing. I think there are pure motivations for doing that kind of thing. Dan Beecher Well, and there's also the idea that is presented elsewhere in the New Testament that you're supposed to go forth and proclaim the gospel and, you know, to every nation and every blah, Blah, blah, and every airplane and every small, you know, tight and closed space. Dan McClellan That would be the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28. That's where Jesus says to disciple all the nations. And yeah, that's the other thing. Shouldn't I be trying to spread the gospel? And I think the behavior is not always necessarily because somebody's a hypocrite, but I think they need to really seriously consider why they're doing things, because that impulse To do that is not something that you reason yourself into. ([Time 1:05:45](https://share.snipd.com/snip/227a6838-5b3b-401d-8fdc-3ab19ed1afbf)) - **Faith Turned Into Social Proof** - Some readings treat good works as social proof of faith, turning faith into a costly signal. - That interpretation risks contradicting Jesus' teaching on secret devotion and undermines spiritual authenticity. Transcript: Dan McClellan And they'll say that this is so everybody can tell who has actual faith. And I find this bizarre because it's like, I didn't think the gospel of Jesus was about proving to other members of the group that you have faith. If that's what faith is for, to demonstrate your faith to another member of the in-group, that seems kind of peculiar. It seems like trying to get around the contradiction or at least the disagreement about the role of faith and works has generated this rationalization of faith as primarily a costly Signal, as primarily a way to show others that you are part of the end group. And I don't think the folks who appeal to that reading of what's going on in James have thought very hard about the relationship of that rationalization and the notion that, well, my Good works are just to show other people that I have faith, and what Jesus condemns in Matthew chapter six. Yeah. And, you know, there are nuances. This is all contextual. And I recognize that motivations can be very, very different, but at least think hard about this. ([Time 1:07:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2950c402-ab47-40e2-a04c-e91669cad499)) - **Prefer Private Devotion Over Public Displays** - Practice private devotion rather than public performance when possible. - Both hosts recommend quiet prayer or inward practice over public displays like singing on a plane. Transcript: Dan McClellan I think, I think the love of all that is good and holy, the thesis of this episode is just don't sing on an airplane, man. Yeah, yeah. Just sit down and watch the screen that is on the back of the seat in front of you, unless you're flying on an awful airline that requires you use your phone because they don't want to put Screens on the back of the seats. In which case, just stare at your phone like a normal person. Leave everybody else alone. Dan Beecher Play some Candy Crush and maybe, and heck, you could sit in your chair and pray. You could do that if you want to, quietly to yourself. Yeah, in your mind. Your own private little closet in your mind. ([Time 1:15:49](https://share.snipd.com/snip/37808dcf-c91a-4ad4-8bc5-10317d946a7f))