Esther, Queen of Persia
According to the Blue Letter Bible, reading the Old Testament chronologically brings us to Ester in the window after the Babylonian captivity is over.
The title of the book has always been Esther, throughout the ages.
- The only other book named for a woman in Ruth.
- The New Testament does not quote or allude to Esther.
Esther:
- Her Hebrew name was Hadassah, which means myrtle.
- Here's wikipedia's summary of myrtle: "an aromatic, evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and western Asia. For centuries, it has been valued for its glossy leaves, fragrant white summer blossoms, edible berries, and deep historical and symbolic ties to love, purity, and peace" (emphasis mine)
- MacArthur says her Persian name Esther may have come for the Persian word for star or the Babylonian love goddess, Ishtar.
- Esther was orphaned and raised by her older cousin, Mordecai.
Ryrie states that the authorship is unknown.
- Jewish male
- personally acquainted with the region and the palace
- written about the king in past tense, so after Ahasuerus' reign
- could have been Mordecai, Ezra, or Nehemiah
The event cover a 10 year span 483-473 BC.
- Within the reign of Xerxes I
- within Persian empire reign over the "world"
- Xerxes is the Greek form of his name, Ahasuerus is the Hebrew version of his name; Khshayarsha is the Persian version of his name.
- These events fall between the 6th and 7th chapters of Ezra.
- 50K Jews are back in Judah and struggling to get the Temple project complete.
- After the first wave under Zerubbabbel, but before the Ezra or Nehemiah waves.
- One of the last passages in the Old Testament, only the second half of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi come after it.
- Esther is the only account of Jewish life for those who stayed in Persia (formerly Babylon) after captivity. It sounds like the largely secular lives of Esther and Mordecai reflect how much the traditions and culture of the Jews was washed out during captivity. But God the Jewish nation would never have been preserved.
- There is some skepticism about the book because God's name is never mentioned, but the Hebrew name for Yahweh, YHWH does appear four times in acrostic form in the original Hebrew.
- The feast of Purim came after these events to annually commemorate the salvation of the people. The only other non-Moses feast celebrated in Hanukkah.
Esther shows that world powers want to crush the Jews, but God's sovereignty and thorough planning preserve their lives for His great glory.
Amen.