Full title
Calendars in the Book of Esther: Purim, Festivals, Cosmology
Updated By
Research notes
NR\Reader checked\22/01/2015
Reference type
Editor(s)
Helen R. Jacobus
Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme
Philippe Guillaume
Year
2013
Journal / Book Title || Series Title
Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World
Issue / Series Volume
11
Series Title
Biblical Intersections
Publisher
Gorgias Press
Place of Publication
New Jersey
Pages
51-76
Work type
Label
02/02/2015
Abstract
This paper suggests that Esther added an extra month and a day to the king’s calendar to thwart the date chosen by Haman for the annihilation of the Jews. The result was that the Jews in the provinces were preparing and celebrating Passover when the Jews of Sushan, who had the benefit of additional time, were fighting then feasting. Esther’s intervention is related to Babylonian apotropaic calendar manipulation and the text indicates how a 354-day lunar calendar and a 360-day calendar might work. The analysis includes dates for Shavuot followed by different groups in Second Temple Judaism, one of which is reflected in a 364-day calendar scheme that is also attested at Qumran.