Texts in Conversation
Mark contains a rare New Testament allusion to the book of Esther, with both describing a young woman who pleases a royal figure during a banquet. This stands out given the usual absence of Esther in New Testament traditions.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Esther 2:9
Septuagint
8 And because the king's ordinance was published, many young women were gathered to the city Susa under the hand of Hegai; and Esther was brought to Hegai the keeper of the women. 9 And the young woman pleased him, and she found favor in his sight; and he hastened to give her the things for purification, and her portion, and the seven maidens appointed her out of the palace: and he treated her and her maidens well in the women's apartment. 10 But Esther did not reveal her family nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her not to tell.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Mark 6:22
New Testament
21 But a suitable day came, when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his court officials, military commanders, and leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” 23 He swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” 24 So she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother said, “The head of John the baptizer.”
Date: 60–75 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Despite the general consensus that Esther is not strongly present in the Gospels, if at all, there has been some isolated dissension from this point of view. Following on from the discussion surrounding the influence of the book of Esther and/or the Elijah cycle on the Markan account of the beheading of John the Baptist a smaller discussion has arisen about the background to Matthew 14:3-12. In Matthew’s account the story has been abridged, and no longer includes the textual similarity with the book of Esther found in Mark 6:23. It is as though Matthew intentionally “lessens the Old Testament reminiscence of Jezebel and Esther.” Blomberg has nevertheless identified a possible “echo” of Esther 2:9 in Matthew 14:6, where Esther and the daughter of Herodias both please their respective kings in language that is similar to Mark 6:22 ... One is still left with the impression that Matthew’s account has lessened the possible allusions to the book of Esther ..."
D. M. Lees, “Intertextual Ripples of the Book of Esther: An Evaluation of Σταυρωθήτω and Ἰουδαΐζω in the New Testament” (PhD diss., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2018), 171–172.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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