Esther (International Critical Commentary | ICC)

by Lewis Bayles Paton

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 1908

Overview

For over one hundred years, the International Critical Commentary series has held a special place among works on the Bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis—linguistic and textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological—with a level of comprehension and quality of scholarship unmatched by any other series.

No attempt has been made to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the biblical text: contributors have been invited for their scholarly distinction, not for their adherence to any one school of thought.

The depth of analysis found in the International Critical Commentary (ICC) Series has yet to be surpassed in any commentary collection. One of the best features of this series is the extensive amount of background information given in each volume's introduction, where all of the analysis is provided before the actual commentary begins. Each volume packs more information into the introduction than you will often find in the body of most commentaries! Also consider that with the electronic versions of each volume, you will never need to leaf through the hundreds of pages in each volume searching for the passage you are studying.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The courtiers realize that the only way to get the King to forget Vashti is to make him fall in love with another woman” (Page 165)

“This controversy has been brought to a close by the decipherment of the Persian monuments, in which the name Xerxes appears in such a form as to leave no doubt that he is the king who is meant by Ahasuerus.” (Page 53)

“In the light of these facts it is clear that the book has one purpose from beginning to end, that is, the institution of the feast of Purim.” (Page 56)

“In this case the King had to appoint officers to search, because men hid their daughters from him” (Page 165)

“The most important event of his reign was the unsuccessful war with Greece in 480–470 b.c., rendered forever memorable by the narrative of Herodotus in books vii.–ix. of his history.^* The architectural undertakings of Xerxes were numerous, and in Persepolis the ruins of several of his buildings are still to be seen.^† In these buildings a number of trilingual inscriptions of this King have been discovered.^‡ He was assassinated in 465 b.c. by the officers of his palace.” (Page 121)

Product Details

• Title: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther
• Author: Lewis B. Paton
• Editor: Samuel Rolles Driver, Alfred Plummer, Charles Augustus Briggs
• Publisher: T&T Clark International
• Publication Date: 1908
• Pages: 334

About Lewis Bayles Paton

Lewis B. Paton served as Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Criticism, Hartford Theological Seminary.

Also available as part of the International Critical Commentaries: Old Testamentcollection.