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COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE STORY OF JOSEPH AND ESTHER

There are many parallels between the stories about Joseph and Megillat Esther. The similarity emerges when one compares both stories from the viewpoints of stylistics and contenet. Many of the expressions and structures can be found in both stories. Even the life stories of Joseph , Esther and Mordecai bear an amazing resemblance. the following table presents a comparison between the story of Joseph and Esther.

JOSEPH	ESTHER
Story takes place for most part outside of Eretz Yisrael in Egypt	Story takes place outside of Eretz Yisrael – in Persia
Joseph ascends to a high position in Egyptian government	Esther and Mordecai ascend to high position in Persian government
Joseph, upon reaching this high position, save the Jews from famine	Esther and Mordecai, upon reaching this High position, save the Jews from being killed
The ruler of Egypt is saved from death, from famine, by Joseph	The ruler of Persia is saved from being murdered by Mordecai
Joseph rises to a high position through a combination of beauty and wisdom	Esther rises to a high position through a combination of beauty and wisdom
In Joseph's life, a good deed he does is forgotten for a long time (interpreting the butler's dream)	Mordecai's good deed of saving the king's life is forgotten for a long time
Through sleep, the dreams of Pharoah, Joseph was remembered and brought to solve them	Thru lack of sleep, Ahashueros learned of the fact that Mordecai saved his life
One of the chief servants of Pharoah, the baker', met death by hanging	The chief servant of the king, Haman, met death by hanging
Joseph revealed himself to his brothers after a feast	Esther revealed herself as a Jew to the king after a feast
TThe language of the collection of the grain in Egypt is similar to the language of the gathering of the women in Persia) (Genesis 41:34-37 40:3)	The language of the gathering of the women is similar to the language of the gathering of the grain in Egypt (Esther 2:3,4 2:12)
The language of the description of the tempting of Joseph is similar to the language of the attempt to influence Mordecai to bow to Haman. ( Genesis 39:10)	The language of the attempt to make Mordecai bow to Haman is similar to the language of the attempt to tempt Joseph (Esther 3:4)
Similar language in the way the Jews stood the test in Persia and in Egypt. (43:14 44:34)	Similar language in the way that Joseph and the Jews stood the test(Esther 4:16 8:6)
Seven verbs similar in how Joseph was elevated to high position in Egypt and Mordecai in Persia.(41:42-43)	Seven verbs similar in the way Mordecai is elevated to high position and the way Joseph is (Esther 6:9 8:2)