Esther and the Politics of Negotiation: Public and Private Spaces and the Figure of the Female Royal Counselor

5. Esther the Politician: Traditions of Counseling Women

5 Esther the Politician Traditions of Counseling Women “Communication is the essence of diplomacy.” Diplomatic signaling typically aims at persuasion; that is, communication is designed to influence others by modifying their behavior or beliefs and attitudes. Attempts at mutual persuasion are of the essence. In other words, bargaining and negotiation processes are at the heart of diplomacy. –—Christer Jönsson, “Diplomatic Signaling in the Amarna Letters” This chapter will look to the particulars of the narrative context of the book of Esther to see whether the view that Esther is an exception—that is, a woman who overturns gender expectations by acting in the public sphere—is warranted. It is my contention that one problem with seeing Esther as an exception to normative portrayals of women is that her characterization draws on a number of earlier biblical texts. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the relationships between Esther and other biblical texts to determine what the implications of those relationships might be on the issue of gender and space as it relates to the ancient monarchies and the role of female counselors within them. 99 A significant connection between biblical women and wisdom through a rich literary tradition in the biblical texts hints toward the historic possibility that women might have had a significant social role as counselors. This role could have had specifically political dimensions when women’s access to royalty through familial ties allowed them to counsel kings and political figures. In addition to examining biblical materials, we shall examine literature and historical records from the ancient Near East to determine how the narrative traditions in Israel correlate to evidence from a variety of cultures across the Levant and whether that combined evidence might provide sufficient reason to argue for the significant role women played in the politics of negotiation. Throughout the book of Esther, there are a number of allusions to other literature in the Bible, a fact that has already been well documented by a large body of biblical scholarship. There are several indications that these allusions are not accidental but serve a very deliberate intention. One possible reason why earlier biblical traditions were incorporated into the story of Esther relates to the Diaspora context within which Esther was created. As Adele Berlin argues, the use of biblical motifs in texts from the Second Temple period, and specifically in the book of Esther, was a conscious strategy intended to establish a link to preexilic Israel: “The burden of Diaspora stories is to provide Jewish continuity in the face of overwhelming dislocation of the Jewish community. A good way to provide this continuity is to link the present with the past, and the new literature of the Diaspora with older, traditional literature.”1 Furthermore, connecting the book of Esther to earlier biblical texts helps to legitimate not only the story of Esther but also, and more importantly, the festival of Purim.2 In its final form, the book of Esther provides the rationale and instructions concerning Purim observance. Women and Royal Counsel in the Bible Several scholars have noticed connections in biblical literature between the narrative portrayals of women and their role in offering sage counsel. Most scholars who have emphasized this connection see this role as a direct extension of the roles women played within domestic contexts and activities. In addition, some have suggested that the narratives about wise women who offer counsel might indicate one social role open to women. Although scholars have not 1. Adele Berlin, “The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling,” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001): 7. 2. Ibid. See also Jon Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, Old Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1997), 133. 100 | Esther and the Politics of Negotiation connected this idea to the story of Esther, there are significant reasons to see narrative continuities between stories about women who offer counsel and the figure of Esther. The narratives suggest that there is a correlation between family roles and women’s work in enacting negotiations. These roles at times may have been explicitly political if, through the relationships that women maintained, they had access to the king or other royal figures. Claudia Camp has suggested that there “seems to be some cultural impetus for the emergence of the female wisdom figure from actual wise women.”3 She cites the narratives about the wise woman of Tekoa (2 Samuel 14) and the wise woman...