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Document Details : Title: From Jezebel to Esther Subtitle: Fashioning Images of Queenship in the Hebrew Bible Author(s): ZLOTNICK, Helena Journal: Biblica Volume: 82 Issue: 4 Date: 2001 Pages: 477-495 DOI: 10.2143/BIB.82.4.3200402 Abstract : Only three royal couples in the HB are seen in direct communication. Of these, two, namely Ahab and Jezebel, Ahasuerus and Esther, contribute unique insights into the interpretative and redactional processes that cast later narratives around themes of earlier stories, and both around the figure of a queen. In this article I explore the hypothesis that the scroll of Esther was shaped as a reversible version of the Jezebel cycle. With the aid of narratives of the early Roman monarchy, a sensitive and sensible reading of the biblical texts relating to Jezebel and Esther demonstrates the constructive process of an ideology of queenship. Underlying both constructs is a condemnation of monarchy in general. |
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