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Titles marked N/A may be found in Judaic Digital Library
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In this latest addition to the Jewish Publication Society's commentary series, the reader will further be reworded with many productive and original insights: in this particular case on the background of the feast of Purim. Adele Berlin argues that the Book of Esther has been is misunderstood in many ways in the centuries following its creation. "...the Book of Esther, --she observes,--as understood by Hellenistic Jews and by rabbinic tradition is a different story from the one told in the Masoretic Text". Thus, Berlin accentuates her commentary with brief discussions on variant treatments in the Septuagint and with relevant Talmudic and midrashic materials. Berlin emphasizes that the Book of Ester is a burlesque and fictional farce that functions not to critique (i.e., satire), but first of all to provoke laughter. In this approach, Berlin's commentary contributes to a growing body of works that emphasize the Bible's humorous elements. A reader should not expect light reading,
however. After you have read it, you will have learnt a lot. Without burdening
one with overwhelming technicalities,
the commentary still provides a lot of solid
information. Fully half of this book is devoted to a discussion of the
background of the work and its interpretations. The work contains a ten page
bibliography that makes it clear the work was exhaustively researched and many
points of view were considered. |
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ADELE BERLIN is the
Robert H. Smith Professor in Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland. A
scholar of biblical and ancient near eastern literature, Berlin has written six
books, including three commentaries (on Zephaniah, Esther and Lamentations).
Other books are |