the expected outcome of a story.27 In Esther the recurrence of the motif of the mišteh focuses the reader’s attention on the surprising event from which the great reversal of fortune proceeds (see comments on ch. 6). The Esther story is about an event intended to harm the Jews, which, against all expectation, actually results in the opposite. Instead of being destroyed, the Jews are not only delivered but empowered through the agency of Esther and Mordecai. The empowered destroyer, Haman, not only
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