ESTHER אסתר

The book of Esther is one of the five scrolls (megillot) in the Hebrew Bible and a part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Hebrew woman in Persia, born Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and with her cousin, Mordecai persuades the king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to retract an order for the general annihilation of Jews throughout the empire.

The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim, during which it is read aloud twice: once in the evening and again the following morning. The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Bible that do not mention God.

The massacre had been plotted by the king’s chief minister, Haman, and the date was decided by casting lots (Purim). Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai, and, on the day planned for their annihilation, the Jews destroyed their enemies. According to the book of Esther, the feast of Purim was established to celebrate that day.

Esther 1:3-4 – “And in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present. For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty.”

Esther 2:15 – “Now when the time came for Esther to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested.”

Esther 3:4 – “Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.”

Esther 4:14 – For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the royal position for such a time as this.

Esther 6:13 – Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him – you will surely come to ruin!

Esther 7:3 – If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life – this is my petition, and the life of my people – this is my request.

Esther first appears in the story as one of the young virgins collected into the king’s harem as possible replacements for Vashti, the banished wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). She is identified as the daughter of Avihail (Esth 2:15) and the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin (Esth 2:5–7).

Not much is revealed about her character, but she is described as beautiful (2:7) and obedient (2:10), and she appears to be pliant and cooperative. She quickly wins the favor of the chief eunuch, Hegai, and, when her turn comes to spend the night with the king, Ahasuerus falls in love with her and makes her his queen. All this takes place while Esther keeps her Jewish identity secret (Esth 2:10, 20).

After Esther becomes queen, her cousin Mordecai becomes involved in a power struggle with the grand vizier Haman the Agagite, a descendant of an Amalekite king who was an enemy of Israel during the time of King Saul (1 Sam 15:32). Mordecai refuses to bow before Haman, and this so infuriates Haman that he resolves not only to put Mordecai to death but also to slaughter his entire people.

He secures the king’s permission to do this, and a date is set, Adar 13 (this episode determines the date of the festival of Purim, a popular Jewish festival). When Mordecai learns of Haman’s plot, he rushes to the palace to inform Esther, weeping and clothed in sackcloth (Esth 4:1–3).

The book of Esther’s central purpose was to record the institution of the annual festival of Purim and to keep alive for later generations the memory of the great deliverance of the Jewish people during the reign of Xerxes. The book accounts for both the initiation of that observance and the obligation for its perpetual commemoration (3:7; 9:26-32).

Throughout much of the story, the narrator calls to mind the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Amalekites (2:5; 3:1-6; 9:5-10), a conflict that began during the exodus (Ex 17:8-16; Dt 25:17-19) and continued through Israel’s history (1Sa 15; 1Ch 4:43; and, of course, Esther). As the first to attack Israel after their deliverance from Egypt, the Amalekites were viewed — and the book of Esther views them — as the epitome of all the powers of the world arrayed against God’s people (Nu 24:20; 1Sa 15:2-3; 28:18). Now that Israel has been released from captivity, Haman’s edict is the final major effort in the Old Testament period to destroy them.

Closely associated with the conflict with the Amalekites is the rest that is promised to the people of God (Dt 25:19). With Haman’s defeat, the Jews enjoy rest from their enemies (9:16,22).

The book also draws upon the remnant motif that recurs throughout the Bible (natural disasters, disease, warfare or other calamities threaten God’s people; those who survive to constitute a remnant).

At this point in the story, Esther’s character comes to the fore. When she first learns of Haman’s plot and the threat to the Jews, her reaction is one of helplessness. On pain of death, she cannot approach the king without being summoned, and the king has not summoned her in thirty days, implying that she has fallen out of favor (Esth 4:11).

However, following Mordecai’s insistent prodding, she resolves to do what she can to save her people, ending with the ringing declaration “After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esth 4:16). The pliant and obedient Esther has become a woman of action.

Esther appears unsummoned before King Ahasuerus, who not only does not kill her but promises to grant her as-yet unarticulated request. In a superb moment of understatement, Esther asks the king to a dinner party (Esth 5:4).

The king, accompanied by Haman, attends Esther’s banquet and again seeks to discover her request, which she once more deflects with an invitation to another dinner party. Only at the second dinner party, when the king is sufficiently beguiled by her charms, does she reveal her true purpose: the unmasking of Haman and his plot. She reveals, for the first time, her identity as a Jew and accuses Haman of the plot to destroy her and her people. The volatile king springs to the defense of the woman to whom he was indifferent three days earlier and Haman is executed.

Like the books of Daniel or Tobit, the book of Esther raises questions about how to live as a Jew in the diaspora. However, the Book of Esther is unique in two important respects. First, although Mordecai has an important role and finishes the story at a very high rank, it is ultimately Esther, a woman, who saves her people.

This choice of a female hero serves an important function in the story. Women were, in the world of the Persian diaspora as in many other cultures, essentially powerless and marginalized members of society. Even if they belonged to the dominant culture, they could not simply reach out and grasp power, as a man could; whatever power they could obtain was earned through the manipulation of the public holders of power, men.

In this sense the Jew living in a foreign land could identify with the woman: he or she too was essentially powerless and marginalized, and power could be obtained only through one’s wits and talents. But, as the actions of Esther demonstrate, this can be done. By astutely using her beauty, charm, and political intelligence, and by taking one well-placed risk, Esther saves her people, brings about the downfall of their enemy, and elevates her kinsman to the highest position in the kingdom. Esther becomes the model for the Jew living in diaspora or exile.

Second, the Book of Esther differs from other biblical diaspora stories by the marked absence of God or any overt religious elements. Fasting is observed, though not accompanied by prayer.

Mordecai resided in Susa (Shushan or Shoushan), the metropolis of Persia. He adopted his orphaned cousin (Esther 2:7), Hadassah (Esther), whom he brought up as if she were his own daughter. When “young virgins” were sought, she was taken into the presence of King Ahasuerus and was made queen in the place of the exiled queen Vashti. Subsequently, Mordecai discovered a plot of the king’s chamberlains Bigthan and Teresh to assassinate the king. Because of Mordecai’s vigilance, the plot was foiled.

Haman the Agagite had been raised to the highest position at court. In spite of the king’s decree that all should prostrate themselves before Haman, Mordecai refused to do so. Haman, stung by Mordecai’s refusal, resolved to kill not only Mordecai but all Jewish exiles throughout the Persian empire, and won the king’s permission to carry out his plan.

Mordecai communicated Haman’s scheme to Queen Esther, who used her favor with the king to reverse the scheme, leading the king to authorize Jews to kill their enemies, which they did.

During all this, the king had happened to remember Mordecai’s service in foiling the assassination plot and had asked Haman how a person who did a great service to the king should be honored.

Haman answered, thinking the question was about him; and the king followed this advice, honored Mordecai, and eventually made Mordecai his chief advisor. Haman was executed on gallows that he had set for Mordecai. The feast of Purim celebrates these reversals.