Palin as the Biblical Queen Esther?

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

Is Sarah Palin the biblical Esther of our time? Blogosphere is buzzing about it today. It started with a post on New Wineskins and has gone mini-viral from there.

Esther, if you've forgotten your Old Testament, (or never read it) was a Jewish queen of the Persian empire who uses her smarts to thwart a plot to kill the Jews in her kingdom. It is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim.

New Wineskins sees lots of parallels between Palin and Esther:

"The biblical Queen Esther came out of virtually nowhere, based in large part on her looks (though she was, clearly, smart). She was not really seeking power. By the time the story takes place, she is a well-known if not longstanding public figure (Queen)"

New Wineskins continues: "One major (and creepily precise) parallel involves Esther's role in averting an impending Jewish holocaust brought on by deep hatred on the part of a few nut-job Persians in positions of power. (Persia = modern-day Iran). That's the same Iran that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map and is well on their way to acquiring the nuclear weaponry to do so -- with no effective opposition (and considerable de facto support) from the international community. And along comes tough, clear-eyed, plain-speaking Sarah Palin."

Beliefnet blogger Steve Waldman digs deeper and catches the parallels in Palin's language the other day when she said in reference to her political future, "If I die, I die."

Noted Waldman: "When I first heard this I assumed this language was designed to feed the Christian sense of persecution. Turns out it's even more Biblically resonant than that. Esther 4:15: "When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

Coincidence? You decide.

By Jacqueline L. Salmon  |  July 8, 2009; 3:51 PM ET  | Category:  God in Government Save & Share:                 
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