Interesting commentary. Ms.Berlin connects Esther to Abishag, who warms King David, and to Joseph in Egypt. She convincingly shows that the story is a farce with extreme exaggeration; we are supposed to laugh at the comedy, not take it so seriously. She also compares various parts of the story with relevant Greek and Persian stories. There is a lot of commentary on each page with a little bit of Hebrew and its translation at the top of each two-page spread. ( )

NO OF PAGES: 110 SUB CAT I: Commentary SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Using the same format as the much-admired JPS Torah Commentary, Berlin evaluates the language, plot, historical framework, and importance of Esther to later tradition, seeing it as a comedy used in the festival of Purim. Berlin explains the role of the megillah in the holiday and how women are viewed in the Bible. This informative commentary (part of JPS's Bible Commentary series) 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 also does a fine job of explaining the Persian period and its various art forms. Concerning Purim, Berlin posits that the text of Esther may have been included in the biblical canon because the Purim holiday had already taken a strong hold. Berlin concludes that "Purim existed, in one form or another, before the book was written." The commentary section presents the Hebrew text of Esther alongside the JPS translation, with Berlin's extensive annotations below.NOTES: Purchased from CBD. They were out-of-stock when I first ordered it. SUBTITLE: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation