First Glance

What controversial book of the Bible includes no miracle and does not mention God? One of the two books of the Hebrew Bible that bear women’s names, it tells the story of a heroine who risks her life to save her people from annihilation. Carey A. Moore, author of the Anchor Bible Esther, has been asked about this complex book so often that he has collected “Eight Questions Most Frequently Asked About the Book of Esther.”

Moore composed his article on his word processor and transmitted it to the BR computer by telephone—a BR first. Proficient with an archaeologist’s trowel as well as with a terminal, Moore served as area supervisor at Tel Gezer and Tel Dan excavations in Israel. An Old Testament scholar and an authority on the Book of Esther, Moore has published Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah: The Additions (Doubleday, 1977) and Studies in the Book of Esther (KTAV, 1982). He is also the author of “You Too Can Read Hieroglyphics,” BAR 11:04.