Recent attention to narrative form and interest in the function of story as theology call for new appreciation for the book of Esther. Biblical narrative shows that it is in the specificity of human existence that people choose to encounter or ignore God. But in retelling the story, meanings that have much wider application may be communicated. The Esther story shows that post-exilic Jews were faced with new questions about God's purpose for them in relation to other nations. Implications for contemporary mission may be distilled from these glimmers of new understandings of the scope of God's activity in the world.
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