| Abstract | This dissertation is a synchronic reading of the Septuagint version of Esther utilizing an imperial-critical approach which foregrounds the exertion and negotiation of Persian imperial power with attention to the performance of gender within the interplay of power. I argue that in light of the gendered exertions and gendered negotiations of power I observe throughout the book, LXX Esther can be read as a contest for hegemonic masculinity between Artaxerxes and God which is prefigured in Mordecai¿s dream, and waged by the claimants¿ representatives ¿ Haman for Artaxerxes, and Mordecai and Esther for God. Chapter 3 offers interpretation of Addition A¿s framing of LXX Esther by introducing Mordecai and reading Mordecai¿s dream as establishing the subsequent narrative as a contest for hegemonic masculinity between Artaxerxes and God waged by their representatives. Chapter 4 considers the initial depiction of Artaxerxes as the center of earthly power and hegemonic male on earth, as well as Vashti¿s negotiation of defiance and the subsequent oppressive imperial responses which also provide opportunities for further negotiation. Chapter 5 examines Mordecai¿s shifting methodology of imperial negotiation as he moves to overt defiance, the imperial response to his defiance in the form of the edict of annihilation of Jews, and Esther¿s progression in agency to negotiate on behalf of her people as a representative of God. Finally, chapter 6 discusses Esther¿s three acts of negotiation with Artaxerxes which result in the deliverance of her people and a victory for God, though in mimicry and ambivalence. Throughout the dissertation, I also posit intertextual connections with constructions of early readers of LXX Esther in the early 1st century BCE. These include Alexandrian Jews living under Ptolemaic rulers and Jews living under the Hasmonean dynasty. The circumstances of these early readers reveal numerous connections that may have been made by readers who both confirmed and contested their imperial locations and performed varied and complex means of negotiation. |
