An Investigative Comparison Between Four Approaches to Discourse Analysis Using MT Esther as a Test Case

This dissertation compares four approaches to Biblical Hebrew discourse analysis using the Masoretic Text of Esther as a test case: the tagmemic, distributional, information structure, and interclausal approaches. Whereas traditional exegesis tends to focus on grammar and syntax at the level of the word, clause, or sentence, discourse analysis seeks to account for larger textual relationships, including macrostructure, clause linkage, thematic development, and pragmatic effect. Esther provides an ideal corpus for this investigation because of its narrative unity, coherent literary design, and composition in late Biblical Hebrew. The study first surveys the major scholarly literature associated with each approach and then outlines a workable methodology for applying each one to the Hebrew text of Esther. The analysis compares how the four methods identify discourse boundaries, prominence, thematic development, and structural pivots within the book. Particular attention is given to Esther 6, which is treated as the narrative’s central turning point. The findings demonstrate substantial convergence among the four approaches. Each method, despite its distinctive theoretical assumptions and procedures, highlights similar features in Esther’s discourse, especially patterns of foregrounding and backgrounding, the importance of verbal sequencing, and the thematic prominence of reversal. All four approaches identify Esther 6 as the formal and theological pivot of the narrative, where the king’s sleeplessness initiates the reversal that governs the remainder of the book. At the same time, each method contributes a different strength: tagmemics is especially useful for mapping macrostructure and discourse type; distributional analysis provides measurable lexical and thematic data; information structure clarifies topic-focus development and clause-level prominence; and the interclausal approach explains cohesion and schematic flow across discourse units. The dissertation concludes that no single method is exhaustive on its own. Rather, the most satisfactory results come from an eclectic approach that combines the strengths of all four. Such a framework offers a more comprehensive account of Esther’s literary design and theological message, showing that the book’s meaning is conveyed not only by what it says but also by how its discourse is structured.

Grantor dc:publisher

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Goh Sze Kuay, Malcolm

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Garrett, Duane A.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10392/7643

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.sbts.edu:10392/7643