Recipient of the Prize of the Minister of Science, Culture, and Sport [of the State of Israel] for classical literature for the year 5762 [2001]
The commentary, which accompanies the Hebrew biblical text and the JPS translation, approaches the Book of Esther from a fresh literary point of view. It includes essays entitled “When and Where Was the Book of Esther Written?,” “Sex and Spies,” and “Rabbinic Interpretation.”
Adele Berlin is Robert H. Smith Professor of Biblical Studies Emerita at the University of Maryland. She is the author of several books, including Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, and The JPS Bible Commentary: Esther (JPS, 2001). She is coeditor (with Marc Brettler) of The Jewish Study Bible. Avigdor Shinan is Yitzhak Becker Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous books, including (with Yair Zakovitch) From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends (JPS, 2012). Benjamin D. Sommer is a professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic languages at Jewish Theological Seminary and senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is the author of Revelation and Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition and The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel, among other works.
“This informative commentary . . . dissects the Book of Esther and, by extension, the Jewish holiday of Purim. Berlin begins with a lengthy introduction, discussing Esther as comedy and as diaspora literature; the introduction does a fine job of explaining the Persian period and its various art forms.”—Publishers Weekly
"Berlin's literary approach to the book of Esther is a very well done, and filled with important information."—David J. Zucker, Women in Judaism
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